• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.159-166
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• 2010

Objective : The purpose of this study is to compare the Effect of Acupuncture on Local Acupoints and Distal Acupoints for Patients with Whiplash Injury. Method : From January 1st 2009 to September 31th 2009, 10 patient were divided into 2 groups. One group was taken Local Acupoints, and the other group was taken Distal Acupoints. To check pain and treatment satisfaction, visual analog scale(VAS) and five-point likert scale were used before and after treatment. Result : Both acupuncture theraphy showed improvement in VAS and five-point likert scale. And Local Acupoints group showed more effective than Distal Acupoints group on five-point likert scale. Conclusion : This Study suggests that Acupuncture on Local Acupoints and Distal Acupoints can be applicable to improve symptom in Patients with Whiplash Injury.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.57-64
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• 2011

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy after acupuncture on local acupoints group and distal acupoints group for chronic neck pain. Design : A randomized, crossover clinical trial. Methods : From 15st, September 2010 to October 30th, 2010. 20 patients with chronic neck pain were randomly assigned to either group A or group B. Group A received acupuncture at local acupoints then after 1 week washout period acupuncture at distal acupoints. Group B received the treatment in reverse order. To evaluating efficiency and satisfaction, visual analog scale(VAS), neck disability index(NDI), cranio-cervical flextion test(C-CFT) and five-point likert scale were measured before and after each treatment. Results : Patients in local acupoints group experienced greater improvement than distal acupoints group in VAS. Both local acupoints group and distal acupoints group showed significant improvement in NDI but not in C-CFT and the NDI score change comparison between the two groups had no significance. Local acupoints group showed more effective than distal acupoints group on five-point likert scale. Conclusions : Local acupoints is more effective than distal acupoints in controlling pain in chronic neck pain.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.183-192
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• 2008

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to compare immediate response after acupuncture on Local Acupoints group and Distal Acupoints group for neck pain patients. Methods : From January 2nd 2008 to August 31th 2008, 10 neck pain patients were divided into 2 groups. One group(test I group) was taken Local Acupoints, and the other group(test II group) was taken Distal Acupoints. To check immediate response and satisfaction of needling, visual analog scale(VAS), range of motion(ROM), clinical evaluation grade and five-point likert scale were used before and after treatment. Results : Both acupuncture therapy showed immediate response and good effect on neck pain. And test I group showed more immediate response than test II group on all categories. Conclusions : Local Acupoints group can be recommended as an immediate and useful therapy to treat neck pain.

• Journal of Korean Medical classics
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.73-83
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• 2021

Objectives : To organize the acupoints used to treat disorders of the head and face in the Zhenjiuzishengjing, and examine their characteristics in application. Methods : 1. The head and face area was divided into 8 parts according to the textbook of meridians and acupoints. Channels belonging to each part were marked. 2. Disorders as mentioned in the Zhenjiuzishengjing were categorized into 8 groups, accordingly. 3. Acupoints used to treat each disorder were organized according to the channels each belonged to. 4. The points were divided according to their proximity, and their application frequency was organized. 5. Based on the organized contents, the characteristics of using proximal and distal points, together with the interrelationship between the channel belonging to the afflicted area and the points locations were examined. Results : In treating disorders in the head and face area, various distal points along with proximal points were suggested in the Zhenjiuzishengjing. In some cases, points belonging to a channel that was irrelevant to the afflicted area were used widely; for proximal points, the Governor/Conception/Triple Energizer/Gallbladder channels were used. For distal points, channels that were related to the Five Zhang were used. Conclusions : Based on the contents of the Zhenjiuzishengjing, the following could be concluded: 1. When treating disorders of the head and face caused by heat, distal points were mostly used. 2. In cases where points which are not part of channels that pass the head or face were used, Zhang disfunction was likely behind such points selection.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.227-242
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• 2008

Objectives : To compare the efficacy of local acupoint with distal acupuncture at relieving pain and improving function in knee osteoarthritis. Designs : A randomized, single-blinded, crossover clinical trial. Settings : One outpatient clinic(department of acupuncture & moxibustion) located in academic teaching hospital, South Korea. Patients : 17 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee(mean age 62.76[$SD{\pm}4.37$] years). Interventions : The trial had 4 stages : baseline(2weeks), phase I and II(each 2weeks), washout period(2weeks). Patients were randomly assigned to either group A or group B. Group A received acupuncture at local acupoints during phase I, then acupuncture at distal acupoints in phase II. Group B received the treatments in reverse order. In each phase, the patients were treated with acupuncture for 6 times. Measurements : The primary outcome was subjective pain as measured by a 100mm visual analogue scale(VAS) ranging from 0(no pain) to 10(worst pain ever). Secondary outcomes were changes in the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index(WOMAC) total and pain scores. Measurements were obtained at baseline, 1st day of phase I and II, and 2 days after last treatment of phase I and II. Results : The 17 participants in 2 groups were well matched for age, sex, target knees, baseline VAS score, WOMAC pain score and WOMAC score. Participants in local acupoint group experienced greater improvement than distal acupoint group at 2 days after last treatment in WOMAC total score(mean difference, -10.65[95% CI, -20.56 to -0.74] ; P=0.036) but not in VAS(mean difference, -12.41[95% CI, -29.56 to 4.73] P=0.15) and WOMAC pain score(mean difference, -1.82[95% CI, -3.98 to 0.33] ; P=0.094). Conclusions : Local acupoints are more effective than distal acupoints at relieving pain and improving function in knee osteoarthritis.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.63-67
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• 2022

