Acupuncture During Pregnancy
Jonathon Hardcastle
Acupuncture is the ancient Chinese method of using tiny needles to
stimulate specific areas or "meridians" of the body and to rebalance
the body's energy, or chi. Because acupuncture is especially effective
for chronic conditions, many pregnant women are turning to acupuncture
to provide drug-free relief from many of the unpleasant symptoms of
pregnancy.
An Australian study showed that women who received acupuncture
treatments regularly before their 14th week of pregnancy had less
nausea and shorter bouts of morning sickness than women who did not
receive the treatment. Acupuncture has also been used to treat the more
serious condition hyperemesis gravidarum, which causes serious vomiting
that persists throughout pregnancy.
During the second trimester, acupuncture has been used to successfully
treat heartburn and hemorrhoids. In the third trimester, acupuncture
can provide relief from sciatica, joint pain and carpal tunnel
syndrome, which many women develop late in pregnancy. Acupuncture has
even been used to relieve pain during labor and delivery.
Pregnant women seeking to use acupuncture to treat conditions developed
during pregnancy should be sure to visit a licensed and experienced
acupuncturist. For example, although acupuncture can be used to treat
edema, or swelling of the ankles, edema can be an indicator of a
serious problem. An acupuncturist experienced in treating pregnant
women would be more likely to recognize this problem and refer the
patient back to her obstetrician.
The most serious risk of using acupuncture during pregnancy is that it
may stimulate labor if it is improperly applied. Choosing an
experienced practitioner reduces this risk to almost negligible levels.
In fact, many women have turned to acupuncture to purposefully
stimulate labor when their baby is overdue. Some women have found that
labor induced by acupuncture is gentler than labor induced by drugs
such as Pitocin.
In addition to benefits during pregnancy, labor and delivery,
acupuncture has been used to promote fertility and to treat
infertility. In a small German study, women who used acupuncture in
conjunction with in vitro fertilization had a 42.5% success rate
compared to 26.3% in women who used in vitro fertilization alone.
Fertility specialists attribute this to the overall improvement of
health that comes from receiving regular acupuncture treatments.
Finally, acupuncture may have some benefits in treating post-partum
depression. Although no research has been done to support the efficacy
of acupuncture treatments on post-partum depression, anecdotal evidence
shows that some women do benefit from its use. Because acupuncture does
not cause harmful drug interactions, it can be a useful complimentary
therapy.
Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles for
http://4alternativehealthinfo.com/
- In addition, Jonathon also writes articles for http://thenursingcenter.com/
and http://letsdropsomeweight.com/
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