Traditional Chinese acupuncture or TCA, in which very thin needles are used to stimulate specific body points for eliciting beneficial therapeutic responses, can be considered as an effective form of treatment in order to treat suffering from persistent post- viral olfactory dysfunction (PVOD).
This finding was disclosed in a new research in the April 2010 issue of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery.
From News-Medical.Net:
In the current study, 15 patients presenting to an outpatient clinic with PVOD were treated by TCA in 10 weekly 30-minute sessions. Subjective olfactometry was performed using the Sniffin’ Sticks test set. Treatment success was defined as an increase of at least six points in the sticks test scores. The effects of TCA were compared to matched pairs of people suffering from PVOD who had been treated with vitamin B complex. Eight patients treated with TCA improved olfactory function, compared with two treated with vitamin B complex.
The authors acknowledge that their study is limited by its size, and that further studies should be conducted in a larger population. However, the authors write “-the observed high response rate of about 50 percent under TCA was superior to that of vitamin B complex or that of spontaneous remission, and offers a possible new therapeutic regimen in postviral dysosmia.”
It is worth noting here that there is no validated pharmacotherapy for PVOD till date despite efforts made for establishing a standardized treatment. Systemic and topical steroids, in addition to vitamin B supplements, are used to treat patients as per the literature.
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