BACKGROUND: Spinal cord injury (SCI) survivors often experience constipation, which contributes to a reduced sense of well-being and a lower quality of life. Acupressure offers a non-pharmacological and non-invasive alternative therapy for treating constipation. OBJECTIVE: This study examined the effects of home-based acupressure on constipation and subjective well-being among SCI survivors. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTIONS: This randomized controlled trial randomly assigned 80 adults from Hong Kong with SCI to two study groups. Using a video demonstration filmed by a registered traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, the intervention group performed home-based acupressure (self-administered or caregiver-assisted) twice daily, 15 min/session, for 10 consecutive days. The control group performed manual light touching of the abdomen with the same frequency and duration as the intervention group. Both groups received defecation education through a structured booklet. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: The primary outcome was constipation severity. Secondary outcomes included bowel habits, psychological well-being, and quality of life. Focus group interviews were conducted after the intervention to collect subjective feedback from participants. RESULTS: Significant group-by-time interaction effects on constipation severity (P = 0.005) and quality of life (P = 0.001) revealed that home-based acupressure produced better results than the control. These treatment effects persisted at the one-month follow-up and continued to have a large effect size (Cohen's d > 0.8). Compared to the control group, the acupressure group also had improvements in anxiety (Cohen's d = 0.69) and depression (Cohen's d = 0.72) at the end of the intervention period. Three qualitative categories were identified from the focus group interviews: improvements in bowel function and management; reduced psychological distress following relief from constipation; and acceptability of home-based acupressure. CONCLUSION: Acupressure effectively relieves constipation, enhances psychological well-being, and improves quality of life in people with SCI. These data provide novel evidence supporting the use of home-based acupressure as an acceptable and effective therapy for treating constipation after SCI. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05558657). Please cite this article as: Li MQ, Li Y, Lam W, Yeung WF, Ho YS, Li JY, Sun TC, Yuen S, Hu YL, Yorke J. Home-based acupressure for managing constipation and subjective well-being in spinal cord injury survivors: A randomized controlled trial. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(6):660-669.
Humans ; Acupressure/methods* ; Constipation/psychology* ; Male ; Female ; Spinal Cord Injuries/complications* ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Quality of Life ; Aged

OBJECTIVE: To identify the effectiveness of auricular acupressure (AA) in patients with acute postoperative pain after surgery by systematic review. METHODS: A search of randomized controlled trials was conducted in 5 English medical electronic databases and 4 Chinese databases. Two reviewers independently retrieved related studies, assessed the methodological quality, and extracted data with a standardized data form. Meta-analyses were performed using all time-points meta-analysis. RESULTS: A total of 26 studies with 1,682 participants were included. Results showed that compared with conventional therapy, AA significantly improved the total effective rate [risk ratio=1.25, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.13 to 1.37, Plt;0.0001; heterogeneity: Plt;0.0001, I=85%]. In the subgroup analysis, the results changed in different follow-up time and surgery categories. The pain relief in the AA group might be the most significant at 72 h after surgery (mean difference=-0.85, 95% CI,-1.20 to-0.50, Plt;0.0001) and in abdominal surgery (mean difference=-1.15, 95% CI,-1.41 to-0.90, Plt;0.0001). Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that the results of this meta-analysis were stable. No serious adverse effects were recorded. CONCLUSION It was recommended to provide AA to patients with acute postoperative pain. However, a more accurate estimate of the effect requires further rigorously designed large-scale and high-quality RCTs for improving acute postoperative pain after surgery.
Acupressure ; methods ; Acute Disease ; Ear ; Humans ; Pain, Postoperative ; therapy ; Publication Bias

PURPOSE: To examine the effects of auricular acupressure on symptoms of patients with allergic rhinitis and their quality of life. METHODS: A quasi experimental was used with a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest method involving 56 adult outpatients who were seen in the Allergy & Asthma clinic at a tertiary referral hospital in Seoul, Korea. The experimental group (n=28) received 2 weeks of auricular acupressure to the Shenmen, wind stream, endocrine, adrenal, and lung acupuncture points; no acupressure was provided to the control group (n=28). Outcome measures included Total Nasal Symptom Score used to assess nasal symptoms, and the Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire to assess the quality of life. Repeated measure ANOVA and independent t-test were used to calculate statistical significance. RESULTS: The experimental group showed significant improvements in terms of allergic rhinitis symptoms (p < .001) and on the Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (p < .001) compared to the control group. CONCLUSION: Finding in this study indicate that auricular acupressure can be used as a nursing intervention to alleviate nasal symptoms and improve rhinoconjuctivitis quality of life in allergic rhinitis patients.
Acupressure* ; Acupuncture Points ; Adult ; Asthma ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Korea ; Lung ; Methods ; Nursing ; Outcome Assessment (Health Care) ; Outpatients ; Quality of Life* ; Rhinitis ; Rhinitis, Allergic* ; Rivers ; Seoul ; Tertiary Care Centers ; Wind

