Acupuncture Relieves Pregnancy-Related Pain

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."

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