Acupuncture During Pregnancy

Acupuncture During Pregnancy
By Jonathon Hardcastle

Acupuncture is the ancient Chinese method of using tiny needles
to stimulate specific areas or "meridians" of the body and to
rebalance the body's energy, or chi. Because is
especially effective for chronic conditions, many pregnant women
are turning to to provide drug-free relief from many
of the unpleasant symptoms of pregnancy.

An Australian study showed that women who received acupuncture
treatments regularly before their 14th week of pregnancy had
less nausea and shorter bouts of morning sickness than women who
did not receive the treatment. has also been used to
treat the more serious condition hyperemesis gravidarum, which
causes serious vomiting that persists throughout pregnancy.

During the second trimester, has been used to
successfully treat heartburn and hemorrhoids. In the third
trimester, can provide relief from sciatica, joint
pain and carpal tunnel syndrome, which many women develop late
in pregnancy. has even been used to relieve pain
during labor and delivery.

Pregnant women seeking to use to treat conditions
developed during pregnancy should be sure to visit a licensed
and experienced acupuncturist. For example, although acupuncture
can be used to treat edema, or swelling of the ankles, edema can
be an indicator of a serious problem. An acupuncturist
experienced in treating pregnant women would be more likely to
recognize this problem and refer the patient back to her
obstetrician.

The most serious risk of using during pregnancy is
that it may stimulate labor if it is improperly applied.
Choosing

an experienced practitioner reduces this risk to almost
negligible levels. In fact, many women have turned to
acupuncture to purposefully stimulate labor when their baby is
overdue. Some women have found that labor induced by acupuncture
is gentler than labor induced by drugs such as Pitocin.

In addition to benefits during pregnancy, labor and delivery,
acupuncture has been used to promote fertility and to treat
infertility. In a small German study, women who used acupuncture
in conjunction with in vitro fertilization had a 42.5% success
rate compared to 26.3% in women who used in vitro fertilization
alone. Fertility specialists attribute this to the overall
improvement of health that comes from receiving regular
acupuncture treatments.

Finally, may have some benefits in treating
post-partum depression. Although no research has been done to
support the efficacy of treatments on post-partum
depression, anecdotal evidence shows that some women do benefit
from its use. Because does not cause harmful drug
interactions, it can be a useful complimentary therapy.

About the Author: Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles for
http://4alternativehealthinfo.com/ - In addition, Jonathon also
writes articles for http://thenursingcenter.com/ and
http://letsdropsomeweight.com/

Source: http://www.isnare.com

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