Intervention group | Control group | |
---|---|---|
Main acupoints | GV20, GV24, GV29, RN6, RN4, SP6, HT7, EX-HN22 | GV20, GV24, GV29, RN6, RN4, SP6, HT7, EX-HN22 |
Added acupoints | Kidney yang deficiency GV4, BL23 | Kidney yang deficiency GV4, BL23 |
Kidney yin deficiency KI3, KI7 | Kidney yin deficiency KI3, KI7 | |
Depth of insertion | GV20, GV24, GV29, RN6, RN4, EX-HN22 10 mm | No insertion |
HT7, SP6, GV4, BL23, KI7, KI3 15 mm | ||
Needle type | Steel needle (Wuxi Jiajian Medical Co. Ltd., Wuxi, China) | Blunt-tip needle (Streitberger Placebo-needle) |
Needle sensation | With de-qi sensation | Without de-qi sensation |
Electric stimulation | Needle on GV20, GV29 connected to G6805–2 Multi-Purpose Health Device (Shanghai Medical Instruments High-Techno, China) with electric pulse at a frequency of 2.5 Hz and an intensity of 45 mA | Needle on GV20, GV29, connected to G6805–2 Multi-Purpose Health Device (Shanghai Medical Instruments High-Techno, China) without electric pulse |
Frequency and duration | Three times per week for the first four weeks | Three times per week for the first four weeks |
Twice per week for the next two weeks | Twice per week for the next two weeks | |
Once per week for the final two weeks | Once per week for the final two weeks |