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Changes in skin impedance and heart rate variability with application of Acu-TENS to BL 13 (Feishu)
Shirley P C Ngai1, Alice Y M Jones
1Center for East-meets-West in Rehabilitation Sciences, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong.
Objectives:
To investigate the change of skin impedance of acupoints along the Lung meridian in response to transcutaneous electrical nervous stimulation over an acupoint (Acu-TENS) over BL13 (Feishu).
Design:
This was a double-blinded, randomized, controlled crossover study.
Settings/Location:
The study was conducted in a laboratory.
Subjects:
Eighteen (18) healthy individuals comprised the study subjects.
Interventions:
The intervention was a session of 45-minute Acu-TENS (application of TENS on BL13, Feishu) or placebo-TENS (similar to Acu-TENS but without electrical output).
Outcome Measures:
Skin impedance at 10 acupoints on the Lung meridian was recorded before and after the 45-minute intervention period. Heart rate variability during the intervention was analyzed from continuous heart rate monitoring.
Results:
Skin impedance at all acupoints along the lung meridian decreased significantly after Acu-TENS, when compared to placebo-TENS (p<0.05). A significant reduction in sympathetic activity was also observed after Acu-TENS (p=0.012).
Conclusions:
Acu-TENS appears to modify skin impedance of acupoints along a related meridian and possibly modulates sympathovagal balance.
