Background: Nummular eczema (NE) is an inflammatory skin disease characterized by pruritic coin-shaped lesions and a long-lasting and easy-relapsing course, which severely decreases patients' qual-ity of life. This case was designed to observe the effects of specific acupuncture techniques on pruritic NE management.Case presentation: A 22-year-old female was first diagnosed with pruritic NE three years earlier. No al-lergies were found in the patch test;while emotional stress would trigger and aggravate the NE. External application of 0.1％tacrolimus failed to reverse this condition over a long period of treatment. Treatment&outcomes: An individualized acupuncture treatment protocol was identified. Half needling and encircling needling were applied at local eczematous lesions, with routine needling at meridian points, once per week, for 12 treatment sessions. All outcome measures, including the Eczema Area and Severity Index, Visual Analogue Scale score for pruritus, Self-Rating Anxiety Score, and Dermatology Quality Life Index, substantially improved over 6 months from pre-treatment to 3 months post-treatment. Conclusion: Acupuncture might be a promising non-pharmacological treatment method for patients with NE, especially for those with emotional stress. A randomized controlled trial with an adequate sample size and rigorous study design is required to verify the results of the study.

Objective: To explore the analgesic effects and uterine hemodynamics of perpendicular needling (PN) and transverse needling (TN) at SP 6 in patients with primary dysmenorrhea (PD). Methods: In this randomized controlled trial, patients with PD diagnosed with cold-dampness con-gealing pattern were randomly assigned in a ratio of 1:1 to receive PN or TN at bilateral SP 6 for 10 min. Acupuncture was performed when the menstrual pain score was over 40 mm on the first day of menstruation, as measured using the visual analog scale for pain (VAS-P). The primary outcome was average menstrual pain (VAS-P). Secondary outcomes included the pulsatility index (PI), resistance index (RI), and systolic-diastolic peaks ratio (S/D) in uterine arteries as measured using color Doppler ultra-sonography;anxiety as assessed using the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA), blood pressure (BP), and heart rate (HR). Results: Forty-eight patients completed the study. The TN group exhibited a significant reduction in VAS-P scores (-5.71 mm, 95％ confidence interval (CI): -8.78, -2.63, P = .001), RI values (-0.05, 95％ CI:-0.09,-0.01, P=.015), and HAMA values (-2.50, 95％CI:-4.78,-0.22, P=.032) when compared with the PN group. No significant differences in PI, S/D, BP, or HR values were observed between the two groups (P>.05). Conclusion: TN at SP 6 was superior to PN in alleviating menstrual pain and anxiety in patients with PD. This analgesic effect of TN may be due to its better ability to improve uterine arterial blood flow via decreases in RI values.