---
title: "Taste disorders"
url: "https://acuiq.com/wiki/evidence/taste-disorders"
updated: 2026-10-16
last_verified: 2026-10-16
license: CC-BY-4.0
license_url: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
section: "evidence"
basis: "Modern research"
audience: "Anyone"
published: "2026-10-16"
reading_minutes: 9
sources: 19
---

# Taste disorders

_What the Cochrane review, three later reviews, two randomised trials, two registered trials and the ESMO and MASCC/ISOO guidance report on acupuncture for loss or distortion of taste._

A taste disorder is a loss or distortion of the sense of taste. The [2017 Cochrane review](https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd010470.pub3) uses three terms for it: ageusia, a lack of taste; hypogeusia, a reduced ability to taste; and dysgeusia, a distorted taste. The [protocol of a German trial](https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-019-3525-y) adds phantogeusia, a taste with nothing in the mouth to cause it, and parageusia, food that tastes wrong. The Cochrane review lists disease, drugs, radiation treatment and ageing among the causes, and some taste disorders have no known cause. The acupuncture literature on them is small: one sham-controlled trial in the Cochrane review, two randomised trials during chemotherapy published since, and case reports after radiotherapy.

## The Cochrane review

The [Cochrane review of interventions for managing taste disturbances](https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd010470.pub3) by Kumbargere Nagraj and colleagues, published in December 2017 with searches to 4 July 2017, updates a [first version from 2014](https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd010470.pub2). It included only taste disorders with no known cause or caused by zinc deficiency or chronic kidney failure, so taste changes from cancer treatment or infection fall outside it. It found 10 trials with 581 people: nine compared zinc supplements with placebo, and one, with 37 people, compared acupuncture with a sham procedure.

In that trial, of people with idiopathic dysgeusia or hypogeusia, the mean difference in taste discrimination between acupuncture and sham was 2.80 points (95% CI −1.18 to 6.78), and no adverse events were reported. The review rated the evidence very low quality and concluded that it was not sufficient to say what role acupuncture has in improving taste discrimination. No trial compared acupuncture with zinc, and none of the 10 reported quality of life in a form the review could pool. The [German trial protocol](https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-019-3525-y) describes the acupuncture trial as a pilot that needled selected body and ear points, and the [AcuDysg report](https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-026-10756-1) cites it as Brandt and colleagues, published in German in 2008. Europe PMC lists no Cochrane version after 2017.

## Later reviews

No later review pools acupuncture trials for taste. The reviews below cover taste disorders after cancer treatment or COVID-19 and say what they found on acupuncture.

| Review | Scope | What it reports on acupuncture |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Tsuchiya 2023](https://doi.org/10.3390/dj11060140) | Treatments for taste and saliva disorders with COVID-19 | Lists acupuncture and moxibustion among treatments with potential effects; the two acupuncture sources it found gave no details about loss of taste or clinical outcomes |
| [Mazzoleni 2024](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejon.2024.102569), systematic review | 9 studies of non-drug treatment for dysgeusia during chemotherapy or radiotherapy | Groups acupuncture and herbs as complementary approaches found beneficial; names small samples among the limitations |
| [Li 2025](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-83081-4), meta-analysis, searched to August 2023 | 14 trials, 1,630 people, non-drug treatment for dysgeusia during radiotherapy for head and neck cancer | None of the 14 trials tested acupuncture |
| [Sardellitti 2025](https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines13081853), narrative review | Taste dysfunction in head and neck cancer | Evidence on acupuncture is case reports and small prospective studies |

A [2022 protocol](https://doi.org/10.1097/md.0000000000031649) by Chao and colleagues registered a systematic review of acupuncture for taste disorders after COVID-19 with PROSPERO, the international register of reviews. AcuiQ found no published results in Europe PMC by October 2026.

## Trials

- **Chemotherapy, ear acupuncture against a control group, 2023.** A [pilot trial](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejon.2023.102458) by Wang and colleagues randomised 73 people having platinum-based chemotherapy to auricular acupuncture, needling of the outer ear, or to a control group that the abstract does not describe as a sham. Of the 49 who completed it, the acupuncture group showed greater reductions than the control group in discomfort, general taste alteration and the total of the Chemotherapy-induced Taste Alteration Scale (all p < 0.05). The authors called the results preliminary.
- **Chemotherapy, added points against the same acupuncture without them, 2026.** The [AcuDysg trial](https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-026-10756-1), led by Christine Huber and Claudia Witt at the University of Zurich, recruited at University Hospital Zurich and the Cantonal Hospital St. Gallen from February 2021 to January 2023. Its [protocol](https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-066137) was published in 2023. Everyone had cancer-related fatigue as well as dysgeusia during chemotherapy, and everyone received eight weekly sessions of acupuncture for fatigue at [`XH03`](/points/xh03) (Yintang), [`XH16`](/points/xh16) (Anmian), [`SP06`](/points/sp06) (Sanyinjiao) and [`LV03`](/points/lv03) (Taichong), with an eLearning course in self-acupressure. The intervention group also received [`LI02`](/points/li02) (Erjian), [`LI04`](/points/li04) (Hegu) and two points under the tongue, [`XH12`](/points/xh12) (Jinjin) and [`XH13`](/points/xh13) (Yuye), and learned to press them. The trial enrolled 21 people, 11 and 10, of a planned 130, so every analysis is exploratory. Perceived dysgeusia fell by 0.30 points a session on a 10-point scale in both groups, 2.4 points over eight sessions. The groups did not differ: the estimate was 0.72 points in favour of the control group (95% CI −0.88 to 2.32), and on a taste test 0.28 points (95% CI −1.32 to 1.88). No serious adverse events occurred. The authors noted that participants scored as having normal taste on the test at baseline, and that both groups knew they would receive acupuncture, which may have raised their expectations.

