Effect of Point Sticking Therapy on Biochemical Markers and Rating of Perceived Exertion in Athletes with Exercise-induced Fatigue

Objective： To observe the effect of point sticking therapy on biochemical markers and Rating of Perceived Exertion （RPE） in athletes with exercise-induced fatigue. Methods： A total of 35 football players were randomly allocated into a blank group, a control group and an observation group. The athletes in the blank group received no treatment, those in the control group take Xi Yang Shen （Radix Panacis Quinquefolii） orally and those in the observation group were treated by point sticking therapy. The athletes＇ RPE, hemoglobin （Hb）, red blood cell count （RBC）, blood urea nitrogen （BUN） and blood glucose （BG） were recorded every day for analysis. Results： The RPE value in the blank group tends to increase, while that in the treatment and the blank groups tend to increase first but decrease afterwards, and the corresponding RPE value in the observation group was smaller than that in the control group. After treatment, athletes in the blank group showed a decrease in Hb, RBC and BG, but an increase in BUN in the blank group; while athletes in the observation and the control groups showed increases in Hb, RBC and BG, but a decrease in BUN. Conclusion： Point sticking can alleviate clinical symptoms induced by exercise-induced fatigue.

Clinical observation of acupuncture plus acupoint sticking therapy for insomnia and its influence on subjective and objective sleep indicators

Objective To observe the effects of acupoint sticking therapy of different dosages and durations on the subjective and objective sleep indicators in insomnia patients.Methods Ninety-six patients with insomnia due to liver-Qi stagnation and spleen deficiency were divided into a high-dosage 7 d group(25 cases),a high-dosage 14 d group(22 cases),a low-dosage 7 d group(21 cases),and a low-dosage 14 d group(28 cases)using the random numbers generated in a stratified and stage-by-stage manner in combination with the visiting sequence.The four groups all received the same acupuncture treatment,but acupoint sticking therapy varied in dosage and duration.Before and after treatment,the actigraphic readings(total time in bed,total sleep time,sleep efficiency,number of wake bouts,length of wakes after asleep,and sleep latency),Pittsburgh sleep quality index(PSQI)score,and symptoms score of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)were observed.A correlation analysis was conducted among the subjective and objective indicators.Results The PSQI score was positively correlated with the total time in bed and total sleep time(P<0.05).After treatment,the sleep latency,PSQI scores,and TCM symptoms scores changed significantly in the four groups(P<0.05).The total sleep time and sleep efficiency gained improvements after treatment in the high-dosage 14 d and low-dosage 14 d groups(P<0.05).The high-dosage acupoint sticking groups had longer total sleep time compared with the low-dosage groups of the same treatment duration(P<0.05).After treatment,the length of wakes after asleep,PSQI scores,and TCM symptoms scores were better in the 14 d groups than in the 7 d groups of the same acupoint sticking dosage(P<0.05).Conclusion Given the same acupuncture treatment,acupoint sticking therapy of different treatment durations produces different effects on the length of wakes after asleep,PSQI score,and TCM symptoms score in insomnia patients,and the 14-day acupoint sticking treatment is superior to the 7-day treatment.