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Postherpetic neuralgia is a persistent and often difficult-to-treat nerve pain condition that can follow a shingles infection. Existing pharmaceutical options offer limited relief for many patients, prompting interest in complementary approaches such as electroacupuncture. This multicentre randomised controlled trial, conducted across seven tertiary hospitals in China, investigated whether electroacupuncture could meaningfully reduce pain compared with a sham (inactive) version of the same procedure.
A total of 448 adults aged 45 to 75 years with moderate to severe postherpetic neuralgia were randomly assigned to receive either real or sham electroacupuncture across twenty sessions over four weeks, followed by a further four weeks of observation. Pain was measured using an eleven-point numerical rating scale. By the end of the treatment period, participants receiving active electroacupuncture showed a meaningfully greater reduction in pain scores than those in the sham group. Nearly half of those in the electroacupuncture group achieved a clinically relevant reduction in pain of thirty percent or more, compared with roughly a quarter in the sham group. These improvements were maintained throughout the one-month follow-up period, and no clinically significant adverse events were recorded.
The trial benefits from a large sample size, rigorous sham control, and multi-site design, lending considerable weight to its conclusions.
Conclusion: This high-quality randomised controlled trial provides robust evidence that electroacupuncture offers statistically and clinically significant pain relief for postherpetic neuralgia, supporting its potential role as a safe, non-pharmacological treatment option.
Source: Chen L, Liu Q, Pei L and colleagues. JAMA neurology (2026). View on PubMed (PMID 42189557) · doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2026.1443
