Acupuncture points to avoid during pregnancy

February 7, 2003

I am a Licensed Acupuncturist currently treating a woman (9 weeks pregnant) for

severe morning sickness. She came to me after receiving Acupuncture from a

Chiropractor. Her experience was that she got mild relief but the nausea would

return with greater intensity shortly after treatment. She also had what she

called " mild cramping " in her lower abdomen following Acupuncture treatments

from this Chiropractor. Upon questioning her (and by observing the bruising let

behind) I figured out that he had utilized points that should not be utilized on

a pregnant woman, namely Large Intestine 4 and Spleen 6. He was also needling

St12 (Why I have no idea) which can be a risky point when the needle is in the

hands of someone with inadequate training. Judging from the bruises on this

women , I am comfortable saying that this fellow was not adequately trained.

Given her symptoms it seemed to me that her pattern was Liver invading the

Spleen. Again based on my questioning of where she had been needled, and the

fact that she reported that he was basing his treatment on " some little card he

was looking at " it seemed reasonable to assume that her treatment was not based

on a TCM diagnosis but simply a " cook book " point recipe.

In my state, Chiropractors can stick Acupuncture needles in people with no

specific training requirements. The bruising on this woman and the Chiropractor

choice of points is certainly evidence that he is not adequately trained. The

point I'm trying to make is as follows.

If you're going to receive Acupuncture, get it from someone who is able to show

you evidence of their training. Ask if they are NCCAOM board certified. I

repeat, NCCAOM. If they are not, think twice. If they just tell you they are

" certified " , ask who certified them. Just because they have the title " doctor "

don't assume they are trained in all medical disciplines. And ... if you're

going to preform acupuncture... laws aside... you owe it to your patients to be

well trained in what you are doing. The 100 hr " certification course " seems

pretty inadequate to me.

I direct that last sentence towards all M.D.'s, Naturopaths, Chiropractors, and

any other health care practioner who does not have substantial and specific

training in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine When you act as the Chiropractor

in this example has acted... you risk two things. First and most important, you

risk the health of your patient and in this case her unborn child. Second, you

do damage to the Acupuncturists profession. Consider this the next time you

decide to " do some acupuncture " . Better still, if you're really interested in

performing Acupuncture on your patients, go to an accredited school and really

learn Acupuncture and Oriental medical theory.

Be well

PS The patients morning sickness was under control after one treatment(no

vomiting for the first time in 4 weeks) and a follow up treatment the next day

resulted in even greater improvement. Ultra sound shows a healthy baby

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February 8, 2003

> If you're going to receive Acupuncture, get it from someone who is

able to show you evidence of their training. Ask if they are NCCAOM

board certified. I repeat, NCCAOM. If they are not, think twice.

If they just tell you they are " certified " , ask who certified them.

Just because they have the title " doctor " don't assume they are

trained in all medical disciplines. And ... if you're going to

preform acupuncture... laws aside... you owe it to your patients to

be well trained in what you are doing. The 100 hr " certification

course " seems pretty inadequate to me.

Thanks, Jack, for some very good advice.

Folks, not all acupuncturists are equal. Some don't even practice

TCM but a " cookbook " style of acupuncture based on Western diagnoses

not on TCM imbalances.

Sometimes a cookbook approach can work wonders. But other times, it

can even hurt the client.

If you're starting to learn acupressure or acupuncture and use it,

KNOW the contraindications. Especially for pregnant women. Some of

these points like Large Intestine 4 can bring on labor.

Another problem with cookbook acupressure and acupuncture is that

Western diagnoses rarely correspond to specific TCM imblances. For

example, what is called asthma in the West can have one or more of

several different TCM Roots. What helps one asthmatic may do nothing

for a second and even make a third sicker because they each have

different TCM imblances that can manifest as asthma.

If you've been sick for a while with a chronic condition - especially

if you've had the problem for years - I definitely recommend seeking

out an acupuncturist who has TCM training and can do the proper TCM

diagnostic examinations. When someone has been sick for a while,

other things tend to go wrong besides the original problem. Like a

row of dominos going down. TCM treatments are formulated to correct

all imbalances at once. Or at least not make one worse while

treating another.

I want to mention another contraindication for pregnancy and nausea.

Ginger. It's not one of the strongest herbs that can induce labor,

but the risk is there. Particularly with dried ginger.

Also, dried ginger has hot thermal energy so you need to be very,

very cautious giving it to someone who already is too Hot (pregnant

or not). It will cause them to be even hotter. But it works very

well with people who are too Cold and nauseous. These people need

warming up.

Victoria

February 9, 2003

In a message dated 2/8/03 3:19:23 PM Eastern Standard Time,

victoria_dragon writes:

> Some of

> these points like Large Intestine 4 can bring on labor.

>

Well I know what we were taught but research show this is not the case.

After saying that, with most thinking it is and what has been written in some

text, it might be better to avoid it for legal reasons.

I believe we spent some time talking about this about a year ago if the chat

notes go back that far.

Stan

February 11, 2003

This is a major problem that will affect the acupuncture community. It's my

opinion if patients are to receive acupuncture treatments from those that have

been well trained, its the acupuncture profession and associations that need to

inform the public thru the media, newpapers, lectures, etc. regarding the

differences in acupuncture education and than let the public determine who thay

wish to receive treatment from. Unfortunately, most of the public are not

informed regarding the acupuncture education. The different profession's can

argue who has the right to practice acupuncture, go thru debates and legal

issues but it would be most cost effective with better information if the

acupuncture community will pull together and educated the public. With the surge

in alternative medicine and the different state laws and regulations, the

acupuncture professionals may eventually be left out of the health care system

because of the money and politics the other professions have ascess to...

Sincerely,

Brian N Hardy, DC, LAc, CCN

Jack Gorfien <panaxj wrote: