Tattoo-like dermatitis left after fire-needle therapy.

Traditional Chinese medical theory holds that fire acupuncture can relieve neuropathic pain, and in many Asian countries, acupuncture has been used as one of the methods to relieve herpes zoster nerve pain. Sometimes, the patterns left on the skin by the needles may be very confusing to the practitioner who sees the patient. Recently, we saw a patient with puzzling tattoo-like dermatitis on his skin, and upon further questioning, he had recently undergone a fire-needle treatment and was left with this pattern.