Electrodermal Measures of Jing-Well Points and Their Clinical Relevance in Endometriosis-Related Chronic Pelvic Pain

Andrew C Ahn, Rosa N. Schnyer, Rosa Schnyer, Lisa Conboy, Marc R Laufer, Peter M Wayne
Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.) · 2009 · vol. 15(12) , pp. 1293–1305 · doi:10.1089/acm.2008.0597 · PMID:19958132 · PMC2876713 · W2012884438
article OA: green CC0 ⤵ 11 in-corpus citations
📄 Open PDF View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

Electrodermal asymmetry at Jing-Well points in adolescent women with chronic pelvic pain correlated with clinical outcomes, and active acupuncture reduced electrodermal imbalance compared to sham treatment.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether electrodermal measures at Jing-Well acupuncture points, "indicator" points located at the tips of fingers and toes are associated with clinical measures in adolescent women with chronic pelvic pain. DESIGN: The design of this study was a randomized sham-controlled trial. Analyses of electrodermal measures were based on longitudinal, multivariable analyses using generalized estimating equations. SUBJECTS AND SETTING: The subjects were 14 young women (ages 14-22) with laparoscopically diagnosed endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain. Subjects were randomized to sham acupuncture or Japanese-style active acupuncture. Sixteen (16) treatments were administered over 8 weeks. OUTCOME MEASURES: Using a Hibiki-7 device, electrodermal impedance measures were obtained at all 24 Jing-Well points for each treatment visit. From these readings, measures of "imbalance" were determined by calculating statistical dispersion (statistical deviation and Gini coefficient) and level of asymmetry (left-right, top-bottom, and yin-yang). Clinical outcome measures were obtained at baseline, week 4, and week 8 and included level of pelvic pain, Endometriosis Health Profile, Pediatric Quality of Life, perceived stress, and inflammatory cytokine levels (interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha). RESULTS: Participants designated to the acupuncture group had, on average, a substantial decrease in statistical dispersion and asymmetry of Hibiki-7 values over the course of treatment compared to the sham group. Electrodermal asymmetry variables, specifically either yin-yang or left-right measure, were significantly associated with pelvic pain, Endometriosis Health Profile, Pediatric Quality of Life, and Perceived Stress even after adjusting for treatment designation. No associations between electrodermal balance measures and inflammatory cytokines were found. CONCLUSIONS: Electrodermal measures may be significantly associated with clinical outcome and acupuncture treatments in adolescent women with chronic pelvic pain.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Outcome instruments

EHP-30

Condition tags

endometriosischronic_pelvic_pain

MeSH descriptors

Acupuncture Points Acupuncture Therapy Endometriosis Galvanic Skin Response Pelvic Pain Adolescent Analysis of Variance Chronic Disease Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Humans Pain Measurement Pelvic Pain Pelvic Pain Placebos Quality of Life Stress, Psychological Treatment Outcome Young Adult

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (25)

Cited by (11)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-11T06:19:48.454388+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:13:53.633898+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK