Introduction: This experiment was conducted to confirm whether acupuncture needles can be maintained in the same sanitary condition outdoors as indoors by using rubbing disinfectant and wearing gloves.
Method: The subjects were 15 acupuncturists. The subjects were asked to touch acupuncture needles (1) indoors and (2) outdoors, respectively, after using rubbing disinfection and wearing gloves, and after further rubbing disinfection, and the needles were cultured on agar plates. In addition, the acupuncturist's hands that touched the acupuncture needles were also touched on the agar plates, and the plates were also cultured.
Results: Out of 15 samples, bacterial colony growth was observed on the plates where acupuncture needles were touched outdoors. When the plate where acupuncture needles were touched indoors were cultured, no colony growth was observed in any of the 15 samples.
For the hands of acupuncture practitioners, growth of bacterial colonies was observed in 8 of 15 cases outdoors and from 5 of 15 cases indoors.
Conclusion: We found that acupuncturists' hands were more difficult to keep clean when performing treatments outdoors than indoors. More careful disinfection, such as re-disinfection just before treatment, may be required.
Mikako Tsunematsu, Tsunehiko Wada, Kenji Imai
