Acupuncture may relieve eczema-induced itching

Munich, Germany

- Acupuncture may bring some relief to itching suffered by atopic eczema patients, Reuters Health reports.

Researchers at Technical University, Munich, Germany, examined the short-term effects of acupuncture on skin inflammation and itching in 30 atopic eczema patients. Investigators found that the therapy, when performed minutes after patients’ skin was exposed to an allergen (either pollen or dust mites), appeared to soothe subjective feelings of itchiness.

Researchers also found that when patients were exposed to the allergen for a second time shortly after acupuncture, their skin reaction tended to be less severe.

Reuters Health reports that lead researcher Florian Pfab, M.D., says that while his study’s findings show that in an “experimental setting” acupuncture seems to ease the itch of atopic eczema, the study does not show that acupuncture as practiced in the real world would have equally positive results.

The study notes that more research is needed to determine the extent to which acupuncture can help eczema sufferers.