Researchers in the Department of Nursing at the Federal University of Ceará, Brazil have found that a course of acupuncture offers significant analgesic effects for women experiencing lower back pain in pregnancy. A total of 56 women between 14 and 37 weeks pregnant, and mean age 25, were given up to six acupuncture sessions. Pain scores showed a statistically significant reduction in lower back pain as early as the second session, with further gradual improvements following. The women also reported improvements in relaxation, stress, sleep and anxiety. The researchers concluded that acupuncture “has the potential to promote health in a pleasant, simple, convenient, practical, risk-free and cost-effective manner”.
(Acupuncture treatment: multidimensional assessment of low back pain in pregnant women. Revista da Escola Enfermagem da USP, 11 June 2018.)
Author: Robin Costello
I offer traditional Chinese acupuncture in Exeter, from a tranquil clinic a mile from the city centre, and next to the University of Exeter. I graduated originally from the London School of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine’s 3 year full time Acupuncture Diploma (DipAc) course. I am on the practitioners register of the British Acupuncture Council (MBAcC), a regulatory and professional body with an entry standard of a full three year undergraduate degree level training.
I have worked in a hospital in south west China, deepening my knowledge and using acupuncture and Chinese massage (tuina) as the treatment of choice in its country of origin. I have taught Chinese medicine in colleges, the NHS and at university level. I also practise Qi Gong, and Chinese dietary therapy, that is the medicinal use of ordinary foods, chosen to help achieve particular therapeutic effects in different individuals.
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