Effect of acupuncture on the healing of benign vocal fold lesions

Abstract

Acupuncture treatment has been an active field of research in Western Medicine for many years. This study aims to study the healing effect of acupuncture treatment on vocal fold lesions. Fifty-five subjects that were randomized into three groups, genuine, sham and control group underwent 12-weekly acupuncture treatments, and data from the assessment at pre-treatment, post-treatment and 1 month post-treatment were analyzed. The genuine group received acupuncture treatment on nine acupuncture points. The sham group received the same acupuncture treatment except with blunt needles. Five visual-perceptual judgment of stroboscopic parameters were used to measure the recovery of the vocal folds. Results were inconclusive in terms of whether acupuncture treatment was effective in healing the vocal folds.