BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:Allodynia is a pain induced by stimuli which normally do not induce pain; it is caused by changes in sensory specificity. Acupuncture may be used for neuropathic pains such as allodynia or hyperalgesia. However, most studies in this area are in animal models. This study aimed at reporting the first case of efficacy of the association of acupuncture and amitriptyline in human being with tactile ear allodynia. CASE REPORT: Female patient, 46 years old, complaining of paroxysmal pain, in shock, triggered by touch on the right concha of the ear, irradiating to ipsilateral fundus, as a consequence of epidermoid carcinoma excision in cranial posterior fossa six years ago. Other sequelae of such surgery were right central facial paralysis and left hemiparesis; however they were not her current complaint. Previously, paroxysmal pain had been only partially controlled with amitriptyline, being patient then referred for tentative treatment with acupuncture. Two acupuncture points were selected by the manual technique, together with the maintenance of previous amitriptyline. There has been pain decrease, being that at fifth consultation patient has withdrawn the use of amitriptyline on her own. Pain had totally regressed after the seventh consultation. CONCLUSION: Acupuncture was effective to treat allodynia, with no symptoms recurrence even after six months without intervention or drug use. For being the first report of this association in human beings, specifically for allodynia, further studies are needed.

In the routine of dental care, complaints of burning sensation, burning tongue and dry mouth are frequent. Due to the complexity of etiology and diagnosis, treating patients with these sensations is a challenge for clinicians. This study aimed to assess acupuncture as an alternative therapy for patients with burning mouth syndrome (BMS). Clinical data were collected from visits of patients to the School of Dentistry of Piracicaba, State University of Campinas, with the application of a protocol of acupuncture points: LI-4 (Hegu), HT-7 (Shenmen), SP-6 (Sanyinjiao), ST-36 (Zusanli), REN-23 (Lianquan), REN-6 (Qihai), LI-11 (Quchi), ExHn3 (Yintang), LV-3 (Taichong), ExHn12 (Jinjin), and ExHn13 (Yuye) to treat the symptoms of BMS, from August 2017 to March 2020. The sample consisted of 6 volunteers – 5 female and 1 male patients – aged 40 to 79 years. The intensity of BMS was assessed before and after each session with self-reported verbal numerical rating scale (VNRS) during the treatment. On average, each patient had 8.16 sessions using 9.92 acupuncture points per session. Variation of VNRS during the treatment showed a decline in burning mouth in most patients, and 83.34% of the sample showed partial or total improvement of symptoms. This study showed that acupuncture was effective in relieving burning mouth, reducing it by 43%, representing an alternative therapy in the management of symptoms of burning mouth syndrome.