At a glance
ClinicalIndex Comparison Record- ✓Age 18-60 years, either sex
- ✓BMI 18.5-23.9 kg/m²
- ✓No history of lower back pain
- ✓Normal lumbar mobility: flexion 75-90°, extension 30°, lateral bending 20-35°, unilateral rotation 90°
- ✕Serious heart, liver, kidney, or hematological diseases
- ✕Women in menses, pregnancy, or lactation
- ✕Unable to complete prone positioning imaging (~40 minutes)
- ✕Cognitive impairments
Standardized by ClinicalIndex from the ClinicalTrials.gov record · verify against the source.
Effect of Acupuncture or Moxibustion at Acupoints Weizhong (BL40) and Chize (LU5) on the Change in Lumbar Temperature in Healthy People
In Brief
A clinical study evaluating acupuncture and moxibustion for Health. Completed, enrolled 140 participants across 1 site.
Detailed Summary
Low back pain is a common clinical condition, with up to 84% of adults experiencing varying degrees of low back pain. The most common form of low back pain is non-specific low back pain, which is often treated symptomatically in medicine due to its lack of etiology, which has many side effects. In contrast, acupuncture has the advantage of being practical and free of side effects. The use of acupuncture points in the lumbar region has a long history of application, as early as the《Huangdi Neijing》thousands of years ago. In the Ming Dynasty, there were summaries of the experience of " Yaobei Weizhong Qiu" (Which means the Weizhong point is closely associated with the waist). Weizhong point's efficacy in lumbar diseases (e.g., lumbar disc herniation, lumbago, sciatica, etc.) is still confirmed. One of the mechanisms is closely related to the improvement of microcirculation, which can be visualized by observing changes in infrared thermal parameters. Acupuncture and moxibustion are the most common therapies at Weizhong point, but there is a lack of research on the differences in efficacy between the two. Therefore, this study aims to collect the temperature parameters of the lumbar region in healthy subjects after acupuncture/moxibustion to estimate the difference in the therapeutic effect on the lumbar region, which can help to reveal the effect differences between acupuncture and moxibustion. As well as to provide scientific evidence to enrich the connotation of the classical theory " Yaobei Weizhong Qiu." the investigators will test the following hypotheses: 1. Hypotheses for main effects of different point selection(LU 5 and BL 40)： H1: There is a significant difference in average temperature change at the waist at 30 minutes between the Weizhong(BL 40) group and the Chize(LU 5) group. H0: There is no difference in average temperature change at the waist at 30 minutes between the Weizhong(BL 40) group and the Chize(LU 5) group. 2. Hypotheses for the main effects of different interventions (acupuncture and moxibustion) H1: There is a significant difference in average temperature change at the waist at 30 minutes between the acupuncture group and the moxibustion group. H0: There is no difference in average temperature change at the waist at 30 minutes between the acupuncture and moxibustion groups.
Study Details
Timeline
Interventions
Patients allocated to the acupuncture group will be punctured at the pre-specified acupoints. According to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine and clinical experience, we will use the Bilateral Weizhong point (BL 40). Because of the similar anatomy, the Chize point (LU 5) was chosen as a control. Sterile disposable stainless steel acupuncture needles (length: 40 mm, diameter: 0.25 mm; Hwato, Suzhou, China) will be used.
Moxibustion Participants in the moxibustion group will receive moxibustion treatment via portable Moxibustion (Aikeshu, Bozhou, China); the moxibustion is composed of The inner tube (containing the moxa pillar) and the outer tube. To use, pull out the inner tube and light the moxa pillar, then insert the outer tube and fix the moxibustion on the acupuncture points. Two Moxibustion devices will be sequentially applied at two acupoints Weizhong (BL 40) and Chize (LU 5), for 30 minutes.