[Comparison of therapeutic effects of deep needling and shallow needling on sudden deafness].

OBJECTIVE: To explore and evaluate therapeutic effect of different needling methods on sudden deafness. METHODS: Forty-seven cases were randomly divided into a treatment group of 23 cases who were treated by deep needling at Ermen (TE 21), Tinggong (SI 19) and Tinghui (GB 2) combined with body acupuncture, and a control group of 24 cases who were treated with shallow needling at these acupoints combined with body acupuncture. Changes of hearing at different stages after treatment were observed and compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The effective rate was 87.0% in the treatment group and 29.2% in the control group, with a significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The therapeutic effect of the deep needling group is better than that of the shallow needling group.