Deqi Is Double-Faced: The Acupuncture Practitioner’s and the Subject’s Perspective

Figure 1

Intensity of acupuncture perception. Practitioners () of an acupuncture needle (A, C) or subjects () of an acupuncture stimulation (B, D) subjectively rated the intensity of feeling using a 7-point Likert scale (range 0–6) for the acupoint LI4 (A, B) or ST36 (C, D). Acupuncture stimulation and rating were performed through four sequential phases: (1) insertion into shallow depth (approximately 0.3 cm), (2) advancement into moderate depth (approximately 0.6 cm), (3) advancement into deep depth (approximately 0.9 cm), and (4) twirling once a second for 10 seconds. Values are represented as mean ± standard error. Superscript letters (a, b, and c) represent homogenous subset groups by Duncan post hoc multiple comparisons following one way analysis of variance of ratings over four phases. , , and by paired sample test between ratings for LI4 and those for ST36.