The investigators designed the multicenter randomized parallel controlled clinical trial of electroacupuncture on PHN which is rigorously designed and have an appropriate sample size, aiming to evaluate the efficacy and safety of electroacupuncture in pain relieving and pain removing in the treatment of patients with PHN.

Postherpetic neuralgia(PHN) is the most common complication of herpes zoster, is a severe and intractable pain with a high incidence. Nearly 50% of PHN patients have experienced persistent pain for more than one year. Although it is not directly life-threatening, will lead to sleep disorders, even depression, seriously affecting the quality of life of patients. This project is a multi-center randomized controlled trial, which will recruit 448 patients with PHN in 7 hospitals, aiming to evaluate the analgesic effect and safety of electroacupuncture on postherpetic neuralgia, and provide evidence-based medical evidence for electroacupuncture treatment of PHN.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients who meet the diagnostic criteria for postherpetic neuralgia (with a clear history of acute herpes zoster, and the duration of postherpetic pain exceeds 90 days)
• Aged 45 to 75 years old
• Patients who were diagnosed with moderate or above pain during the observation period (the daily pain score was continuously collected within 7 days during the observation period, and the average NRS-11 pain score was >=4)
• Subjects who did not participate in other ongoing clinical studies
• Sign informed consent and volunteer to participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients who are currently receiving or receiving more than one of the "permitted combinations" or any "prohibited combination and treatment" for PHN listed in the following part at least 14 days before screening, and are unwilling to undergo washout period, or patients with serious safety problems during washout period or observation period
• Patients who are expected to receive any new prescription drug or other treatment for PHN after the start of the trial
• Patients with serious uncontrolled medical conditions, such as cardiovascular, lung, liver, kidney, gastrointestinal tract, metabolism, endocrine, nervous system, respiratory system, urogenital system and other serious diseases, or systemic organ dysfunction, malignant tumor, hematologic disease such as bleeding tendency or coagulation dysfunction, serious mental illness such as depression or schizophrenia Symptoms, hepatitis B antigen or hepatitis C antibody positive known state or history of immune dysfunction, history of HIV infection, etc.
• Patients with severe pain unrelated to PHN, such as after surgery for clinical major diseases
• Patients with PHN who have received nerve intervention or other neurosurgical treatment, such as selective nerve damage, percutaneous radiofrequency thermocoagulation or pulsed nerve modulation technology, etc.
• Patients with some special types of herpes zoster, such as those with meninges, cornea, conjunctiva, ear involvement, visceral herpes zoster, generalized herpes zoster
• Patients with skin ulceration, new herpes, or skin infection
• Patients with cardiac pacemaker, metal allergy or severe fear of needle
• Patients who are unable to give full informed consent or cannot cooperate with pain scale assessment due to mental, mental, linguistic or behavioral disorders
• Patients who have poor compliance or are prone to fall off due to other reasons, such as the current residence is not in the city where the recruitment hospital is located, or the working environment changes frequently
• Pregnant and lactating women

Case Report Form, Electronic Data Capture(EDC)

Within six months after the trial complete

Use the EDC system of the Science and Technology Department of Jiangsu Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine to disclose the original data

The randomization scheme is generated, validated and imported into the central randomization system by a statistician who do not participate in this trial by using R software. The central randomization system has set strict personnel permissions, and no one has right to view the randomization scheme except the highest-level system administrator. Patients and study investigators (i.e., outcome assessors, data recorders, data entry clerks and statistical analysts) will be blinded to the group assignment. Due to the nature of the intervention, acupuncturists will not be blinded to the treatment.