Contralateral acupuncture appeared most effective for one-sided musculoskeletal pain when patients showed unequal pulse strength between sides.
This retrospective observational case study reviewed records from patients with one-sided musculoskeletal pain who received contralateral acupuncture using the Geoja technique. Researchers classified patients according to whether they had differences in pulse strength assessed through a traditional Korean medicine diagnostic approach, then compared changes in pain, disability, and joint movement between the groups.
Pain, disability, and range of motion improved after treatment, with clinically meaningful pain improvement in both groups. However, patients with pulse strength differences experienced greater improvement than those without such differences, suggesting that pulse asymmetry may help identify patients more likely to benefit from contralateral acupuncture.
