Acupuncture treatment of chronic facial pain. A double-blind cross-over investigation

In a double-blind controlled investigation, the effect of traditional Chinese acupuncture was compared with placebo acupuncture in 16 patients (13 women and 3 men) (average age 60.6 years). These patients suffered from chronic facial pain (average duration 13.1 years) (13 had non-neuralgiform facial pain, 2 had atypical and one had typical trigeminal neuralgia). All of the patients experienced facial pain daily. The intensity of the pain was registered daily by the patient herself for 16 weeks. Each patient was treated with traditional Chinese acupuncture and placebo acupuncture in a randomized cross-over trial. Each therapeutic period included 10 treatment during a period of hospitalization of 14 days. Traditional Chinese acupuncture was found to be significantly more pain-relieving than placebo acupuncture as assessed from the patients' own registrations of pain (Wilcoxon's test, 0.05>p>0.025, unilateral) and from their subjective preferences (unilateral sign test, p<0.05).