Neither trial compared real acupuncture with a sham. In AcuDysg both groups were needled, so it tested whether the added points did more than acupuncture aimed at fatigue. [Sham acupuncture](/wiki/research/sham-acupuncture) sets out what each kind of control can rule out, and [Cancer-related fatigue](/wiki/evidence/cancer-related-fatigue) covers the other condition its participants had.

## After radiotherapy to the head and neck

AcuiQ found no reported randomised trial of acupuncture for taste loss after head and neck radiotherapy. A [2020 case report](https://doi.org/10.1089/acu.2020.1410) by Djaali and colleagues describes a 65-year-old man who lost his sense of taste after 30 sessions of radiotherapy, 60 Gy, for laryngeal cancer. He received acupuncture twice a week at points including [`ST36`](/points/st36) (Zusanli), [`ST40`](/points/st40) (Fenglong) and LI04, with ear points, and his taste improved after 12 sessions. A [2018 chart study](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2017.09.012) by Ben-Arye and colleagues in an integrative oncology service in northern Israel followed 34 people with taste disorders from chemotherapy; acupuncture and herbal preparations applied in the mouth were the treatments used most, and 29 reported less severe symptoms. Neither had a control group.

A [single-blind phase II trial](https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06272617) at West China Hospital, Sichuan University, posted in February 2024, compares real with sham acupuncture for mouth complications of head and neck radiotherapy, with taste measured by patients, by electrogustometry, which tests taste with a weak current, and by taste strips. It lists 138 people as its target; its registry status is unknown, last verified in February 2024. [Dry mouth after radiotherapy](/wiki/evidence/xerostomia) covers the trials of acupuncture for dry mouth after the same treatment.

## After COVID-19

The randomised trials of acupuncture after COVID-19 that AcuiQ found in Europe PMC measured smell, not taste. A [2024 trial](https://doi.org/10.51507/j.jams.2024.17.2.69) by Mohebbi and colleagues at Rasoul Akram Hospital randomised 40 people with lasting loss of smell to two sessions of ear acupuncture or of a switched-off laser, alongside steroid nose drops, and rated smell on a 10-point scale. A [2025 pilot](https://doi.org/10.1177/27536130251343834) by Armstrong and colleagues randomised 30 people to nasal irrigation and smell training with or without ten sessions of acupuncture; 18 completed, and the authors reported it as a feasibility study.

## What guidelines say

The [ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines on orphan symptoms](https://doi.org/10.1136/esmoopen-2020-000933), published in November 2020 by Santini and colleagues for the European Society for Medical Oncology, cover dysgeusia from chemotherapy and radiotherapy. They cite the Cochrane finding on acupuncture without making a recommendation on it. Their recommendation is that patients be told about dietary counselling and self-care strategies (evidence level II, grade B); zinc is limited to people with zinc deficiency (II, C), and amifostine, a drug that protects the salivary glands, is not recommended (II, D). AcuiQ found no update in Europe PMC by October 2026.

The [2010 systematic review of dysgeusia from cancer treatment](https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-010-0902-1) by Hovan and colleagues, for the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer and the International Society of Oral Oncology (MASCC/ISOO), covered 26 papers published from 1990 to 2008. Its abstract names zinc sulfate, amifostine and nutritional counselling and not acupuncture, and concludes that there does not appear to be a predictable way of preventing or treating dysgeusia. AcuiQ found no later MASCC/ISOO review of dysgeusia in Europe PMC. [Nausea from chemotherapy](/wiki/evidence/nausea-from-chemotherapy) covers another effect of chemotherapy.

