Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of long snake moxibustion and Ashi-point moxibustion in the treatment of cold-dampness type chronic non-specific low back pain(CNLBP) patients. Methods A total of 120 cold-dampness type CNLBP patients who signed the informed consent were randomly and equally divided into control

long snake moxibustion and Ashi-point moxibustion groups. Ginger-separated moxibustion was applied to the region between Dazhui(GV14) and Yaoshu(GV2) for patients of the long-snake moxibustion group

or to the tenderness spot of the waist for patients of the Ashi-point moxibustion group. The treatment was conducted for 40 min each time

once every other day for a total of 8 sessions. Patients of the control group did not receive any intervention. The visual analogue scale(VAS) was used to assess low back pain severity. The Oswestry Disability Index(ODI) was employed to assess ten aspects of patients' daily-life activities(pain intensity

personal care

lif-ting

walking

sitting

standing

sleeping

sex life

social life

and traveling). The cold-damp syndrome scores(pain property

symptoms

ranges of motion

waist palpation

tongue and pulse condition) were achieved by consulting the textbook "Differential Diagnostics of Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndromes". The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale(HADS

a self-made assessment instrument) was used to assess the patients' severity of emotional disorder. The plasma cortisol level was detected by ELISA. Results Before treatment

there were no significant differences among the three groups in the levels of all the indexes(P>0.05). After moxibustion

the VAS scores during rest and movement

ODI score

cold-damp syndrome score and anxiety score in both long snake moxibustion and Ashi-point moxibustion groups

and the HADS depression score and plasma cortisol content in the long snake moxibustion group were significantly reduced compared with their own pre-treatment(P<0.05). The difference values between pre and post-treatment of VAS scores during rest and movement

ODI score

cold-damp syndrome score

anxiety score

depression score and cortisol content were obviously higher in the long snake moxibustion and Ashi-point moxibustion groups than those in the control group. The difference values between pre-and post-treatment of VAS scores during rest and movement

ODI score

cold-damp syndrome score

anxiety score

depression score and cortisol content were obviously higher in the long snake moxibustion group than in the Ashi-point group(P<0.05). Conclusion Both ginger-separated long snake moxibustion and Ashi-point moxibustion can relieve low back pain

daily-life activities

cold-damp syndrome

negative emotions

and reducing cortisol level in cold-dampness type CNLBP patients

and the therapeutic efficacy of long snake moxibustion is obviously better.