Objective: To observe the therapeutic efficacy of pestle needle on lumbar disc herniation and its effect on pain score. Methods: A total of 240 patients who were diagnosed with lumbar disc herniation and met the criteria of this study（based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria） were randomly divided into traditional Chinese medicine（TCM）-treated group and Western medicine control（WMC） group（treated with modern rehabilitation therapy）according to the order of visiting the hospital and Doll’s random table for clinical cases. The TCM-treated group was subdivided into TCM I-treated group（pestle needle）

TCM II-treated group（pestle needle + electroacupuncture）

TCM III-treated group（pestle needle + massage）

TCM IV-treated group（pestle needle + electroacupuncture + massage）

and TCM V-treated group（electroacupuncture + massage）. The Visual Analogue Scale（VAS）

Modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association（M-JOA） Score

and Oswestry Disability Index（ODI） were used to evaluate the pain and dysfunction in each group. The Prolo Functional Economic Rating Scale（Prolo Scale） was used to evaluate the functional status and medical expenses of the patients in each group. Results: Compared with the WMC group

the TCM-treated group had a significantly reduced VAS score but significantly increased ODI score

M-JOA score

and Prolo score（all P < 0.05）. As for the output indices of each TCM-treated group

the TCM IV-treated group had the highest output of A

B

and C values

with significant differences as compared with other groups（P < 0.05）. The overall efficiency value of each TCM-treated group was less than 1

indicating that the data envelopment analysis（DEA） was not an effective unit; the benefit of each group was decreasing; the regimen of the TCM IV-treated group proved to be the optimal. Under the C2 R model and the BC2 model

the efficiency values of the TCM IV-treated group were 0.32 and 0.39

respectively

which were superior to those of other regimens. In the slack variable analysis of each TCM-treated group

the output indices of the TCM IV-treated group were the highest. Conclusion: The TCM-treated group is superior to the WMC group

the former has greater improvements in VAS score and Prolo score

and the latter shows more advantages in improving ODI score. The optimal regimen is pestle needle + electroacupuncture + massage

which is also the optimal regimen suitable for TCM-based treatment of lumbar disc herniation

and shows promise for clinical application.