Acupuncture can help with pregnancy pelvic pain
Pelvic pain during different stages of pregnancy is common and it is important to work in with your mid wife and doctor to rule out problems like ovarian cysts and urinary tract infections. Some causes of pelvic pain during pregnancy can include relaxed pelvic joints which causes pain toward the end of the pregnancy. In the second trimester pelvic pain can be due to round ligament pain which tends to worsen when walking or getting up from a chair. In the third trimester, the pain can feel more like a pressure as the weight of the baby presses down on the nerves running down to the legs.
When more complex issues like ovarian torsion or kidney stones have been ruled out for causing pelvic pain, research has confirmed that acupuncture for pregnancy pain is an effective treatment. The journal, Australian Doctor, reported that acupuncture reduces evening pelvic pain as well as lumbar pain. In fact there have been over 26 research studies on this topic in the West.
Debra Betts, a Wellington based researcher and registered acupuncturist is the author of an internationally recognized book in the field acupuncture and pregnancy and runs regular seminars for members of Acupuncture NZ on pregnancy related disorders.
Students completing their acupuncture Bachelor degree at the New Zealand School of Acupuncture are also privileged to have Debra as their tutor who teaches the specialist classes of acupuncture and pregnancy care.
Research has already confirmed that acupuncture for morning sickness and breech baby position is effective and acupuncturists are steadily seeing more women with these conditions.
Now there are more midwives referring their clients to acupuncturists for a whole host of pregnancy related ailments including pelvic pain.
This includes Australian registered Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners like Andrew Orr who specialises in treating women’s problems with acupuncture and Chinese herbs. Andrew is based in Queensland and regularly lectures to midwives and obstetricians in Brisbane. Mr Andrew Orr said “We are seeing a lot more women with pelvic pain because our lives are busier now and women are working much later into the third trimester. In addition, poor posture at work only compounds the problem. Our clinic encourages a pregnancy maintenance program with acupuncture and Chinese herbs that we start as soon as possible. It is becoming the norm for midwives and obstetricians to refer their patients for acupuncture early along the piece. I see many acute and chronic cases of pelvic pain with great success“.
The Acupuncture Clinic – Hastings sees a multitude of pregnancy related problems including pelvic pain, constipation and urinary tract infections.
