Auricular and Body Acupuncture Both Lower Preoperative Anxiety

Anxiety is a part of life, this we know.  But when it is too strong or too consistent it can cause many problems in the body.  Certain events such as operations can bring about immense anxiety in patients and this is well known to cause complications.  The chemistry of anxiety can lead to tenser muscle tissue particularly which can be difficult to cut during surgery and may lead to longer recovery times and possibly even problems during the surgery.

Researchers from the Department of Psychology at the Fourth Military Medical University in Xi'an China recently conducted a study comparing two forms of acupuncture on lower anxiety levels before surgeries. The researchers compared body acupuncture points and auricular acupuncture points to see which would lower anxiety levels more and for the longest duration.

The study involved 35 patients randomly selected who were about to have an operation. The Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) was used to analyze effectiveness.

Both techniques resulted in 10-20 point drops in anxiety levels before surgery with the difference between body and auricular acupuncture being insignificant.  This is interesting as the auricular point shenmen is often considered important for these types of situations.