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Effect and Safety of Penetrating Moxibustion in Treatment of Migraine without Aura: A Randomized Controlled Trial

  • Acupuncture Research
  • Published:
Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

To observe the clinical effect of penetrating moxibustion on migraine without aura (MO) patients.

Methods

Totally 60 MO patients from the Acupuncture Clinic of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine were collected from November 2015 to February 2017. All patients were assigned to a treatment group and a control group using a random number table, 30 cases in each group. The treatment group was treated with penetrating moxibustion, and the control group was treated with mild moxibustion, thrice a week for 4 consecutive weeks. The total effective rate, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores, headache intensity, and Migraine Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MSQ) scores of patients after treatment were compared between the two groups. The moxibustion sensation and reaction after moxibustion were observed, and the adverse reactions were evaluated. All patients were followed up at 4 and 16 weeks after treatment.

Results

The total effective rate of the treatment group was significantly higher than that of the control group (93.33% vs. 80.00%, P<0.05). The improvement of VAS scores, headache intensity, and the role restrictive and role preventive scores in MSQ in the treatment group was better than those in the control group (P<0.05). The person-time of moxibustion sensations of itching, numbness and cold as well as flushing and sweating after moxibustion in the treatment group was all significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.01). There was no significant difference in safety evaluation between the two groups (P>0.05).

Conclusions

Penetrating moxibustion can significantly relieve pain and improve quality of life of MO patients. After penetrating moxibustion, flushing and sweating of patients were obvious, and the curative effect was superior to the mild moxibustion.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Acupuncture and Tuina, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, 450008, China

    Ling Gao, Jin Xie, Ming-ming Zhang, Ling-yan Meng, Qian-ting Lin & Xi-yan Gao

  2. Acupuncture Clinic of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, 450008, China

    Ling Gao, Jin Xie, Ming-ming Zhang, Ling-yan Meng, Qian-ting Lin & Xi-yan Gao

  3. College of Acupuncture and Tuina, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 201203, China

    Xiao Li & Ya-jing Guo

Authors
  1. Ling Gao
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  2. Jin Xie
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  3. Xiao Li
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  4. Ya-jing Guo
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  5. Ming-ming Zhang
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  6. Ling-yan Meng
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  7. Qian-ting Lin
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  8. Xi-yan Gao
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Contributions

Gao XY directed the research and revised the manuscript. Gao L wrote the paper. Gao L, Xie J, Li X and Guo YJ collected and analyzed data. Zhang MM, Meng LY and Lin QT conducted acupuncture treatment. All authors agreed to publish the final version.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xi-yan Gao.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declared that there was no conflict of interest.

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Gao, L., Xie, J., Li, X. et al. Effect and Safety of Penetrating Moxibustion in Treatment of Migraine without Aura: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Chin. J. Integr. Med. 27, 927–932 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-021-3327-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-021-3327-4

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