AUTHOR=Trinh Dieu-Thuong Thi , Le Hoang-Linh Thi , Bui Minh-Man Pham , Thai Khac-Minh 

TITLE=Heart rate variability during auricular acupressure at the left sympathetic point on healthy volunteers: a pilot study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neuroscience

VOLUME=17

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2023.1116154

DOI=10.3389/fnins.2023.1116154

ISSN=1662-453X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Introduction</title><p>This research is a pilot, single-blinded study investigating heart rate variability (HRV) during auricular acupressure at the left sympathetic point (AH7) in healthy volunteers.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>There were 120 healthy volunteers with hemodynamic indexes (heart rate, blood pressure) within normal ranges, randomly divided into two groups AG and SG (in each group having a gender ratio 1:1, aged 20−29), to receive either auricular acupressure using ear seed (AG) or sham method using adhesive patches without seed (SG) at the left sympathetic point while lying in a supine position. Acupressure intervention lasted 25 min, and HRV was recorded by a photoplethysmography device–namely, Kyto HRM-2511B and Elite appliance.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Auricular acupressure at the left Sympathetic point (AG) led to a significant reduction in heart rate (HR) (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05) and a considerable increase in HRV parameters demonstrated by HF (High-frequency power) (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05), compared to sham auricular acupressure (SG). However, no significant changes in LF (Low-frequency power) and RR (Respiratory rate) (<italic>p</italic> &gt; 0.05) were observed in both groups during the process.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>These findings suggest that auricular acupressure at the left sympathetic point may activate the parasympathetic nervous system while a healthy person is lying relaxed.</p></sec>