Acupuncture more effective than Antihistamine for Itching

Acupuncture for itching: allergy testing of the skin of the forearm.

American and German researchers have shown acupuncture to be more effective than the antihistamine cetirizine, in reducing experimentally-induced itching in atopic dermatitis.

In a randomised controlled crossover trial involving twenty patients, true acupuncture given at the same time the allergen was applied to the skin of the forearm, resulted in a lower itch intensity than all other interventions. When acupuncture was given preventatively, it was slightly less effective although as effective as cetirizine. Both were significantly more effective than their placebo counterparts and a no-intervention control. Additionally, the area of skin redness after preventative acupuncture, was significantly smaller than that following placebo acupuncture.

(Acupuncture compared with Oral Antihistamine for Type I Hypersensitivity Itch and Skin Response in Adults with Atopic Dermatitis – A Patient and Examiner-Blinded Randomised Placebo-Controlled Crossover Trial. Allergy – European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, April 2012.)

Author: Robin Costello

I offer traditional Chinese acupuncture in Exeter, from a tranquil clinic a mile from the city centre, and next to the University of Exeter. I graduated originally from the London School of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine’s 3 year full time Acupuncture Diploma (DipAc) course. I am on the practitioners register of the British Acupuncture Council (MBAcC), a regulatory and professional body with an entry standard of a full three year undergraduate degree level training. I have worked in a hospital in south west China, deepening my knowledge and using acupuncture and Chinese massage (tuina) as the treatment of choice in its country of origin. I have taught Chinese medicine in colleges, the NHS and at university level. I also practise Qi Gong, and Chinese dietary therapy, that is the medicinal use of ordinary foods, chosen to help achieve particular therapeutic effects in different individuals.