Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of superficial needling plus external washing with Chinese herbal medicine in treating post-stroke shoulder-hand syndrome.Methods Sixty patients with post-stroke shoulder-hand syndrome were randomly allocated to treatment and control groups, 30 cases each. The treatment group received superficial needling plus external washing with Chinese herbal medicine and the control group, conventional acupuncture. Pain severity was assessed using the visual analogue scale (VAS) and upper limb function was assessed using the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) of motor recovery in the two groups before and after treatment. The clinical therapeutic effects were compared between the two groups.Results The total efficacy rate was 96.7% in the treatment group and 83.3% in the control group; there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05). There were statistically significant pre-/post-treatment differences in the VAS score and the FMA score in the two groups (P<0.05). There were statistically significant post-treatment differences in the VAS score and the FMA score between the treatment and control groups (P<0.05).Conclusion Superficial needling plus external washing with Chinese herbal medicine is an effective way to treat post-stroke shoulder-hand syndrome.