Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine may
be useful in the treatment of chronic pelvic pain (CPP) and related conditions,
say experts from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG)
in a new opinion paper.
Chronic
pelvic pain affects one in six women and is defined as intermittent or constant
pain in the lower abdomen or pelvis for over six months. Some women with the
condition turn to complementary medicine to help relieve their symptoms.
Acupuncture,
which involves inserting fine needles into specific points distributed over the
body surface to induce a local and systemic healing response, is a particularly
popular option.
In this
opinion piece, although the authors could find no specific trial regarding the
use of acupuncture in CPP, they identified trials on closely related conditions
such as dysmenorrhoea (painful menstruation), pelvic inflammatory disease, and
irritable bowel syndrome, all of which are known to contribute to CPP.
Two
small trials included in a recent Cochrane review found that acupuncture
treatment significantly reduced menstrual symptoms compared to standard
non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
However
more research is needed in this area, they cautioned.
A
Cochrane review of Chinese herbal medicine for dysmenorrhoea that included 39
randomized controlled trials reported promising results for herbal medicine
when compared to the use of pharmaceutical drugs such as NSAIDs and the oral
contraceptive pill. However some of these trials were limited by poor
methodological quality and small sample sizes.
The
authors maintain that while compelling evidence of efficacy relating to
acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine is currently lacking, they may have
roles to play in the treatment of dysmenorrhoea, endometriosis, irritable bowel
syndrome, and pelvic inflammatory disease.
“Some
small trials suggest that acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine may be
beneficial for chronic pelvic pain,” said lead author Professor George Lewith,
from the Complementary and Integrated Medicine Research Unit at the University of
Southampton.
“Many
women use acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine for chronic pelvic pain so
this area clearly requires further rigorous investigation and we would support
further well-designed research for this problematic condition.”
The
authors recommend that anyone considering acupuncture treatment in the U.K.
should find a practitioner registered with the British Acupuncture Council, the
Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and the British Medical
Acupuncture Society.
Likewise,
patients considering herbal medicine in the U.K. are encouraged to first
consult members of the Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine or the Association
of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
The
article can be found at (PDF, 204KB): (2012)
Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine for Women with Chronic Pelvic Pain.
Rebecca
Lim
AsianScientist
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