OBJECTIVETo explore the clinical effect of combination of acupressure and magnetic sticker on the quality of life (QOL) including appetite, defecation, and sleep in patients with advanced gastroenteric tumor.

METHODSTotally 147 patients with advanced gastroenteric tumor were assigned to 4 groups according to different treatment methods, i.e., the supportive treatment group (A, 20 cases), the acupressure treatment group (B, 41 cases), the magnetic sticker treatment group (C, 40 cases), and a combination of acupressure and magnetic sticker treatment group (D, 46 cases). They were respectively treated with different methods, supportive treatment for group A, acupressure for group B, magnetic sticker for group C, and a combination of acupressure and magnetic sticker for group D. The scores of food intake, defecation frequency, sleep time, Karnofsky, and QOL were compared before treatment and at day 14 after treatment.

RESULTSAfter treatment, the scores of food intake, defecation frequency, and sleep time were obviously improved in B, C and D groups (P < 0.01). There was statistical difference between group D and group A (P < 0.01). In addition, in comparison with A group, both Karnofsky score and QOL score increased in B, C and D groups (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe assisted therapy of the combination of acupressure and magnetic sticker could ameliorate QOL such as the digestive functions and sleep in patients with advanced gastroenteric tumor.

Acupressure ; methods ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms ; therapy ; Humans ; Magnetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Quality of Life ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVEDifficulty falling asleep (sleep latency) and staying asleep (sleep maintenance) are common problems for persons living with pain. Research demonstrates that sleep problems are, in turn, related to exacerbation of chronic pain. There is a growing body of evidence for a range of pragmatic, non-pharmacological sleep interventions that can potentially be incorporated into pain management programs. This study looks at the outcome of teaching patients with musculoskeletal pain standardized pre-bedtime hand self-Shiatsu (HSS) to reduce sleep latency.

METHODSA case series design, with participants acting as their own controls, was selected to facilitate hypothesis generation for this novel, under-researched intervention. Sleep efficiency, latency and maintenance, sleep beliefs, pain intensity and basic participant demographics were collected at baseline with actigraphy and standardized self-report questionnaires. After one week of baseline data collection, the HSS intervention was taught to participants. Follow-up data were collected at 2 and 8 weeks post-intervention.

RESULTSData collected at baseline and the two follow-up periods revealed no apparent changes in the objective actigraphy data. However a trend toward improved self-reported sleep latency (time to fall asleep) and sleep duration (time spent asleep) emerged. A number of participants reported they were more concerned with increasing their period of unbroken sleep as opposed to their total sleep time and it is possible that HSS may be useful to be applied during nighttime awakenings as well as before bed. None of the participants reported adverse effects of the intervention.

CONCLUSIONThese preliminary findings are promising and future studies exploring the mechanism of action and with stronger control of treatment fidelity are indicated.

Actigraphy ; Acupressure ; methods ; Aged ; Chronic Pain ; complications ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pain Measurement ; Pilot Projects ; Self Care ; Sleep Wake Disorders ; etiology ; therapy ; Surveys and Questionnaires

The key points of acupoint selection and manipulations of Professor WU Bing-huang's experiences on emergency treatment with acupressure are introduced. It includes emergency treatment on coma (collapse, faint, faint at the sight of blood, faint during acupuncture, faint during moxibustion, shock, etc.), and pain, cough as well as asthma relieving with acupressure (include abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, toothache, dysmenorrhea, lumbago, neck stiffness after sleep, cough, asthma, etc.). At the same time, typical cases are given as examples.
Acupressure ; methods ; Adult ; Analgesia ; Asthma ; therapy ; Cough ; therapy ; Emergency Treatment ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of auricular acupoint pressing (AAP) for analgesia during perioperative period of total knee joint replacement.

