Action of ear acupuncture in people with chronic pain in the spinal column: a randomized clinical trial

ABSTRACT Objectives: to assess the action of ear acupuncture on disability and tissue temperature in people with chronic pain in the spinal column. Method: a clinical trial with a sample of 110 people, randomized into three groups: Treatment, Placebo and Control. The assessment instruments were the Rolland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ) and a thermographic camera, administered before the first treatment session, one week after and 15 days after (follow-up) the fifth session of ear acupuncture. In the analysis of the data, the Kruskal Wallis, Student-Newman Keuls and Wilcoxon tests were applied. Results: there was a significant reduction in disability in the Treatment and Placebo groups between the initial and final assessments (p