## What the reviews could not settle

Whether acupuncture differs from sham for any taste disorder rests on one trial of 37 people with idiopathic taste loss, whose confidence interval includes no difference. For taste changes during chemotherapy, the 2023 pilot had no sham and lost a third of its participants, and AcuDysg enrolled a sixth of its target. The [German sham-controlled trial](https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02304913) of a single session of acupuncture under the tongue at XH12 and XH13, in people with breast cancer and phantogeusia during chemotherapy, has been recruiting since January 2015 and lists December 2027 as its estimated completion. Its protocol planned 75 people across real acupuncture, a non-penetrating sham beside the same points, and dietary advice.

The trials also measure taste differently, with self-rated scales, symptom questionnaires and taste tests; the AcuDysg authors questioned the usefulness of the objective tests and suggested that self-rating may be enough. Cochrane’s review predates every cancer trial above, and its scope excludes them.

AcuiQ’s [taste loss](/symptoms/taste-loss) and [dysgeusia](/symptoms/dysgeusia) pages list the protocols individual studies prescribed, each with its citation.

### Sources

1. Kumbargere Nagraj S, George RP, Shetty N, Levenson D, Ferraiolo DM, Shrestha A, Interventions for managing taste disturbances, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2017 — https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd010470.pub3
2. Nagraj SK, Naresh S, Srinivas K, et al., Interventions for the management of taste disturbances, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2014 — https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd010470.pub2
3. Tsuchiya H, Treatments of COVID-19-associated taste and saliva secretory disorders, Dentistry Journal 2023 — https://doi.org/10.3390/dj11060140
4. Mazzoleni B, Ferrari G, Savioni F, et al., Non-pharmacological strategies to alleviate dysgeusia in patients undergoing chemotherapy: a systematic review, European Journal of Oncology Nursing 2024 — https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejon.2024.102569
5. Li Y, Hou L, Gan X, Yang X, Meta-analysis of the effect of non-pharmacological interventions on the development of dysgeusia in patients undergoing radiotherapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, Scientific Reports 2025 — https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-83081-4
6. Sardellitti L, Filigheddu E, Mastandrea G, et al., Taste dysfunction in head and neck cancer: pathophysiology and clinical management – a comprehensive review, Biomedicines 2025 — https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines13081853
7. Chao Y, Zhang L, Chen Q, et al., The efficacy and safety of acupuncture in the treatment of taste disorders after rehabilitation from COVID-19: a protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis, Medicine 2022 — https://doi.org/10.1097/md.0000000000031649
8. Wang M, Xu Y, Wu Y, et al., Evaluating the efficacy of auricular acupuncture for chemotherapy-induced taste alterations: a pilot randomized controlled trial, European Journal of Oncology Nursing 2023 — https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejon.2023.102458
9. Huber C, Barth J, Bührer L, et al., Acupuncture for chemotherapy-induced dysgeusia (AcuDysg): a randomized controlled trial, Supportive Care in Cancer 2026 — https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-026-10756-1
10. Huber C, Zhang L, Schlaeppi M, et al., Acupuncture in chemotherapy-induced dysgeusia (AcuDysg): study protocol of a randomised controlled trial, BMJ Open 2023 — https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-066137
11. Djaali W, Simadibrata CL, Nareswari I, Acupuncture therapy in post-radiation head-and-neck cancer with dysgeusia, Medical Acupuncture 2020 — https://doi.org/10.1089/acu.2020.1410
12. Ben-Arye E, Doweck I, Schiff E, Samuels N, Exploring an integrative patient-tailored complementary medicine approach for chemotherapy-induced taste disorders, Explore 2018 — https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2017.09.012
13. West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Acupuncture for prevention and treatment of oral-related complications caused by radiotherapy for head and neck cancer, ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06272617 — https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06272617
14. Mohebbi A, Bagheri SH, Raziabadi E, et al., Effects of frequency-controlled ear acupuncture on COVID-19-related refractory olfactory dysfunction: a randomized clinical trial, Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies 2024 — https://doi.org/10.51507/j.jams.2024.17.2.69
15. Armstrong MF, O'Byrne TJ, Calva JJ, et al., The feasibility of investigating acupuncture in patients with COVID-19 related olfactory dysfunction, Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health 2025 — https://doi.org/10.1177/27536130251343834
16. Santini D, Armento G, Giusti R, et al., Management of orphan symptoms: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis and treatment, ESMO Open 2020 — https://doi.org/10.1136/esmoopen-2020-000933
17. Hovan AJ, Williams PM, Stevenson-Moore P, et al., A systematic review of dysgeusia induced by cancer therapies, Supportive Care in Cancer 2010 — https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-010-0902-1
18. Haller H, Wang T, Lauche R, et al., Hypoglossal acupuncture for acute chemotherapy-induced dysgeusia in patients with breast cancer: study protocol of a randomized, sham-controlled trial, Trials 2019 — https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-019-3525-y
19. Universität Duisburg-Essen, Hypoglossal acupuncture for dysgeusia in patients undergoing chemotherapy, ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02304913 — https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02304913