Abstract：Objective：To observe the effect of the additional surrounding acupuncture method with thumbtack needle for herpes zoster at acute stage based on routine therapy. Methods：A total of 128 cases of patients with herpes zoster at acute stage with heat depression in the liver meridian syndrome were randomly divided into the control group and the observation group，64 cases in each group. Both groups were given the oral administration of famciclovir tablets，mecobalamin tablets， gabapentin capsules，thymopeptides enteric-coated tablets，and tetrandrine tablets，as well as routine nursing measures. The observation group was additionally given surrounding acupuncture method with thumbtack needle. Both groups were treated for two weeks. Before treatment as well as on the 3rd， 5th， 7th and 14th days of treatment， the scores of Visual Analogue Scale of pain(VAS) were evaluated. Before treatment and after two-week treatment，Athens Insomnia Scale(AIS) was applied to evaluate sleep quality；the change in skin lesions was evaluated through the score of skin lesion；the time of controlling herpes and incrustation as well as the remission time of pain was recorded. The clinical effect was compare between the two groups. The incidence of PHN was recorded during three-month follow-up. Results：After treatment，the clinical effect in the observation group was better than that in the control group(P＜0.05). After treatment，the VAS scores in the two groups were gradually decreased(P＜0.05). On the 3rd， 5th， 7th and 14th days of treatment， the scores in the observation group were lower than those in the control group，differences being significant(P＜0.01). The AIS scores and the scores of skin lesion in the two groups were decreased when compared with those before treatment(P＜0.01)； the two scores in the observation group were lower than those in the control group(P＜0.01). The time of controlling herpes and incrustation as well as the remission time of pain in the observation group were accelerated when compared with those in the control group(P＜0.01). During three-month follow- up，the incidence of PHN was 39.06% in the observation group，and 60.94% in the control group， the difference being significant(P＜0.05). Conclusion： Based on antivirus， pain relieving， nerve- nourishing， regulating immune， and other comprehensive measures， the additional application of surrounding acupuncture method with thumbtack needle can better relieve pain induced by herpes zoster at acute stage and the effect of pain on sleep，promote healing of skin lesion，shorten course of disease，reduce the incidence of PHN with defined clinical effect.