Fig. 2

Changes in LE pain over time. a Participant-reported pain level before (pre) and after (post) treatment with manual acupuncture (dotted line) or electroacupuncture (solid line). There was a consistent trend for pain to lessen immediately after treatment, regardless of type of acupuncture. b The change in pain from baseline is indicated, with negative numbers indicating a lessening of pain. Asterisks indicate statistically significant improvements in pain compared to baseline. NRS numeric rating scale. N = 21, 20 and 20 for the three time points shown. Error bars represent 95% CI. c The pain diary measures demonstrated that, unexpectedly and for unknown reasons, pain levels continued to decline during the 72-h follow-up period. Changes are shown relative to day 1 midday, which was the first diary entry following acupuncture treatment, which took place in the morning of day 1. NRS: Numeric rating scale. N = 20 for all time points shown. Error bars represent 95% CI