Clinical observation of acupuncture and massage therapy for temporomandibular joint disorders

Purpose To explore simple and effective treatment method for temporomandibular joint disorders by investigating 96 temporomandibular joint disorder patients using electroacupuncture pulse stimulation and massage therapy. Methods Ninety-six patients with temporomandibular joint disorder including 54 patients with myofacial pain and 42 patients with external pterygoid muscle spasm, were invloved and then divided into electroacupuncture group and massage combined with electroacupuncture group equally and randomly, with 48 cases in each group. Patients in the electroacupuncture group only received electroacupuncture pulse stimulation therapy alone at the acupoints in the affected sides, including Shangguan, Xiaguan, Jiache, Tinggong and Hegu acupoint. Patients in the massage combined with electroacupuncture group underwent both electroacupuncture pulse stimulation and massage therapy. Acupoints stimulated in the two groups were same. The therapeutic effect in the two groups was compared using SPSS11.0 software package. Results The therapeutic effect of massage combined with electroacupuncture pulse stimulation therapy was more effective than electroacupuncture pulse stimulation therapy alone, especially for the patients at early stage of myofacial pain. Conclusions Electroacupuncture pulse stimulation combined with massage therapy has a good therapeutic effect on early temporomandibular joint disorders.