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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Neurorehabilitation
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1524689
Comparison of the effects of two acupuncture techniques on the Recovery of Hand Function after stroke
Provisionally accepted- Sanmen People's Hospital, Taizhou, China
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Background: Hand function impairment is a major challenge for most patients in the recovery phase of stroke. Currently, there are various acupuncture schools of thought, with many adopting the "treat flaccidity by solely targeting the Yangming meridian" approach for post-stroke hand function impairment, neglecting the balance of yin and yang meridians in the hand, which leads to significant difficulties in hand function recovery.Objective: To analyze the clinical efficacy of tension balance electroacupuncture versus conventional acupuncture in assisting the recovery of hand function impairment during the stroke rehabilitation period.Methods: From October 2021 to October 2023, a total of 68 patients with hand function impairment during the stroke recovery period received treatment with either tension balance electroacupuncture or conventional acupuncture. Comparisons were made between the two groups in terms of hand function recovery, daily living capabilities, and quality of life.Results: All 68 patients were included in the final analysis, with 34 receiving tension balance electroacupuncture treatment and 34 receiving conventional acupuncture treatment.Baseline characteristics were balanced. Compared to the conventional acupuncture control group, the tension balance electroacupuncture observation group showed superior improvement in Brunnstrom stages, FMA scores, Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), Barthel Index, and SS-QOL scores (P < 0.05). No adverse events such as fainting from acupuncture or swelling at the puncture sites were observed in either group, and no abnormalities were found in the vital signs of the patients.Conclusion: For patients with hand function impairment during the stroke recovery period, both tension balance electroacupuncture and conventional acupuncture treatments are safe and effective, with patients receiving tension balance electroacupuncture showing better recovery outcomes.
Keywords: Tension-balancing electroacupuncture, Rehabilitation, Stroke, Hand dysfunction, Quality of life improvement
Received: 22 Nov 2024; Accepted: 31 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhou, Ye, Chen, Lin, Ni and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Nasha Ye, Sanmen People's Hospital, Taizhou, China
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