The case history presented is of a 32 year old woman suffering with severe occipital and bilateral temporal pain together with autonomic disturbances affecting her vision, balance and breathing, symptoms which have been postulated as ‘Barré Liéou syndrome’. She complained of pain referred to the left arm and associated circulatory and sensory disturbance in keeping with the diagnosis of complex regional pain syndrome type I. Traditional Chinese and Western trigger point acupuncture techniques were used in order to treat her pain and autonomic dysfunction. Acupuncture was successful in reducing, but not totally alleviating, her pain, and was particularly effective in reducing the majority of autonomic symptoms.
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