J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2000 Jun; 23(5): 320-3.

Silver needle therapy for intractable low-back pain at tender point after removal of nucleus pulposus.

Yi-Kai L, Xueyan A, Fu-Gen W.

Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, The First Military Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China. ortho@fimmu.edu.cn

OBJECTIVE: To examine the use of a new silver needle therapy for treating tender points involved in intractable low-back pain after removal of nucleus pulposus. SUBJECTS: The study involved 24 patients (17 men and 7 women) aged 26 to 67 years with a mean age of 54.5 +/- 5 years. SETTINGS: The Department of Orthopedics at the First Military Medical University, the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the General Hospital of PLA in Beijing, and the Department of Acupuncture, the First People's Hospital in Kunming City, People's Republic of China, were the settings for this study. METHODS: The patients were treated with traditional silver needle therapy at tender points in the low back and buttocks. Pain at each of the tender points was measured before and after treatment; the scores were compared with a Student t test. RESULTS: The therapeutic results suggest that the total scores for each tender point after treatment were significantly lower than those taken before treatment (P <.001). CONCLUSION: Silver needle therapy shows promise for treating low-back pain after surgery for disc herniation. Further clinical trials are needed to confirm the effectiveness of this treatment.