According to traditional Chinese medicine, effectiveness
of acupuncture resides in qi or energy. Patients report different sensations
when acupuncture needle being inserted and manipulated. These sensations
including heaviness, numbness, soreness, distension, are called deqi, an
indication of therapeutic effect of acupuncture. It is believed that
acupuncturists also feel tenseness around the needle after needle insertion and
manipulation. However there is no report about co-existence of acupuncture
perception for both subject and acupuncturist.
Recently Dr. CS Yin and colleagues in Korea conducted a
clinical study to quantitatively document the subject’s and acupuncturist’s
perception during acupuncture. Eighty-one participants acted as subjects or
acupuncturists. Acupuncture stimulation was performed at acupoint LI4 and ST36
and needling was conducted through 4 phases: insertion into shallow, middle,
and deep depths, followed by twirling manipulation. Outcome measures include
1). Subject’s acupuncture perception scale, a self-report comprised 20 items
under 5 domains; 2). Acupuncturist’s acupuncture perception, a self-report
comprised thick, tangled, solid and empty feeling.
It was found that subject’s acupuncture perception
significantly correlated to acupuncturist’s perception. Acupuncture perception
varied over four phases of needling, with a tendency rated higher when inserted
deep.
The study confirms that deqi perception can be felt by
both subject and acupuncturist and correlated each other well. This suggests
that any feedback from subject by asking, observing and palpating will help
acupuncturist modulate the needling procedure and adjust them to an optimal one
which can maximise therapeutic effect of acupuncture.
Reference
CS Yin et al., Deqi
is double-faced: the acupuncture practitioner’s and the subject’s perspective. Evidence-Based
Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Volume 2015, Article ID 635089. http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2015/635089/
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