Acupuncture Relieves Pregnancy-Related Pain

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http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/health/feeds/hscout/2005/03/18/hscout524604.html

 

Acupuncture Relieves Pregnancy-Related Pain

By Ed Edelson

HealthDay Reporter

 

FRIDAY, March 18 (HealthDay News) -- Acupuncture can help relieve pelvic

girdle pain, that searing ache that can wrap around the lower back and

stomach in the last trimester of pregnancy, Swedish researchers find.

 

The addition of either acupuncture or special exercises to standard

treatment " offers clear clinical advantages over standard treatment

alone for reduction of pain, " concludes their study of nearly 400 women,

published in the online issue of the British Medical Journal.

 

Over a six-week period, researchers at the Perinatal Center at the

Sahlgrenska Academy, in Gothenburg, Sweden tracked symptoms in 394

mothers-to-be with pelvic girdle pain, a common complaint among pregnant

women worldwide. They divided the women into three groups: a third had

standard treatment, consisting of a pelvic belt and a home exercise

program; another third received standard treatment plus acupuncture;

while a final third learned stabilizing exercises, meant to improve

mobility and strength, along with standard treatment.

 

Following treatment, women who received either acupuncture or the

exercise therapy, on top of standard treatment, reported less pain both

in the morning and evening, compared to the group receiving standard

therapy alone. Women receiving acupuncture reported the least discomfort

overall.

 

Acupuncture and stabilizing exercises are being used more and more in

Europe against pelvic girdle pain, the Swedish experts noted, but until

now, no one has done this type of carefully controlled study to prove

their worth.

 

" It is the first study of acupuncture with well-defined pelvic girdle

pain, " said study author Helen Elden, who is a midwife at the center in

Sweden. " There are two other studies published for low back pain during

pregnancy, but they have methodological shortcomings. "

 

The study results indicate that " it is good to start the treatment as

soon as the woman gets the pain, and the treatment we gave was

effective, " she said.

 

The findings strongly support the effectiveness of acupuncture against

pelvic girdle pain, said Marshall H. Sager, immediate past president of

the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture.

 

" This is a good paper, " Sager said. " I wouldn't hesitate to cite this

study in support of using acupuncture for pelvic girdle pain. But if you

limit it to pelvic girdle pain you are being very narrow. You would do

better to expand its use a bit to other kinds of pelvic pain in pregnancy. "

 

Dr. Kenneth A. Levey, director of the Center for Pelvic Pain and

Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery at the New York University School

of Medicine, agreed.

 

" This is a well-written, well-designed study that meets all the

requirements of medical practice, " Levey said. " People who have been

involved in the field have suspected the value of acupuncture already,

but they have had no good data to back them up. "

 

The NYU center also uses acupuncture in " a number of different pain

syndromes that are present in pregnancy, " he said.

 

Both Sager and Levey said acupuncture is more widely used in Europe than

in the United States, but the situation here is changing.

 

" Acupuncture is probably becoming more popular in this country, " Levey

said. " As more randomized, well-controlled studies are published, more

physicians in this country will adopt it, and insurers are more likely

to pay for it. "

 

The two clinicians disagreed on one important point, however. Sager said

that, even though he believes in the safety and efficacy of the

procedure, he " won't treat pregnant women with acupuncture because of

the litigious society we live in. "

 

Levey pointed out that " there really is no evidence or any suggestion

that acupuncture can cause harm in pregnancy, " however.