Acupuncture is an important part of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Although the efficacy of acupuncture has been widely accepted, the scientific basis behind it is still lack of exploration. Some experimental studies have shown that acupuncture can lead to changes in cell membrane potential, thus affecting the transmission of nerve signals to a certain extent. The change of cell membrane potential mainly depends on a large number of voltage dependent ion channels on the cell membrane. Relevant studies have proved that such voltage dependent ion channels have certain mechanical sensitivity, but the principle is not clear. Based on the theoretical model of cell action potential excitability proposed by Hodgkin–Huxley, taking rat skeletal muscle cell fibers as an example, this paper makes a rough stability analysis of the nonlinear system, explores the conditions of repeated discharge of cell membrane, and simulates the law of cell membrane potential frequency variation under different stimulating currents by numerical calculation. Based on the results of numerical simulation, we propose a hypothesis: Mechanical stimulation will produce a certain amount of stimulating current on the cell membrane, making the cell membrane potential in the state of repeated discharge, so as to block or interfere with the transmission of nerve signals and achieve the analgesic effect and so forth.
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