Effects of Acupuncture on Explosive Force Production by the Healthy Female Shoulder Joint

I-Lin Wang; Yi-Ming Chen; Jun Wang; Rui Hu; Ke-Ke Zhang; Chun-Sheng Ho

doi:10.1155/2020/8835672

Effects of Acupuncture on Explosive Force Production by the Healthy Female Shoulder Joint

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2020 Dec 1:2020:8835672. doi: 10.1155/2020/8835672. eCollection 2020.

Authors

I-Lin Wang¹, Yi-Ming Chen¹, Jun Wang², Rui Hu², Ke-Ke Zhang², Chun-Sheng Ho^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ The College of Physical Education, Hubei Normal University, Huangshi City 435002, China.
² Graduate Institute, Jilin Sport University, Changchun, Jilin 130022, China.
³ Department of Physical Therapy, College of Medical and Health Science, Asia University, Taichung 41354, Taiwan.
⁴ Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Lo-Hsu Foundation, Inc., Lotung Poh-Ai Hospital, Yilan 26546, Taiwan.

Abstract

Background: Acupuncture is often used to treat chronic conditions, such as pain. In recent years, given the importance of the explosive forces generated by shoulder muscles for the completion of motor tasks, studies in which nerves were stimulated through acupuncture to increase the explosive forces were conducted. This study explored the effect of acupuncture on explosive force production by the muscles of the female shoulder joint.

Methods: Eighteen healthy women underwent shoulder adduction (Add), abduction (Abd), flexion (Flex), and extension (Ext) tests with an isokinetic measurement system. Acupuncture was used to stimulate the Zhongfu (LU1), Tianfu (LI3), Xiabai (LU4), Binao (LI14), Naohui (SJ13), Jianliao (SJ14), and Xiaoluo (SJ12) points, and electromyography (EMG) signals were recorded before and after acupuncture.

Results: After acupuncture, there was a significant difference in the average maximum work, the average maximum power, the average maximum speed, the total work in Add/Abd and Flex/Ext, the EMG signals, and the stiffness of the muscles in Abd and Ext (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in the average maximum torque in Abd or Flex.

Conclusion: Based on the results, there may be a significant correlation between the manipulation of different acupoints by acupuncture and the average maximum torque and stiffness. Acupuncture may stimulate nerves to activate muscles and induce a postactivation potentiation effect that improves explosive force production. Therefore, acupuncture as an auxiliary tool may increase the explosive forces generated by acupoint-related muscles by stimulating nerves.