From Reproductive Wellness we wanted to share with you some research about acupuncture patient comfort (how acupuncture can help with nausea and vomiting during pregnancy); acupuncture and back and pelvic pain; acupuncture for pain relief during labor; and acupuncture for depression during labor. As natural fertility specialist in South California, we have helped many women in San Diego with similar conditions for over 10 years.
If after reading this article, you would like to know more about women’s health and natural fertility, click this link to download our collection of ebooks. http://on.fb.me/11eNT3g
If you would like to talk with our practitioners about your health concerns, please call 858 381 2281 for a complimentary health consultation.
“As the popularity of complementary medicine increases and as more pregnant women choose to take fewer medications, acupuncture may be offered to patients to alleviate nausea and pain in pregnancy, as well as to relieve symptoms of depression.
Acupuncture is an important treatment modality of traditional Chinese medicine; it involves stimulation of specific points by manually inserting and manipulating fine needles into the skin, with the aim of curing disease and/or promoting health.1 The use of acupuncture has existed for centuries, with the first recorded instance almost 2,000 years ago in the medical text Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic (Huangdi Neijing).2
The popularity of acupuncture in America was muted until 1971, when a journalist in the presidential press corps experienced symptomatic relief after being treated for postoperative abdominal distension while on President Nixon’s historic trip to China.3 Nixon’s rapprochement with China normalized relations with the Middle Kingdom and, in addition, exposed the American populace to the medical practice of acupuncture.
Since that time, acupuncture and complementary medicine as a whole have increased in popularity worldwide. This newfound interest in acupuncture has, not surprisingly, penetrated the realm of obstetrics and gynecology. With recent data suggesting an increase in the number of pregnant women who wish to take fewer medicines, there has been a recorded increase in the use of acupuncture in labor and delivery units, despite limited scientific evidence of its effectiveness.4
NAUSEA AND VOMITING
Nausea and vomiting are common symptoms affecting 50% to 90% of pregnant women.5,6 While pharmacologic therapy has been the mainstay of treatment, evidence has accumulated to suggest that acupuncture may provide some relief for this malady. The exact point of stimulation is located at the PC6 point (Neiguan), which is 3 finger-width breadths above the wrist crease, between the 2 tendons.7
A recent meta-analysis explored the concept of acupuncture as a treatment modality for nausea and vomiting. The overall results of the meta-analysis were favorable, indicating that acupuncture stimulation is effective in relieving symptoms of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, but interestingly, acupressure (physical pressure at the PC6 point) and electrostimulation (electrical impulses at the PC6 point) tended to have a greater effect than acupuncture alone.7 The mechanism behind this is unknown but seems to lie within the effect that acupuncture has on the chemoreceptor trigger zone involved in the vomiting reflex.8
BACK AND PELVIC PAIN
Pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain and lower back pain are common problems with significant physical, psychologic, and socioeconomic implications.9 Twenty-five percent of women with pelvic pain in pregnancy will seek medical help for their pain; 8% are severely disabled, and 7% continue to have pain beyond pregnancy.10
alleviate this problem.11 In addition, evidence to date has suggested that acupuncture may be more effective than standard therapy (which includes physiotherapy). The mechanism is uncertain, but it is hypothesized that the effect could lie in sustained depression of the dorsal horn of the spinal cord.10,12
PAIN RELIEF IN LABOR
For most women, labor causes severe pain, similar in degree to that caused by complex regional pain syndromes or the amputation of a finger.13,14 Pain management is an essential part of good obstetric care, although not all women request analgesia during labor and delivery.13 As patients look for different modalities of treatment for pain relief, acupuncture has been suggested as a favorable alternative.
Since acupuncture is used widely for pain relief, it is surprising that much of the evidence to date is conflicting. A recent metaanalysis found little convincing evidence that women receiving acupuncture are more likely to experience less labor pain than those in the control groups.15 What it did find, however, is that acupuncture did have a transient effect, which lasted on average 30 minutes, and in addition there was a reduction in meperidine and other analgesia use.15
Watch this video to know more about Acupuncture and labor pain.
DEPRESSION AND PREGNANCY
Women of childbearing age often suffer from major depression, which is most prevalent among people ages 25 to 44.16 Major depressive disorder during pregnancy can have deleterious effects on mothers, infants, and families, regardless of the timing of its onset.17 The treatment of major depression during pregnancy has therefore been identified as a priority area for improvement in the clinical management of depression by both the Committee on Research on Psychiatric Treatments of the American Psychiatric Association and, independently, the Summit on Women and Depression.18
Due to maternal treatment preferences and concerns about potential fetal and infant health outcomes, nonpharmacologic treatment options are needed.19 In fact, many pharmaceutical companies advise against taking their antidepressants during pregnancy. As a result, different modalities of treatment that avoid pharmacologic intervention have been sought. Of these, psychotherapy was initially investigated and deemed to be safe in pregnancy. In a study of interpersonal therapies only, psychotherapy was successful but was noted to be expensive.18
Acupuncture was then pursued as an alternative modality for treatment of depression. Currently, evidence has been favorable, with one paper indicating a response rate of 63%.20 A recent randomized controlled trial agreed with these results, revealing that acupuncture specific for depression was associated with a significantly greater decrease in depression symptom severity and a higher rate of response, compared with the combined controls and relative to the control acupuncture (acupuncture not specific for depression).21 In the same article it was speculated that somatic treatments, such as acupuncture and massage, might be particularly relevant to pregnant women, as they alleviate some of the physical discomfort of pregnancy that overlaps with depression.
If you would like to know more about women’s health, acupuncture and nutrition, how to improve your fertility, general well being and much more, we invite you to follow 3 easy steps:
1. Like out Facebook page for great health and wellness tips. http://on.fb.me/192v19W
2. Enter your name and email to get your free eBook about Women’s Health today. http://on.fb.me/11eNT3g
3. If you would like to discuss your health concerns during your pregnancy or postpartum with one of our fertility specialist in San Diego, call Reproductive Wellness at 858 381 2281. We offer free complimentary consultations. You can also request yours online here.
Acupuncture Stimulation and Obstetrics: “To Stick or Not to Stick?–That Is the Question”
Malshe A, Wiczyk H – The Female Patient. 2011;2(36):16-19 A Malshe, MD, is a 3rd-year Resident in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, MA. Halina Wiczyk, MD, is a Reproductive Endocrinologist, Baystate Reproductive Medicine, Springfield, MA, and Associate Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA.”
References
Lee H, Ernst E. Acupuncture for labor pain management: a systematic review. Am J Obstet Gynecol.2004;191(5):1573-1579.
Hempen CH, Chow VW. Pocket Atlas of Acupuncture. Stuttgart, Germany: Thieme; 2006.
Ernst E. The recent history of acupuncture. Am J Med. 2008;121(12):1027-1028.
Modlock J, Nielsen BB, Uldbjerg N. Acupuncture for the induction of labour: a double-blind randomised controlled study. BJOG. 2010;117(10):1255-1261.
Bailit JL. Hyperemesis gravidarum: epidemiologic findings from a large cohort. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2005;193(3 Pt 1):811-814.
Bennett TA, Kotelchuck M, Cox CE, Tucker MJ, Nadeau DA. Pregnancy-associated hospitalizations in the United States in 1991 and 1992: a comprehensive view of maternal morbidity. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1998;178(2):346-354.
Smith CA, Cochrane S. Does acupuncture have a place as an adjunct treatment during pregnancy? A review of randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews. Birth. 2009;36(3):246-253.
Doyle D, Hanks G, Cherny NI, Calman K. Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine. New York: Oxford University Press; 2005:416.
Vermani E, Mittal R, Weeks A. Pelvic girdle pain and low back pain in pregnancy: a review. Pain Pract.2010;10(1):60-71.
Ee CC, Manheimer E, Pirotta MV, White AR. Acupuncture for pelvic and back pain in pregnancy: a systematic review. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2008;198(3): 254-259.
Smith CA, Collins CT, Cyna AM, Crowther CA. Complementary and alternative therapies for pain management in labour. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2006;(4):CD003521.
Sandkühler J. Learning and memory in pain pathways. Pain. 2000;88(2):113-118.
Hawkins JL. Epidural analgesia for labor and delivery. N Engl J Med. 2010;362(16):1503-1510.
Melzack R. The myth of painless childbirth (the John J. Bonica lecture). Pain. 1984;19(4):321-337.
Cho SH, Lee H, Ernst E. Acupuncture for pain relief in labour: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BJOG. 2010;117(8):907-920.
Wisner KL, Zarin DA, Holmboe ES, et al. Risk-benefit decision making for treatment of depression during pregnancy. Am J Psychiatry. 2000;157(12):1933-1940.
Bonari L, Pinto N, Ahn E, Einarson A, Steiner M, Koren G. Perinatal risks of untreated depression during pregnancy.Can J Psychiatry. 2004;49(11): 726-735.
Spinelli MG, Endicott J. Controlled clinical trial of interpersonal psychotherapy versus parenting education program for depressed pregnant women. Am J Psychiatry. 2003;160(3):555-562.
Dennis CL, Allen K. Interventions (other than pharmacological, psychosocial or psychological) for treating antenatal depression. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008;(4):CD006795.
Manber R, Schnyer RN, Allen JJ, Rush AJ, Blasey CM. Acupuncture: a promising treatment for depression during pregnancy. J Affect Disord. 2004;83(1):89-95.
Manber R, Schnyer RN, Lyell D, et al. Acupuncture for depression during pregnancy: a randomized controlled trial.Obstet Gynecol. 2010;115(3):511-520.
Dowswell T, Kelly AJ, Livio S, Norman JE, Alfirevic Z. Different methods for the induction of labour in outpatient settings. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2010;8:CD007701.
Parker-Pope T. WELL; studying acupuncture, one needle prick at a time. New York Times. August 24, 2010:D5.
Suarez-Almazor ME, Looney C, Liu Y, et al. A randomized controlled trial of acupuncture for osteoarthritis of the knee: effects of patient-provider com-munication. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2010;62 (9):1229-1236.
Haake M, Müller HH, Schade-Brittinger C, et al. German Acupuncture Trials (GERAC) for chronic low back pain: randomized, multicenter, blinded, parallel- group trial with 3 groups. Arch Intern Med. 2007;167(17):1892-1898.
Madsen MV, Gøtzsche PC, Hróbjartsson A. Acupuncture treatment for pain: systematic review of randomised clinical trials with acupuncture, placebo acupuncture, and no acupuncture groups. BMJ. 2009;338:a3115.
http://www.femalepatient.com/Article.aspx?ArticleId=lkjlAKT4eeg=&FullText=1