Acupuncture and Endometriosis

Endometriosis has been in the news more and more lately, since celebrities including Lena Dunham, Julianne Hough and Padma Lakshmi are speaking out as both patients and advocates of the awareness of the disease.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), “Endometriosis is a problem affecting a woman's uterus—the place where a baby grows when a woman is pregnant. Endometriosis is when the kind of tissue that normally lines the uterus grows somewhere else. It can grow on the ovaries, behind the uterus, on the bowels, or on the bladder. Rarely, it grows in other parts of the body.”

The painful and potentially debilitating disease can cause, “pain, infertility, and very heavy periods. The pain is usually in the abdomen, lower back, or pelvic areas. Some women have no symptoms at all, and having trouble getting pregnant may be the first sign they have endometriosis.”

Thankfully, acupuncture might be able to help!

Helpful for both chronic pain and other conditions, a recent article from Health CMI entitled “Acupuncture Beats Drug for Endometriosis Relief” explains that researchers have found that acupuncture is more effective than hormone drug  replacement therapy in treating endometriosis and its symptoms.

In the study, “Researchers at Tongji University hospital compared acupuncture with standard drug therapy. Patients receiving acupuncture achieved a 92.0% total effective rate. Patients receiving mifepristone achieved a 52.0% total effective rate.” Essentially acupuncture worked better at reducing pain levels as reported by the patients. 

The study outlined the following acupoints as being the locations of interest: CV6 (Quihai), CV4 (Guanyuan), CV3 (Zhongji), Zigong (Extra), SP10 (Xuehai), SP6 (Sanyinjiao), LV2 (Xingjian) and LV3 (taichong.)

If you are currently being treated for endometriosis, acupuncture is certainly work considering in regard to a pain management plan. It can help to reduce the intensity of pain and cramps, as well as promoting a better sense of overall wellbeing.