Abstract
Objectives : This study examined effects of kyeong points (經穴)' acupuncture of three hand yang collaterals (手三陽經) on the facial thermography in health subjects, because the kyeong point in Yang collaterals belongs to the characteristic of the five elements (五行)meaning fire (火). Methods : The volunteers who participating in this study rested for 20-30 min. atroom temperature (23-$25^{\circ}C$) before the examination and were informed to avoid smoking, drinking and use of any drugsfor the previous day. The thermography of the face was taken using Infra-Red Imaging System (IR 2000, MEDI-CORE Co., Korea) at time intervals of 15 minutes : at 15 min before, just before and after, 15 min after, 30 min after and 45 min after acupuncture stimulation. Acupuncture was applied to the left kyeong points (經穴)' of three hand yang collaterals (手三陽經) for 30 minutes. Results : The results showed that kyeong points (經穴)' acupuncture of three hand yang collaterals (手三陽經) decreased the temperature of all the areas of the facial surface comparing to those of the control group. Also, it was observed that the quantities of thermal changes following acupuncture of ST36 increased in the all ROIs (regions of interest) compared to those of the control group. Conclusions : Observing the thermography classified by ROI, it was clear that acupuncture of kyeong points (經穴) of three hand yang collaterals (手三陽經) could modulate thermogram of the facial area however, it is necessary to undertake more investigation supporting these results.
