Acupuncture combined with music therapy for treatment of 30 cases of cerebral palsy

OBJECTIVE: To observe clinical therapeutic effects of acupuncture combined with music therapy for treatment of cerebral palsy. METHODS: Sixty children with cerebral palsy were randomly divided into an acupuncture group (Group Acup.) and an acupuncture plus music group (Group Acup.+ M). Simple acupuncture was applied in Group Acup., and acupuncture at 5 groups of points plus music were applied in Group Acup. +M. The treatment was given once every two days with 3 treatments weekly, and 36 treatments constituted a therapeutic course. Therapeutic effects including movement improvement were observed for comparison after 3 courses of treatments. RESULTS: The comprehensive functions were elevated in both groups, and the total effective rate in Group Acup. + M was obviously better than that in Group Acup (P < 0.05). Movement functions were also improved in both groups, but the differences in improvement of creeping and kneeling, standing, and walking were significant between the two groups (P < 0.01), showing the effect in Group Acup. + M was better than that in Group Acup.. CONCLUSION: The therapy of acupuncture plus music gained better therapeutic effect on cerebral palsy than simple acupuncture, which provided new thoughts for treating the disease by comprehensive therapies.

J Tradit Chin Med. 2009 Dec;29(4):243-8. Yu HB, Liu YF, Wu LX. Department of Acupuncture, Shenzhen TCM Hospital of Guangdong Province, Shenzhen 518000, China.