• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.140-149
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• 2018

Objectives : The aim of this study is to report the effect of herbal medicine and acupuncture on a breastfeeding woman's postpartum urticaria which was unresponsive to a 1st generation antihistamine and a topical steroid. Methods : Wheals and pruritus occurred to a 36-year-old breastfeeding woman 2 days after the parturition. Symptoms were unresponsive to about a week of systemic antihistamine and topical steroid treatments. GamiSamul-tang herbal decoction was administered three times a day for the first 21 days and twice a day for the next 10 days of the treatment. Acupuncture treatment was applied to 12 acupoints (both sides of LI04, LR03, ST36, LI11, SP10, SP6) for 15 minutes once a week, 5 times in total. The patient's symptom was evaluated with Weekly Urticaria Activity Scale (UAS7) and Visual Analogue Scale for Worst Pruritus within 24 hours ($VAS_{Pruritus}$) each time the patient visited out-patient department. Results : The scores of UAS7 and $VAS_{Pruritus}$ at the baseline were 38 and 8.2 respectively. 10 days after the herbal medicine and acupuncture treatment began, both decreased to 0 and wheal, pruritus, erythema didn't appeared again for the rest of the follow up periods. Conclusions : This study shows the possibility of using GamiSamul-tang and acupuncture to treat postpartum urticaria.