 Participants: 205 mothers with 210 cases of inflammatory symptoms of the breast during lactation agreed to participate. The mothers were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups, two of which included acupuncture amongst the care interventions and one without acupuncture. All groups were given essential care. Protocols, which included scales for erythema, breast tension and pain, were maintained for each day of contact with the breast-feeding clinic. A Severity Index SI for each mother and each day was created by adding together the scores on the erythema, breast tension and pain scales. The range of the SI was 0 least severe to 19 most severe. 