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Acupuncture for menstrual problems
Re-establishing harmony
Acupuncture for heavy, painful or difficult periods can be really useful. Many people suffer all kinds of menstrual symptoms for years without finding relief, or sometimes without even realising that things could be better. Acupuncture can help release tension across your body and re-establish natural processes and rhythms.
Many women experience symptoms of menstrual imbalance, which often respond well to acupuncture treatment:
Painful periods
Heavy or scanty bleeding
Dark
or clotted menstrual blood.
Irregular, short cycles, long cycles or missed
periods
Post-menstrual tiredness or pain
Endometriosis, which is diagnosed in Chinese
medicine as Blood Stagnation, with pain and other symptoms arising from
bleeding into the abdominal cavity.
Fibroids, which are also diagnosed as Blood
Stagnation
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)
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Case study |
"Acupuncture was recommended to me by my chiropractor, who was treating me for back and neck problems brought on by being stuck at my desk. I found Jessica through a web search for local practitioners. Jessica ran through an extensive questionnaire with me and identified several conditions that she could help with. My neck and back symptoms started to ease after my first treatment, and subsequent sessions, together with my chiropractor, have finally seen the end of almost constant pain. The two approaches to treating the symptoms have really complemented each other and have ensured a speedy recovery from a long-term problem. Of all of my conditions/ailments, the treatments to ease the symptoms of PCOS have had the most incredible results. My PCOS caused extremely heavy and painful periods which have always been part of an unusually long cycle. After just 2 treatments, Jessica had eased the pain enough that I didn't need painkillers, and had reduced my cycle to a regular 28 days, not to mention eased or eradicated many other PCOS-related symptoms. I can't recommend this treatment highly enough! Jessica takes an extremely professional and warm approach to her treatments. She's very keen to ensure you understand how acupuncture works, and is very patient when asked the same questions over and over. If you're after a friendly and holistic approach to your health, look no further." A project director in her 30s
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Research |
A 2003 report by the World Health Organisation (WHO)(1) found that dysmenorrhoea (period pain) is one of the conditions "for which acupuncture has been proved-through controlled trials-to be an effective treatment". Female infertility, hypo-ovarianism, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and premenstrual syndrome (PMS) are included in the conditions "for which the therapeutic effect of acupuncture has been shown but for which further proof is needed."
A 2008 German study of women with period pain found that those who received acupuncture had pain scores of 3.1 out of ten after three months, compared to 5.4 for those who had not, which is a reduction of more than 40% (see article in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology(2)).
A 1999 review by the British Acupuncture Council(3) concluded that acupuncture could be highly effective in the treatment of dysmenorrhoea (period pain), dysfunctional uterine bleeding and pelvic inflammatory disease, often helping over 80% of patients.
Meanwhile a review(4) by the British Medical Journal described acupuncture as "very safe" when practiced by an appropriately-qualified practitioner.
The modern evidence base for acupuncture is incomplete, and this is true for a great many areas of conventional medicine too. The Clinical Evidence website of the British Medical Journal tells us that of the 2,500 conventional medical treatments their databases cover, 46% are of unknown effectiveness (as at October 2009)(5).
Jessica continues to witness the benefits of acupuncture for many people in her work, utilising the knowledge and practice of Chinese medicine built up over thousands of years. She's happy that more and more modern scientific research is being done into acupuncture, helping to bring it to a wider audience.
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Treatment
Generally with acupuncture the ideal is to start out with weekly treatments, and then to spread these out further apart once you're experiencing improvement in your symptoms. It's best to think in terms of at least 4-6 treatments. With problems affecting the monthly cycle, it can often take 2-3 months for the results to become fully clear, so a typical minimum number of treatments is often a little higher, for example 6-10, spread over 2-3 months, and the improvements are generally worth waiting for.
Contact Jessica
Each of us responds differently to
acupuncture. Do
get in touch to discuss whether
acupuncture is likely to be right for you, or to make an appointment.
Other conditions
Acupuncture can help with a wide range of health problems, click below to find out more:
Detailed references
(1) http://www.acupuncture-schools.us/national-institute-health-nih-acupuncture.cfm, referring to World Health Organisation (2002). Acupuncture: Review and Analysis of Reports on Controlled Clinical Trial, see http://apps.who.int/bookorders/anglais/detart1.jsp?sesslan=1&codlan=1&codcol=93&codcch=196
(2) Witt, Claudia et al (2008). Acupuncture in patients with dysmenorrhea: a randomized study on clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness in usual care. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Volume 198, Issue 2, Pages 166.e1-166.e8 see http://www.ajog.org/article/S0002-9378%2807%2900920-9/abstract
(3) Gynaecology and acupuncture, the evidence for effectiveness. Published by the British Acupuncture Council, Briefing Paper 4, September 1999, see http://www.acupuncture.org.uk/content/Library/doc/gynaecology_bp4.pdf
(4) Rampes (2001). The safety of acupuncture. British Medical Journal 2001;323(7311):467 (1 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.323.7311.467, see http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/323/7311/467
(5) From the 'About Us' area of the Clinical Evidence BMJ website, page titled 'How much do we know', http://clinicalevidence.bmj.com/ceweb/about/knowledge.jsp. Extract at Oct 2009: "So what can Clinical Evidence tell us about the state of our current knowledge? What proportion of commonly used treatments are supported by good evidence, what proportion should not be used or used only with caution, and how big are the gaps in our knowledge? Of around 2500 treatments covered 13% are rated as beneficial, 23% likely to be beneficial, 8% as trade off between benefits and harms, 6% unlikely to be beneficial, 4% likely to be ineffective or harmful, and 46%, the largest proportion, as unknown effectiveness"
© Jessica Kennedy 2005-09, all rights reserved