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to investigate the needling depth of five-phase acupoints and discuss the association with the depth of meridian qi. Methods : DongUiBoGam was used to determine the depth of five-phase acupoints. The depth of needling at 60 five-phase acupoints was compared between well, spring, stream, river, and sea acupoints. Results : The proximal part of the extremities had deeper needling depth than the distal part of the extremities. The targeted deqi sensation can be related to the needling depth. Conclusions : The depth of the meridian qi is related to the distinct patterns of needling depth of five-phase acupoints.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.117-125
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• 2022

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to investigate the needling depth of five-phase acupoints by acupuncture and moxibustion literatures. Methods : 7 volumes of acupuncture and moxibustion literatures was used to determine the depth of five-phase acupoints. The depth of needling at 60 five-phase acupoints was compared between well, spring, stream, river, sea acupoints and also yin, yang, hand and foot meridians. Results : The proximal part of the extremities had deeper needling depth than the distal part of the extremities. The order of well, spring, stream, river, sea can be related to the needling depth. Foot meridians had deeper needling depth than hand meridians. Yin meridians had deeper needling depth at Well, spring, stream acupoints and yan meridians had deeper needling depth at river, sea acupoints. Conclusions : The distinct patterns of needling depth of five-phase acupoints is related to which part of the extremities are five-phase acupoints located.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.431-440
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• 2012

Objectives : Recently, network science is very popular topic in various scientific fields and many studies have reported that it gives meaningful results on studying characteristics of a complex system. In this study, based on network theory, we made acupoints network using data of combined acupoints which appeared at "Beijiqianjinyaofang". We focused to find out the distinctive roles of remote and local combinations on the network. Furthermore, we aimed to identify the possibility of numerical and quantitative application to acupuncture researches. Methods : Based on examples of combined acupoints in "Beijiqianjinyaofang", the network consisted of 291 nodes and 2,431 links. The spatial distances between combined acupoints were calculated by the human dummy model. We removed the links step by step for the three cases - remote, local, and random cases, and observed the characteristic changes by calculating path lengths, similarity indices, and clustering coefficients. Also cluster analysis was carried out. Results : The network had a small number of remote links, and a large number of local links. These two links had the distinct characteristics. Whereas the local links formed a cluster of nearby nodes, remote links played a role to increase the correlation between the clusters. Conclusions : These results suggest that acupoints network increases the connectivity between the distal part and the trunk of human body, and enables various combinations of the acupoints. This finding conclusively showed that mechanism of combined acupoints could be interpreted meaningfully by applying network theory in acupuncture researches.

• Journal of Convergence Korean Medicine
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.13-17
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• 2022

Objectives: Primary dysmenorrhea is a representative disease that causes intestinal pain, and it has long been known that acupuncture treatment is effective. In this study, a network analysis was conducted using acupuncture points reported in the existing systematic literature review, and the combination of acupuncture points used to treat primary dysmenorrhea was analyzed. Methods: Among of a total of 60 papers, excluding those that used ear acupuncture, the analysis results indicated that combinations of BL23, BL40, BL25, BL60, BL30, Ashi-points, BL26, GB34, and GV3 were used in combination. Results: Through this, it can be seen that previous studies to reveal the effectiveness of acupuncture on back pain mainly used the acupoints of the bladder meridian (BL), local acupoints group, and distal acupoints group. Conclusion: In order to reveal the correlation between acupoints and therapeutic effects through future studies and to provide guidelines on the principles of selecting and combining acupoints, it is necessary to employ a quantitative analysis method for therapeutic effects and to provide detailed reports on acupoints.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.27-35
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• 2018

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to investigate the analgesic effect of electroacupuncture(EA) and radio-frequency warm needling(RFWN) stimulation in acupoint combination on ankle sprained pain in rats. Methods : The lateral ligaments of the Sprague-Dawley rats ankle were injured surgically resulting in sprain, of which was divided into EA, RFWN treatment groups and control group without treatment. The level of pain was measured through foot weight bearing force ratio followed by calculating pain relief. To stimulate proximal or distal area in ankle sprain, combination of proximal acupoints(GB34-GB39) and distal acupoints(GB39-GB42) from sprain area were applied, respectively, to either EA or RFWN stimulation. In addition, naltrexone or phentolamine was injected intraperitoneally before the stimulation to observe the pathway of analgesic effects. Results : In the proximal combination of GB34-GB39, EA and RFWN significantly increased pain relief compared to the control group (p<0.05). However, in distal combination with GB39-GB42, both EA and RFWN stimulation did not relieve pain due to ankle sprains. In the combination of GB34-GB39, the analgesia of EA was inhibited by blockade of the ${\alpha}$-adrenoceptor receptor. The analgesia of RFWN was inhibited by blockade of the ${\alpha}$-adrenoceptor receptor as well as ${\mu}$-opioid receptor. Conclusions : We observed that the proximal combination was effective in relieving pain when the treatment by acupoint combination was applied to the ankle sprain pain. Also, it was confirmed that this analgesia was also related to the pathways of ${\mu}$-opioid receptors and/or ${\alpha}$-adrenoceptors.