2021 The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine

Acupuncture improves clinical outcomes in uremic pruritus, atopic dermatitis, urticaria, and itch.

A systematic review published in 2015 found that acupuncture improves outcomes in several dermatological diseases. We performed a systematic review of studies that have been done since then to present updated evidence.

Results showed that acupuncture improves clinical outcomes in uremic pruritus, atopic dermatitis, urticaria, and itch. Acupuncture does not significantly reduce postoperative itch in patients undergoing cesarean section under spinal anesthesia.

While there are some promising studies that support the use of acupuncture for skin diseases, additional large-scale, randomized, sham-controlled trials need to be performed to present consistent high-level evidence of acupuncture's role in dermatology.

Acupuncture in Dermatology: An Update to a Systematic Review Hwang J, Lio PA

2019 Acupuncture in Medicine

Acupuncture might be effective at reducing itch intensity and may be more effective than conventional medicine at reducing eczema area and severity index (EASI) and improving the global symptoms of atopic eczema.

Acupuncture might be an effective treatment capable of reducing itch intensity, and may be more effective than conventional medicine at reducing EASI and improving global symptoms for patients with AE. Acupuncture is a safe treatment for patients with AE, but the available data are too few to suggest that acupuncture alone is effective at improving quality of life and recurrence rate. More high-quality trials with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm the effects of acupuncture on AE.

The effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for patients with atopic eczema: a systematic review and meta-analysis Jiao R, Yang Z, Wang Y, Zhou J, Zeng Y, Liu Z

2018 Complementary Therapies in Medicine

Acupuncture may improve symptoms in patients with mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis.

The SCORing Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD), VAS (Pruritus), VAS (Insomnia), Patient Oriented Eczema Measure (POEM), Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), and Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI) were significantly improved in the real acupuncture groups.

Acupuncture improves symptoms in patients with mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis: A randomized, sham-controlled preliminary trial Smith CA, Armour M, Lee MS, Wang LQ, Hay PJ

2018 Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Acupuncture has similar efficacy compared to pharmacotherapies for acne vulgaris, however acupuncture interventions reported less adverse effects and may be a treatment option.

There was no statistical difference in the efficacy of acupuncture compared to pharmacotherapies for acne vulgaris; however acupuncture interventions reported less adverse effects. Poor methodological quality of trial design and lack of consistent reporting of outcome measures from some trials were found in this review; therefore results should be interpreted with caution. Future trials should include rigorous methodological design and reporting should follow standard reporting conventions such as CONSORT and STRICTA. Quality of life measures and further understanding of the mechanisms of acupuncture on acne should also be considered for future studies.

Acupuncture for Acne Vulgaris: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Mansu SSY, Liang H, Parker S, Coyle ME, Wang K, Zhang AL, Guo X, Lu C, Xue CCL

2018 Medicine

There is limited evidence that acupuncture is safe and might be effective in pain relieving for patients with postherpetic neuralgia.

Seven RCTs comparing acupuncture versus pharmacologic therapy were included. Meta-analysis was conducted for acupuncture's effect on postherpetic neuralgia evaluating by pain intensity. Results from 2 RCTs showed that compared with pharmacologic therapy, acupuncture was better in decreasing the pain intensity measured by visual analog scale score. The limitations of the study are as follows: only trials comparing acupuncture versus pharmacologic therapy were included and all of the included trials were performed in China.

Acupuncture for postherpetic neuralgia: Systematic review and meta-analysis Wang, Yang., Li, Wang., Peng, Weina., Zhou, Jing., Liu, Zhishun

2017 The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine

Acupuncture-related techniques could be considered as an alternative or adjuvant therapy for psoriasis in short term.

A total of 13 RCTs with 1,060 participants were included. The methodological quality of included studies was not rigorous. Acupoint stimulation, compared with nonacupoint stimulation, had a significant treatment for psoriasis. However, the most common adverse events were thirst and dry mouth. Subgroup analysis was further done to confirm that the short-term treatment effect was superior to that of the long-term effect in treating psoriasis. Network meta-analysis identified acupressure or acupoint catgut embedding, compared with medication, and had a significant effect for improving psoriasis. It was noted that acupressure was the most effective treatment.

Acupuncture-related techniques for psoriasis: a systematic review with pairwise and network meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials. Yeh, M. L., Ko, S. H., Wang, M. H., Chi, C. C., & Chung, Y. C.

2016 American Journal of Clinical Dermatology

There is at least some level I evidence to support the use of acupuncture and acupressure as adjuncts to conventional treatment of atopic dermatitis.

There is at least some level I evidence to support the use of acupuncture and acupressure, stress-reducing techniques such as hypnosis, massage, and biofeedback, balneotherapy, herbal preparations (with many important caveats), certain botanical oils, oral evening primrose oil, vitamin D supplementation, and topical vitamin B12. Many other therapies either have sufficient data to suggest that they are ineffective, or simply do not have enough evidence to formulate a verdict.

Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Atopic Dermatitis: An Evidence-Based Review Vieira BL, Lim NR, Lohman ME, Lio PA.

2015 Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies

Acupuncture improves outcome measures in the treatment of dermatitis, chloasma, pruritus, urticaria, hyperhidrosis, and facial elasticity.

Twenty-four studies met inclusion criteria. Among these, 16 were randomized controlled trials, 6 were prospective observational studies, and 2 were case reports. Acupuncture was used to treat atopic dermatitis, urticaria, pruritus, acne, chloasma, neurodermatitis, dermatitis herpetiformis, hyperhidrosis, human papillomavirus wart, breast inflammation, and facial elasticity. In 17 of 24 studies, acupuncture showed statistically significant improvements in outcome measurements compared with placebo acupuncture, alternative treatment options, and no intervention.

Acupuncture as a treatment modality in dermatology: a systematic review Ma, C., & Sivamani, R. K.

2015 Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Acupuncture is effective for ameliorating itch intensity in itch-related diseases.

In this systematic review, we have shown the meta-analysis of therapeutic effect that applies acupuncture therapy to treat itch-related disease by analyzing all the collected data from three RCTs involving 70 individuals. The result revealed that acupuncture is effective to ameliorate itch intensity of itch-related disease.

Efficacy of Acupuncture in Itch: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Clinical Randomized Controlled Trials Chi Yu, Pei Zhang, Zheng-Tao Lv, Jing-Jing Li, Hong-Ping Li, Cai-Hua Wu, Fang Gao, Xiao-Cui Yuan, Jing Zhang, Wei He, Xiang-Hong Jing, Man Li,