Acupuncture compared with placebo in post-herpetic pain

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Abstract
A single blind randomized controlled study of auricular and body acupuncture compared with placebo (mock transcutaneous nerve stimulation) was performed in 62 patients with post-herpetic neuralgia. There was no difference in the amount of pain relief recorded in the 2 groups during or after treatment; 7 patients in the placebo group and 7 patients in the acupuncture group experienced significant improvement in ther pain at the end of treatment. Acupuncture is of little value as an analgesic therapy for psot-herpetic neuralgia. The study method and the use of a mock transcutaneous nerve stimulator as a placebo may be of value when assessing the effects of acupuncture in other conditions.