How does acupuncture affect pregnancy? Acupuncture can be used to treat back pain and headaches during pregnancy, but it should never be used during the first trimester because of a risk of miscarriage.
For over 2,500 years, acupuncture has been a proven and distinguished medicine in the Chinese culture. As a way of treating patients for illnesses and ailments without the use of medicine, the success of acupuncture eventually made its way westward to America.
One of the details that intrigued so many here in American culture about acupuncture was its way to seemingly treat conditions without the use of medication. Instead of dosing patients to cure an illness, acupuncture uses stainless steel needles inserted in various positions in the body called acupuncture points. These needles are said to help with the flow of vital energy throughout the body, possibly restoring the energetic balance in the body.
One of the most common ailments that acupuncture is said to be able to cure is chronic back pain. And of anyone else more noted, pregnant women probably are the most commonly attributed with back pains. But, is it safe to do acupuncture on a pregnant woman?
Dr. Xiaodont Han graduated from the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Hunan Province of China. He is licensed in the state of Florida and is a physician with the Oak Hollow Acupuncture Clinic. Han said that it is very important for a pregnant woman who is partaking in acupuncture to fully trust the doctor she is working with.
"During pregnancy, make sure your doctor knows what he is doing," he said. "Using acupuncture in certain points can cause miscarriage. It is a very serious matter."
"I have treated people after four months of pregnancy, because they have low back pain or headaches, but never in the first three months," he added. "I am treating a pregnant patient who really does not want to take any drugs and she is doing great."
