Clinical Application and Mechanism Exploration of Acupuncture in the Treatment of Allergic Rhinitis

Allergic Rhinitis (AR) is a globally prevalent chronic allergic disease of the nasal mucosa, with paroxysmal sneezing, watery nasal discharge, nasal itching, and nasal congestion as core symptoms, significantly affecting patients' quality of life. Although modern medicine can quickly alleviate symptoms, it has limitations such as obvious side effects and easy relapse after discontinuation. As a characteristic therapy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture shows advantages of simple operation, high safety, and definite efficacy in the treatment of AR. Combining relevant research in the past five years, this paper systematically reviews the clinical application (including single acupuncture therapy and combined therapy) and mechanism of acupuncture in the treatment of AR, finding that single therapies such as filiform needle acupuncture (such as Five Gates and Ten Changes acupoint combination), warm needling, and refined moxibustion can effectively reduce the Total Nasal Symptom Score (TNSS) and Total Non-Nasal Symptom Score (TNNSS), while acupuncture combined with drugs or Chinese medicine can further enhance the therapeutic effect (Total effective rate RR=1.17, 95%CI[1.13,1.21]).Its mechanism of action is mainly related to regulating immune balance (Th1/Th2), improving nasal nerve function, and modulating the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Currently, related research still has problems such as small sample sizes and inconsistent efficacy standards. In the future, more high-quality multicenter studies are needed to promote the standardization and normalization of acupuncture treatment for AR.