Auriculotherapy for reducing chronic spinal pain in health workers: a clinical trial.
Bruna Xavier Morais, Oclaris Lopes Munhoz, Carlos Heitor Cunha Moreira and 3 others
PMID 37341260WHAT IT FOUND
Auriculotherapy reduced chronic spinal pain in health workers, but true points and sham points had similar effects during treatment.
True points showed better pain reduction at follow-up, alongside improved vitality and reduced medication use.
Key findings
01Pain intensity reduction was not significantly different between true auriculotherapy points and sham points during the eight treatment sessions.
02At follow-up, the group receiving true points showed a significant reduction in pain intensity compared to the sham group.
03Participants in the true point group were more likely to reduce their medication dosage at follow-up than those in the sham group.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study included only health workers, so results may not generalize to other populations with chronic spinal pain. The pandemic context restricted researchers' access to the site, which may have affected data collection. Compliance with manual stimulation of the seeds by participants was self-reported and could not be strictly monitored. Moisture from bathing could displace seeds, potentially reducing the treatment effect.
Declared interests
The study was financed in part by CAPES (Brazil). No other conflicts of interest were declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume auriculotherapy is superior to sham treatment for immediate pain relief. The primary outcome showed no significant difference between true and sham points during the eight treatment sessions; the benefit was only seen at follow-up.