Researchers in Spain have shown two weeks of ear acupuncture significantly reduces lumbar and pelvic pain in pregnancy. In the trial, 220 women at 24 to 36 weeks gestation were recruited from 18 primary care centres. They were randomly assigned to receive standard care plus either weekly acupuncture for two weeks, non-specific acupuncture (at points not customarily expected to benefit lumbar or pelvic pain), or placebo acupuncture. A fourth group received standard care alone.
Compared with baseline, the reduction in pain intensity in the true ear acupuncture group was significantly greater than that in the standard care group. A similar pattern emerged for disability and physical health.
(Effect of ear acupuncture on pregnancy-related pain in the lower back and posterior pelvic girdle: a multicentre randomised clinical trial. Acta Obstetricia Gynecologica Scandinavica, 29 April 2019.)
Author: Robin Costello
I offer traditional Chinese acupuncture in Exeter, from a tranquil clinic a mile from the city centre, and next to the University of Exeter. I graduated originally from the London School of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine’s 3 year full time Acupuncture Diploma (DipAc) course. I am on the practitioners register of the British Acupuncture Council (MBAcC), a regulatory and professional body with an entry standard of a full three year undergraduate degree level training.
I have worked in a hospital in south west China, deepening my knowledge and using acupuncture and Chinese massage (tuina) as the treatment of choice in its country of origin. I have taught Chinese medicine in colleges, the NHS and at university level. I also practise Qi Gong, and Chinese dietary therapy, that is the medicinal use of ordinary foods, chosen to help achieve particular therapeutic effects in different individuals.
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