Acupuncture and Moxibustion

The Acupuncture discipline of Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine was established in 1956 and is one of our hospital’s departments with the most distinctive traditional Chinese medicine characteristics. The department integrates clinical care, teaching, scientific research, talent development, promotion of appropriate technologies, international training, professional science popularization, and other functions. It is currently a key discipline of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, a key specialty of the Zhejiang Provincial Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and an advantageous discipline of Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. For more than 60 years, the department has consistently based itself on the distinctive theoretical and technical strengths of traditional acupuncture, focused on diseases in which acupuncture has particular advantages as well as common, frequently occurring, and difficult diseases, and combined these with modern medical techniques to continuously improve its medical service capacity and technological innovation capacity. Its professional capabilities and overall strength rank among the leading positions in the province.

The department as a whole has 36 medical and technical staff members, including one instructor for the inheritance of the academic experience of veteran TCM experts nationwide, one renowned TCM physician of Zhejiang Province, one Zhejiang 551 Health Talent titled “Medical Rising Star,” one “Flying Eagle Talent” at Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and one each of the “Young Eagle Talent” and “Green Pine Talent.” Among them, one is a doctoral supervisor, five are master’s supervisors, 14 hold senior professional titles, 16 hold doctoral degrees, and 27 hold master’s degrees.

The department has three campuses—Hubin, Qiantang, and Xixi—with 63 inpatient beds available in the wards and 82 outpatient beds. More than 1,400 patients are discharged annually, and annual outpatient visits exceed 15,000.

Technical Advantages

The discipline’s acupuncture technology advantages are prominent and distinctive. While routinely performing body acupuncture, scalp acupuncture, auricular acupuncture, wrist-ankle acupuncture, electroacupuncture, acupoint injection, acupoint application, acupoint thread embedding, various moxibustion methods, various cupping methods, and other traditional acupuncture procedures, it has also innovated coarse-needle therapy; introduced abdominal acupuncture, umbilical acupuncture, cheek acupuncture, the “Awakening the Brain and Opening the Orifices” acupuncture method, sacral nerve stimulation therapy, and the distinctive acupuncture technique of Zheng Kuishan, the “King of Acupuncture in Northwest China”; modified the acupoint application therapy for “treating winter diseases in summer”; and optimized collateral-pricking bloodletting therapy, achieving notable results. The department currently has seven major subspecialties: peripheral neuropathy, spinal and joint pain, sleep and emotional disorders, digestive and gastrointestinal disorders, cerebro-neurological diseases, gynecological diseases, and pelvic floor dysfunction. Among these, facial paralysis (facial neuritis), lumbar disc herniation, sequelae of stroke, sleep disorders, and back pain are the department’s five advantageous diseases. Its clinical diagnosis and treatment of facial paralysis in particular are currently at a leading level nationwide. In recent years, based on patients’ needs and the distinctive strengths of acupuncture, the department has developed several emerging clinical research directions, including post-stroke depression, intractable inflammatory pain, infertility, and pelvic floor rehabilitation.

Academic Status

The discipline is a key discipline of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, a key specialty of the Zhejiang Provincial Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and an advantageous discipline of Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The volume of acupuncture services and the technical service capacity rank among the leading positions in Zhejiang Province; in particular, the clinical diagnosis and treatment of facial paralysis are at a leading level nationwide. In 2023, the discipline took the lead in establishing the “Zhejiang Province Specialized Alliance for the Acupuncture Diagnosis and Treatment of Facial Paralysis.” More than 60 hospitals nationwide have now joined the alliance, and it continues to expand. With the support of this alliance, we are taking the lead in formulating standards for the acupuncture diagnosis and treatment of facial paralysis and promoting them throughout the profession, further strengthening the discipline’s leading role based on its advantages in the diagnosis and treatment of facial paralysis.

Research Achievements

In recent years, the Acupuncture discipline has undertaken more than 30 research projects at various levels, including 7 national-level projects, 8 provincial- and ministerial-level projects, and 15 departmental- and bureau-level projects. It has published more than 50 scientific papers, including more than 20 indexed in SCI. It has received two second prizes from the Zhejiang Provincial Government, as well as multiple awards, including first, second, and third prizes of the Zhejiang Science and Technology Award.