Acupuncture for frostbite sequel — A case report

Introduction The spectrum of cold injuries is very broad, and treatment is often difficult. This case report describes for the first time the successful treatment of frostbite sequel by acupuncture. Dynamic Infrared Thermography was used to monitor the effect of acupuncture. Case summary The patient was a 19 years old previously healthy, non-smoking, female patient. She had no previous history of cold injuries, no other injuries or medical problems, and was not taking any medication. During outdoor military training in February 2015 in the harsh North-Norwegian climate, she noticed that she began to lose feeling in her fingers that during the exercise turned into dark discoloration with blisters. She was diagnosed with a second degree frostbite on the fingertips of both hands. There was spontaneous recovery but when followed up at one year after the problem, she still complained of sensory-motor disturbances and hypersensitivity to cold. During the follow-up, she was examined by DIRT and offered off-label treatment with acupuncture. Local acupuncture points were used to enhance adjacent peripheral blood circulation. Acupuncture based on Traditional Chinese Medicine was added to these points according to the patient’s symptom of feeling cold in general. Acupuncture treatments were given once a week for 12 weeks. After treatment, the patient reported slightly less cold sensitivity. There was a clinical improvement in the control of micro-vascularization as shown in the thermographic examinations before and after treatment. Conclusion Acupuncture therapy might provide a potential novel and promising treatment for frostbite sequelae.