METHODSSixty patients with osteoarthritis of ASA grade I - III scheduled to receive unilateral total knee joint replacement were equally randomized into the AAP group and the control group, 30 in each group. The general anesthesia on all patients was implemented by physicians of an identical group through endotracheal intubation. To the patients in the AAP group, AAP with Vaccaria seed was applied before operation, and the local analgesia on affected limb with acupoint pasting was used after operation. Besides, administering of celecoxib 400 mg on the day before operation, and celecoxib 200 mg twice daily post-operation was given to all patients. When the visual analogue scales (VAS) reached more than 7 points, 0.1 g of bucinnazine hydrochloride was given for supplement. Meantime, same post-operative training methods were adopted in both groups. The resting VAS pain scores, contentment of sedation, incidence of adverse event, postoperative range of motion (ROM) of knee joint and Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) score were recorded.

RESULTSThe resting VAS pain scores at 6 h and 24 h after operation was 5.99 +/- 0.67 scores and 4.26 +/- 0.59 scores in the AAP group respectively, which was significantly lower than that in the control group at the corresponding time (7.02 +/- 0.85 scores and 4.92 +/- 0.43 scores, P < 0.01); but it showed insignificant difference between the two groups at 1 h and 48 h after operation (P > 0.05); sedation contentment in the two groups was similar; incidence of adverse event in the AAP groups seemed lower (4 cases vs. 11 cases), but the intergroup difference was statistically insignificant (P > 0.05). ROM before surgery were 75.63 degrees +/- 5.74 degrees and 75.43 degrees +/- 5.63 degrees in the two groups respectively, showing no significant difference (P > 0.05), two weeks after operation, the initiative ROM raised to 96.50 degrees +/- 3.79 degrees and 93.50 degrees +/- 3.50 degrees, and the passive ROM reached 107.8 degrees +/- 3.37 degrees and 105.27 degrees +/- 3.25 degrees in the two groups respectively, with statistical significance between them (P < 0.05). HSS score was similar between groups before operation (60.23 +/- 3.44 scores vs. 61.70 +/- 2.83 scores, P > 0.05); while it became 86.97 +/- 2.33 scores and 85.37 +/- 2.30 scores after operation, showing significant difference between groups (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONApplying auricular acupoint pressing in perioperative period of knee joint replacement is favorable for alleviating postoperative pain, decreasing narcotic consumption, and promoting early rehabilitation, and it has the advantages of low cost, less complication, simple manipulation and high safety.

Acupressure ; methods ; Acupuncture Points ; Aged ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee ; Ear Auricle ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Pain, Postoperative ; therapy ; Perioperative Period

Acupressure ; methods ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Cervical Vertebrae ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Spinal Curvatures ; pathology ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

Acupressure ; Adult ; Cervical Vertebrae ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Manipulation, Spinal ; methods ; Middle Aged ; Spondylosis ; therapy

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of meridian massage on menopausal symptoms and Shin-Hur in middle-aged menopausal women. METHOD: The research design was a nonequivalent control group pre-post experimental design. The subjects of the study were middle-aged women who had had no menstruation in the last 12 months after the last menstrual bleeding. Cards of invitation on bulletin boards of several apartments were placed to recruit the subjects. The cards of invitation included: purpose of the study, eligibility criteria, method and period. Eighteen women in the experimental group and 16 women in the control group were conveniently assigned, respectively. The experimental group received 20 min meridian massage 3 times per week for 4 weeks. The menopausal symptoms and Shin-hur were measured and compared between the two groups before and after the intervention. Data were analyzed with the SPSS program by Fisher's exact test, Wilcoxon Sign Rank test, Mann Whitney U-test and Spearman's rank correlation. RESULT: The experimental group showed a significant decrease of menopausal symptoms (U=77.00, p=.020) and Shin-Hur (U=76.00, p=.017). There was a significantly positive correlation between menopausal symptoms and Shin-Hur (r=.497, p=.003). CONCLUSION: Meridian massage was effective in improving menopausal symptoms and Shin-Hur in middle-aged menopausal women. Thus it can be useful as a nursing intervention for menopausal women.
Abdomen ; *Acupressure ; Acupuncture Points ; Female ; Humans ; Massage/*methods ; Meridians ; Middle Aged ; *Postmenopause ; Women's Health