Acupuncture Fails to Improve Symptoms and Quality of Life in Patients With Acne Vulgaris

According to a study published in Acupuncture in Medicine, acupuncture is not an effective treatment method to improve symptoms and quality of life in patients with acne vulgaris (AV).

Researchers aimed to examine acupuncture effectiveness in treating moderate or severe AV symptoms and whether it improves quality of life (QoL) for patients with AV in a randomized sham acupuncture-controlled trial. Patients were randomized 1:1 to receive 12 treatments over 4 weeks with 24 weeks of follow-up.

No difference in the change from baseline in the Skindex-16 scale total score at treatment completion was found. Also, no difference was found in the Skindex-16 subscale score, Dermatology Life Quality Index scale total score, total lesion count and inflammatory lesion count, and visual analogue scale scores for itch and pain evaluation.

“Acupuncture may not effectively relieve the symptoms of patients with moderate or severe AV, or improve QoL,” concluded the study authors. “Given the limitations of a relatively short treatment course compared to other studies and the likelihood that sham acupuncture is not inert, further studies with treatment durations of 12 weeks or longer and a waitlist (no treatment) control or Western medicine-treated control group should be considered to evaluate the effects of acupuncture on AV,” they added.

Reference
Jiao R, Zhai X, Zhang X, Xiong Z, Liu Z. Efficacy of acupuncture in improving symptoms and quality of life of patients with acne vulgaris: a randomized sham acupuncture-controlled trial. Acupunct Med. Published online April 18, 2022. doi:10.1177/09645284221076506