{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,13]],"date-time":"2026-01-13T01:48:28Z","timestamp":1768268908808,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,29]],"date-time":"2025-05-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1748476800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Sichuan Nursing Association","award":["H22049"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["H22049"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Alternative therapeutic strategies for herpes zoster, especially for acute phase pain relief, are still largely unexplored. This study aimed to compare the effects of wrist-ankle acupuncture combined with standard pharmacological treatment versus standard pharmacological treatment alone in relieving pain in the acute phase of herpes zoster. An open-label, randomized, controlled clinical trial was conducted, enrolling patients diagnosed with acute-phase herpes zoster with pain visual analog scale (VAS) scores greater than or equal to 2. The participants were randomly assigned to either the control group receiving standard pharmacological treatment (antiviral therapy combined with pain relievers) alone or the experimental group receiving wrist-ankle acupuncture plus standard pharmacological treatment. VAS pain scores were recorded on days 1\u20137 and on day 28 after treatment began. Dermatology Life Quality Index scores were assessed both during the pre-treatment phase and at hospital discharge. A total of 106 patients completed the trial protocol and were included in the analysis, with 52 and 54 patients in the control and experimental groups, respectively. The clinical cure rates of pain (the rate of complete absence of pain) in the experimental group was statistically higher than control group on days 7 after treatment began(87.04% vs 65.38%, p\u2009&lt;\u20090.005). The average pain VAS scores of the experimental group were lower than the control group on days 2\u20136 after treatment began, and they are statistically significant (all p\u2009&lt;\u20090.05). No significant difference was observed between day 7 and day 28 after treatment began (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009&gt;\u20090.05). The Dermatology Life Quality Index scores significantly differed at hospital discharge (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009&lt;\u20090.05). Side effects did not significantly differ between the two groups (all <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009&gt;\u20090.05). Wrist-ankle acupuncture combined with standard pharmacological treatment may potentially improve the pain cure rate at 7 days post-treatment. This suggests a potential new strategy for alleviating pain in patients in the acute phase of herpes zoster. <jats:bold>Trial registration:<\/jats:bold> ChiCTR2300071795.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0318386","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,29]],"date-time":"2025-05-29T17:25:56Z","timestamp":1748539556000},"page":"e0318386","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Wrist-ankle acupuncture alleviates pain in the acute phase of herpes zoster: A randomized controlled trial"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Jing","family":"Pu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Daiwen","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xia","family":"Luo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Juan","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yanxia","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Li","family":"Lei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xiankun","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Huan","family":"Du","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xiyue","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6348-0636","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Xiaobo","family":"Du","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0318386.ref001","article-title":"Herpes zoster infection","volume":"364","author":"P Le","year":"2019","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"issue":"11","key":"pone.0318386.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1341","DOI":"10.4065\/82.11.1341","article-title":"A population-based study of the incidence and complication rates of herpes zoster before zoster vaccine introduction","volume":"82","author":"BP Yawn","year":"2007","journal-title":"Mayo Clin Proc"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0318386.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"221","DOI":"10.1093\/cid\/ciw296","article-title":"Increasing Incidence of Herpes Zoster Over a 60-year Period From a Population-based Study","volume":"63","author":"K Kawai","year":"2016","journal-title":"Clin Infect Dis"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0318386.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103","DOI":"10.15585\/mmwr.mm6703a5","article-title":"Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices for Use of Herpes Zoster Vaccines","volume":"67","author":"KL Dooling","year":"2018","journal-title":"MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep"},{"issue":"16","key":"pone.0318386.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2429","DOI":"10.1002\/sim.851","article-title":"Phase specific analysis of herpes zoster associated pain data: a new statistical approach","volume":"20","author":"RB Arani","year":"2001","journal-title":"Statistics in Medicine"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0318386.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"453","DOI":"10.3390\/medicina60030453","article-title":"Transforaminal Epidural Block and Erector Spinae Plane Block to Manage Acute Zoster-Associated Pain: A Retrospective Case-Control Study","volume":"60","author":"H Soh","year":"2024","journal-title":"Medicina (Kaunas)"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0318386.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"255","DOI":"10.12968\/jpar.2023.15.6.255","article-title":"Should video laryngoscopy or direct laryngoscopy be used for adults undergoing endotracheal intubation in the pre-hospital setting? 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