Objective To compare the clinical therapeutic effects on scapulohumeral periarthritis between kinetic acupuncture on the distal points of the affected meridians and shoulder three-needle therapy.Methods Fifty cases of scapulohumeral periarthritis were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group,25 cases for each.The cases in observation group were treated with kinetic acupuncture on the distal points of the affected meridians.For example,the case of Hand-Taiyin type was treated with Yújì (鱼际 LU 10) and the case of Hand-Yangming type was treated with Hégǔ (合谷 LI 4),etc.The cases in control group were treated with shoulder three-needle therapy,in which,Jiānqián (肩前 Extral),Jiānyú (肩髃 LI 15) and Jiānliáo (肩髎 TE 14) were selected;7 days of treatment made one session,totally 2 sessions were required.Results In observation group,the curative rate based on ROM of shoulder joint was 72.0% (18/25),which was superior to that of 40.0% (10/25) in control group (P0.05).After treatment,the improvements of McGill SF-MPQ score,VAS and PPI in observation group were all superior to those in control group (all P0.05).Conclusion The kinetic acupuncture on the distal points of the affected meridians is advantageous at analgesia and motor improvements of shoulder joint in treatment of scapulohumeral periarthritis as compared with shoulder three-needle therapy.