The Technique of Yang’s Hooked Needle for Treating Radiohumeral Epicondylitis

The hooked needle, which is initially innovated home and abroad, is a novel and unique needling instrument made under the guidance of traditional Chinese medicine theory and on the basis of the ancient “Nine Needles”. It has acquired the national patent. Radiohumeral epicondylitis (syndrome of stagnation of Qi and blood) is a common and frequently-encountered disease which is consistently recurrent thus is refractory for treatment. The hooked-needle therapy is of not only the remarkable near-term effect but also the fairly good long-term effect. The effect of treated group of hooked-needle therapy is significantly better than that of the control group with conventional acupuncture（P<0.01）. This therapy is safe and no untoward effect and also simple to perform.

Features of the Technique：

1. The related meridians and the locus of disease should be emphasized.

2. It has not only the significant near-term effect but also the long-term one.

3. Satisfactory safety and no untoward effects.

4. Simple to use and easy to be popularized, and no special equipments required.

5. Treatment course is short and the expense is low.

Treatment method:

1. Instruments:

（1）The acupuncture needles of brand Huatuo, manufactured by Suzhou Medical Apparatus Factory, are 0.32mm of diameter and 1.5 cun in length.

（2）Hooked needle is self-made.

（3）Hand-muscle spring grip: for measuring the gripping power, is specially made for the competition of middle school students in China and is manufactured by Shanghai Jindian Industrial Company Ltd.

（4）The self-made NL-90 dynamometer of human elbow twisting force.

2. Treatment method and procedures:

（1）The patient takes supine-lying position with the affected arm flexed to the angle of 90o and the locus of disease is exposed with the palm stuck on the chest.

（2）The acupuncture physician sits on the side of the affected arm, taking appropriate distance for easy operation. The tender spot is ascertained and marked and sterile technique is given in the local area. The left thumb or index finger is used as the pressing hand while the right hand holds the sterilized hooked needle as if holding a pen. The needle tip is downward and is thrust swiftly into the subcutaneous tissues and then the lifting-thrusting manipulations is done to achieve the arrival of Qi. Then the needle is not taken out but thrust toward different directions to perform the hooking-pulling and plucking techniques and subsequently the vibrating technique is performed for 10 times. Afterwards, the blunt part of the needle head is used to do the gentle massage for the periosteum. The manipulation is fairly heavy and upon the withdrawal of needle the needle hole is enlarged by swaying the needle so as to reduce the excessive pathogens. After the needling manipulation, the needle is withdrawn from the inserting direction and the needle hole is covered by the “Chuangkoutie” plaster.

3. Course of treatment:
it takes 8 minutes each treatment and the treatment is given once for every other day and there is an interval for 2 or 3 days after every 2 sessions. 6 sessions are for one course of treatment and 2 courses are necessary.

Clinical Conclusion：

Ashi points were selected in the control group. To compare the therapeutic effect, 106 cases were treated in the treated group, the cure rate was 83%, improved rate was 14.15%, and the unchanged rate was 2.88%; while in the control group 103 cases were treated, the cure rate was 21.35%, improved rate was 54.37%, and the unchanged rate was 24.7%, so the effect of the treated group was noticeably higher than that of the control group and the statistical evaluation found the noticeable difference. The cure rate of the treated group 3 months and 6 months after the treatment was stopped was respectively 84.31% and 85.71%; while those of the control group was respectively 22.1% and 21.17%, so there was a noticeable difference according to the statistical analysis, the cure rate of the treated group was higher than that of the control group. No any accident or untoward effects occurred.

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