There was significant difference between acupuncture and sham treatment in pain reduction measured for all 3 methods by end of treatment. At follow up of 3 months after the last treatment, no significant changes were observed ().
The data for pain reduction by tender points were not completely reported, but the results showed that the number of tender points was not significantly decreased after acupuncture treatment in comparison to sham treatment (). The intensity of pain, measured by the VAS, also showed no significant reduction, neither immediately at the end of treatment or 2 months after the treatment ().
Acupuncture plus tricyclic antidepressants and exercise with tricyclic antidepressants and exercise
Patients in acupuncture group were significantly better than the control group in terms of VAS scores (), pressure pain threshold (PPT) (), the number of tender points below 4 kg/cm2 (), and in 5 subscales of the SF-36 ().
