An investigation of the influence of intestinal flora in external traditional Chinese medicine therapy

External therapy, which has been used for millennia to treat disease, has now become the newest member of complementary and alternative therapies. A growing number of clinical studies and animal experiments have shown that external therapy exerts a positive effect on the intestinal flora. In this paper, we review the research related to external therapy on various systemic diseases and focus on changes in the intestinal flora. We found that studies on external therapy are dominated by acupuncture and tuina, primarily aimed at the treatment of digestive and neurological diseases. However, the deeper mechanism of regulation of the intestinal flora by external therapy has not yet been experimentally confirmed.