Objective: To observe the therapeutic effect of acupuncture in treatment of herpes zoster. Methods: A total of 38 cases of herpes zoster patients including 16 males and 22 females were subjected into the present observation. The shortest duration of disease was 2 days and the longest 11 days. The focal regions involved chest

back

neck and face. After routine sterilization

the bilateral thumb joint acupoints were punctured with a three edged needle and squeezed to let about 2～3 drops of blood out. Filiform needles were separately inserted into the surrounding tissues of the focus region

with the needle tips towards the central part of the focus. The distance between every two needles was about 3～ 4 cm . The needles were manipulated gently and retained for 30～60 min. Results: Following 20 sessions of acupuncture treatment

of the 38 cases

31 (81.6%) were cured and 7 (18.4%) had marked amelioration. Conclusion: Acupuncture of thumb joint acupoint with focal enclosing needling has a good therapeutic effect in treatment of herpes zoster.