Acupuncture During Pregnancy
53402
Health & Fitness > Alternative Medicine
Nov 8, 2007
j_hardcastle89
Acupuncture During Pregnancy
Acupuncture is the ancient Chinese method of using tiny needles to stimulate specific areas or "meridians" of the body and to rebalance the body's energy, or chi. Because acupuncture is especially effective for chronic conditions, many pregnant women are turning to acupuncture to provide drug-free relief from many of the unpleasant symptoms of pregnancy. An Australian study showed that women who received acupuncture treatments regularly before their 14th week of pregnancy had less nausea and shorter bouts of morning sickness than women who did not receive the treatment. Acupuncture has also been used to treat the more serious condition hyperemesis gravidarum, which causes serious vomiting that persists throughout pregnancy. During the second trimester, acupuncture has been used to successfully treat heartburn and hemorrhoids. In the third trimester, acupuncture can provide relief from sciatica, joint pain and carpal tunnel syndrome, which many women develop late in pregnancy. Acupuncture has even been used to relieve pain during labor and delivery. Pregnant women seeking to use acupuncture to treat conditions developed during pregnancy should be sure to visit a licensed and experienced acupuncturist. For example, although acupuncture can be used to treat edema, or swelling of the ankles, edema can be an indicator of a serious problem. An acupuncturist experienced in treating pregnant women would be more likely to recognize this problem and refer the patient back to her obstetrician. The most serious risk of using acupuncture during pregnancy is that it may stimulate labor if it is improperly applied. Choosing an experienced practitioner reduces this risk to almost negligible levels. In fact, many women have turned to acupuncture to purposefully stimulate labor when their baby is overdue. Some women have found that labor induced by acupuncture is gentler than labor induced by drugs such as Pitocin. In addition to benefits during pregnancy, labor and delivery, acupuncture has been used to promote fertility and to treat infertility. In a small German study, women who used acupuncture in conjunction with in vitro fertilization had a 42.5% success rate compared to 26.3% in women who used in vitro fertilization alone. Fertility specialists attribute this to the overall improvement of health that comes from receiving regular acupuncture treatments. Finally, acupuncture may have some benefits in treating post-partum depression. Although no research has been done to support the efficacy of acupuncture treatments on post-partum depression, anecdotal evidence shows that some women do benefit from its use. Because acupuncture does not cause harmful drug interactions, it can be a useful complimentary therapy.
Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles on many topics including Alternative Health, Nursing, and Weight Loss
send email to j_hardcastle89
Write a Review
Add to My Favorite
Refer it to Friend
Report Article
Other links owned by this user
In recent years, the arrival in the United States of players like Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui has enlightened Americans about the popularity of the sport in Japan. But most Americans don't know that Japan has almost as long a baseball history as the U
Category:
Just imagine racing down a snow-covered hill, cold wind blowing in your face, your warm, wool scarf fluttering behind you. You are bouncing up and down, trying to keep yourself on course, but occasionally drifting off to the side. You feel like flying. Sl
Category:
Pocket Billiards tables, sometimes simply called pool tables, are part of a great alternative sport, the Pool or Billiards. For those who wish to spend an evening out with friends and play an exciting new game, pool is also a great start for amateurs.
Category:
Hopefully you never had to endure a situation of someone close to you to suffer from transient ischemic attach (TIA), also known as mini stoke, or from a stroke.
Category:
Tomatoes are made out of water and vital biological substances. The tomato is a plant belonging to the Solanaceae or nightshade family, native to Central and South America, from Mexico to Peru.
Category:
Motorbikes are considered heartthrobs in the automotive world. Bikes are conventional and normal bikes are used by ordinary, middleclass people who can not afford to buy themselves a car.
Category:
There are six Hawaii different islands available for tourists to select. The people who decide to go to Hawaii for the first time usually plan to visit one or more than one island.
Category:
While football is considered one of America's greatest pastimes, few know the secrets of throwing the ball properly. A proper football pass is a perfect spiral delivered directly to the target.
Category:
None expected me to return home holding a tiny living fur-ball in my palms and announcing that whether they liked it or not I would definitely keep my new friend indoors.
Category:
Although of those who know the importance of frequent exercise have a great pre-workout and workout routine, few have understood or spend time to relax their muscles after the completion of a medium or intense exercise program.
Category:
To survive, a company must satisfy different groups, refereed as stakeholders. These include stockholders, employees, customers, and society at large. In the short term, the aims of these groups conflict.
Category:
Few people realize from the very beginning just how essential water is to the success of their workout program. Although multiple sources of information exist out there, from magazine articles written by physicians and exercise experts to all sorts of adv
Category:
Just like Columbus discovered in America the New World where everyone dreamt to begin living a better life, so will Nokia soon introduce to the worldwide wireless users the new world of a unit-free personal computer experience.
Category:
It is in fact a horrifying moment the one when a computer user realizes that a virus has managed to penetrate his or her CPU system and destroyed years of data and hard work.
Category:
For anyone living in the American society, it does not take a sociologist or a political scientist to call attention to which extend sports has permeated the American way of life. Newspapers devote an entire section of their daily editions to the coverage
Category:
A lot of times, the amount of satisfaction that one receives in a job is in direct relation to the way they interact with their co-workers. There are McDonald's employees that are happier then rocket scientists due to their attitude and demeanor while in
Category:
What is architecture? What do we mean by Post-Modernism? Does Postmodernism still exist in architectural design? As Jameson suggests, Postmodernism, by definition resists definition.
Category:
Owning a boat costs much more over time than the actual purchase and the fuel to run the boat.
Category:
According to contractors, the room that is undergoing the greatest amount of transformation in new construction and remodeling is the bathroom.
Category:
In 1990, General Motors capitalized on consumer's intense dislike of the auto purchasing process and introduced the Saturn. Saturns were, and are still, sold at a flat price with no dickering, dealing or haggling.
Category:
Other links at Health & Fitness > Alternative Medicine
Many women, and yes even men, find themselves fighting wrinkles every day. No one really wants to get old or even look as if they're getting old.
Category:
Your gastrointenstinal tract is responsible for digestion, assimilation and detoxification. If it cannot perform its required functions properly, toxic waste will buld up in your body. You will need to cleanse out these waste.
Category:
Colon cleansing can bring many benefits for your health. If you are concerned about the harshness of external colon cleansing, then think about how to perform internal colon cleansing naturally.
Category:
Learn to bring your two minds in harmony, so you can get what you want whether that be a thriving practice or your dream house or healing of some condition that you have.
Category:
It's the New Year! And one of your new resolutions is to quit smoking. Like the millions upon millions of smokers out there, you have literally tried everything to help you quit smoking and nothing seems to work. Perhaps this year, you may want to try acu
Category:
Site Sponsor
Directory Statistics
Articles: 68252
Categories: 501
Yahoo Entertainment
