Alternative Medicine Can Be Beneficial
December 10th, 2011
According to the February 2011 issue of The Female Patient Acupuncture has become a larger part of mainstream medical treatments. There has been a steady increase in Los Angeles of Acupuncturists using Acupuncture for pregnant women who would like to limit risks and complications involved with taking medication. Through word of mouth and personal experience many Los Angeles women have discovered that Acupuncture works and that the risks to their well being is limited, even though there isn’t “scientific” support that can only be acquired via expensive clinical trials. There have been studies that show that Acupuncture can help with pregnancy symptoms like nausea, vomiting and can also be a reliable treatment for back and pelvic pain as well as depression. Acupuncture has also been shown to reduce labor pain, greatly reduce the need for analgesia during childbirth and help induce labor. The risks during Acupuncture are slim, and provide a reliable alternative to using pharmaceuticals, which can cause complications. With all of this in mind women are ready to try Acupuncture and explore its benefits, once there are positive results they will keep turning to Acupuncture without the support of scientific studies. They experience first hand why Acupuncture works and how well.
Many women experience nausea and vomiting during pregnancy about %50 to %90. Through stimulation of one point called PC-6 (which is located on the forearm, palm side between two tendons approximately three finger width up from the crease of the wrist) using Acupuncture has been shown to be effective in alleviating symptoms of nausea and vomiting. Using electro stimulation (electroacupuncture) and acupressure may improve results when used at this point (PC-6). Patients are not concerned with exact mechanism or scientific proof of these results if it works.
Other common symptoms during pregnancy that Acupuncture can help relieve are pelvic pain and back pain. Out of the twenty five percent of women who will seek medical help for these symptoms up to eight percent will be bed ridden and up to seven percent will still suffer with these symptoms after childbirth. Acupuncture has been shown to have positive results in relieving back and pelvic pain in women who are pregnant. The standard treatment for these symptoms is physical therapy Acupuncture has evidence suggesting that it may be more effective. Acupuncture allows for low risk treatment that does not involve pharmaceuticals to treat lower back pain and pelvic pain in pregnant women.
Pregnant women from ages 25 to 45 many times experience sometimes, serious depression. Doctors and other medical professionals have been looking for natural methods to treat depression, as it is vital to the health of not only the mother and baby but the entire family. Steering away from medications during pregnancy reduces risk and complications. There are random controlled clinical trials which show that there is a %63 positive response when using acupuncture to treat depression in pregnant women. Using acupuncture has proven to be an effective alternative to pharmaceuticals for treating depression and the risks are slim.
Acupuncture hasn’t yet become popular for inducing labor, although it has been shown to reduce the need for analgesics during childbirth. Every Acupuncturist needs to be aware of specific precautions when treating pregnant women. Acupuncture is a great alternative to medication and is an extremely low risk, natural practice. Veterinarians have been successful at showing that acupuncture does not have a placebo effect by using it on animals.
Conducting clinical trials is very expensive. Acupuncture has nothing to patent like pharmaceutical companies so there is no financial gain to be had by conducting clinical trials for acupuncture. We have to wait for government organizations or non- profit organizations such as the National Institute of Health to sponsor and execute such studies. This process takes far longer than it does for a profit private sector. During acupuncture functional MRIs of the brain show strong readings when the insertion of the acupuncture needles sends a signal to the brain through the afferent nervous pathways, this stimulates the desired response of the central nervous system (CNS). The central nervous system sends the desired signal to the targeted areas of the body through the efferent nervous system pathways. Just one of the key reactions achieved through acupuncture is to calm the sympathetic nervous system. Acupuncture may allow the CNS to do its job, restoring health and maintaining it by taking the patient out of the fight or flight scenario.
Acupuncture is becoming very popular in mainstream medicine although there is a lack of several scientific studies proving why and how it works. Many patients are going to try acupuncture because of the low risk, and that it is natural. Acupuncture is also pharmaceutical free. Patients pass the positive results of along to others and keep using acupuncture because of their own beneficial results. Because it has grown in popularity many Medical Doctors and other practitioners are made aware of the effective results of acupuncture, which will prompt them to refer patients to an acupuncturist. Eastern and Western medicine has the ability to provide patients with an array of treatments this in turn, creates more opportunities for success.
Alternative Medicine includes Acupuncture. When looking to use Acupuncture as a treatment, first you’ll need to find an Acupuncturist in your area.
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