Contralateral needling at unblocked collaterals can promote recovery of affected limb in stroke patients

Hemiplegia caused by stroke indicates the dysfunctions of the neurological network between the brain and limbs. Under this condition, conventional acupuncture at the acupoints on the affected side can not transmit stimulus signal to the brain. Contralateral needling at unblocked collaterals can transmit signal into the brain and then regulate the affected limb. However, there is little well-designed and controlled clinical evidence for this practice. Prof. Huanmin Gao and co-workers from People's Hospital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in China performed contralateral needling at acupoints Chize (LU5) and Jianliao (TE14) in 106 stroke patients presenting complete hemiplegia and found that contralateral needling at these two acupoints can significantly promote the recovery of affected limb function of stroke patients with therapeutic effects superior to conventional acupuncture. This study has been reported in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 31, 2013).