Study: Acupuncture Alleviates Lower Back and Pelvic Pain in Pregnant Women

Acupuncture, one branch of therapeutic practice unique in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), has a long history of effectively treating pain. A new global research report shows that acupuncture can significantly relieve both the low back and pelvic pain in pregnant women. The latest research from Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine (GZUCM) and the Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine Third Affiliated Hospital in China has confirmed that acupuncture has a significant effect on women’s pain during pregnancy. The findings were published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) on Nov. 21, 2022. The study collected data from 10 groups: six from Sweden, and one each from the UK, the U.S., Spain, and Brazil. A total of 1,040 pregnant women participated in the evaluation-All in good health, with gestational age between 17 and 30 weeks, suffering from varying degrees of both low back and pelvic pain. After acupuncture and moxibustion treatment, compared with the control group, nine of the groups showed a significant reduction in the woman’s pain with an effective rate of 95 percent. Studies have shown that acupuncture is strongly associated with neurohumoral mechanisms. After treatments, endorphins and dynorphins in the spinal cord and cerebrospinal fluid were found to increase. It is the increase of self-generated morphine-like chemicals that can relieve pain. As a means to avoid any potential side effects on mothers and babies due to drug usage, acupuncture rightly deserves all the closer attention. It is not just able to significantly reduce, and improve overall body functions and quality of life in pregnant women, it can also avoid any adverse effects on fetuses, the research team said. In an interview with The Epoch Times on Dec. 12, 2022, Ritsugaku Ken, a TCM physician of the Japanese Society of Oriental Medicine and director of the Acupuncture & Moxibustion Clinic of Kurashiki Heisei Hospital, said, “Acupuncture is an important part of traditional Chinese medicine, and it is most commonly used to treat pain. It is getting increasingly popular too. In Chinese medicine, pain originates from qi stagnation and blood stasis, and acupuncture can achieve the effect of enhancing blood circulation and removing blood stasis.” Ritsugaku san said that the human body is highly sensitive in nature. If the meridians are blocked, it will give out a number of warning signals in the form of symptoms such as pain, edema, swelling, and ecchymosis. All these symptoms can be effectively relieved by applying acupuncture. In addition, acupuncture and moxibustion are therapeutic techniques for “treating internal diseases via external means.” They treat systemic diseases through the conduction effect of meridian qi infused on the body surface perfected by the application of certain operations. TCM has discovered that there is a “meridian” system in the human body that is responsible for transporting “qi” and “blood” throughout the body. The two substances of qi and blood circulate to maintain balance and stability in various tissues and organs. When the meridian system is blocked, it will affect the transport of substances and allow abnormalities to appear in the human body. Acupoints are a unique term in Chinese culture and TCM, and they are places with many nerve endings and blood vessels.  They are specific locations where qi and blood gather, transfer, and enter and exit, and are also regarded as energy-gatheringKzenon points of the human body. TCM can treat diseases by stimulating corresponding meridian acupoints through acupuncture. Ellen Wan has worked for the Japanese edition of The Epoch Times since 2007.