Edinburgh Natural Health Centre
Acupuncture and Safety

Survey on Acupuncture Safety
How do you know acupuncture is safe?
What research is there?
Until recently, not a lot, but some of our patients in 2001 were kind enough to complete a questionnaire from the Research Director of the Foundation for Traditional Chinese Medicine in York. Over some months, there were 34,407 acupuncture treatments on which the questionnaire was based.
A total of 43 significant minor adverse events were reported, a result consistent with, given a 95% probability, an underlying serious adverse event rate of between 0 and 1.1 per 10,000 treatments. These events included severe nausea and fainting, aggravations of existing symptoms, local pain and bruising at the site of needling and psychological and emotional reactions.
The 574 practitioners who participated in this survey comprised one in three members of the British Acupuncture Council. That such a large percentage of the total membership of a professional association took part is a measure of acupuncturists' commitment to the safety of their patients.
Compared to existing evidence on the risks associated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, acupuncture is a relatively safe intervention when practised by professional acupuncturists who are members of the British Acupuncture Council.
Given that the whole membership delivers between one and a half and two million treatments a year, this survey provides important evidence on public health and safety.
(Excerpts from 'Safety in Numbers', published on p 13 of European Journal of Oriental Medicine, Vol 3, No 6: Winter 2002)

Acupuncture and Babies (Source: Adelaide University and the Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide)
Acupuncture excellent for keeping babies healthy!
Not just acupuncture, but acupressure techniques which we can teach Mum to do regularly: great for helping the baby recover faster. (But if you aren't sure of yourself, ask about Homeopathy!)
Acupuncture beats morning sickness
Many of our patients have found how effective acupuncture is for morning sickness. It is nice to see that Australian researchers have now proved this.
Trials on 600 volunteers, all less than 14 weeks pregnant, found that only one acupuncture was sometimes enough to help significantly, though usually they received one twenty minute session at weekly intervals for four weeks. Acupuncture points were used on the legs, arms and abdomen, and the acupuncture was done by practitioners trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine, the kind we do here.
Interestingly, NeiGuan, the name of the point much favoured in DIY pressure point therapy, on the inside of the forearm, took around one extra week to work. In other words, it did work, but slower. This fits in with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) theory, which says that the treatment must fit the patient: there is no single point that fits everyone, and designing the treatment for the particular syndrome (as defined in TCM) is much more effective.
(Source: Adelaide University and the Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide)

ACUPUNCTURE EFFECTIVE FOR PELVIC PAIN IN PREGNANCY
One in three women suffer potentially severe and disabling pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy. Now a Swedish study has demonstrated that acupuncture is more effective than either standard or specialised exercises in relieving the pain. 386 pregnant women were assigned to a six-week treatment programme involving either standard home exercise, standard exercise plus acupuncture or specialised exercises designed to improve mobility and strength. Pain levels were assessed morning and evening. The women receiving the acupuncture showed the greatest relief in pain, which, achieved without the use of medication, is of particular benefit to pregnant women. Acupuncture treatment focused on the following points: Baihui DU-20, Hegu L.I.-4, Guanyuanshu BL-26, Ciliao BL-32 Zhongliao BL-33, Zhibian BL-54 Henggu KID-11,Kunlun BL-60, Huantiao GB-30, Chongmen SP-12 and Zusanli ST-36. Deqi was obtained and the needles were retained for 30 minutes, with manipulation every 10 minutes.
Treatment was given twice weekly for the six-week study period. The authors of the study say: “We conclude that acupuncture as well as stabilising exercises constitute effective complements to standard treatment for pregnant women with pelvic girdle pain. Acupuncture was superior to stabilising exercises in this study. The findings are of particular importance because no previous study has shown such marked treatment effects among pregnant women with well defined pelvic girdle pain”. (Effects of acupuncture and stabilising exercises as adjunct to standard treatment in pregnant women with pelvic girdle pain: randomised single blind controlled trial . Helen Elden, midwife1, Lars Ladfors, Monika Fagevik Olsen, Hans-Christian Ostgaard, Henrik Hagberg. BMJ 2005;330:761 (2 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.38397.507014.E0).

ACUPUNCTURE FOR CHRONIC HEADACHE
Another large German study similarly compared the effects of randomly assigned acupuncture, self-elected acupuncture and non-acupuncture controls on chronic migraine and tension headache in a total of 15,056 patients. After three months of treatment (fifteen sessions) the frequency of headache days reduced significantly and quality of life scores improved significantly between the acupuncture and control groups. There was no significant difference in improvement scores between the migraine and tension headache patients. (11th Annual Symposium on Complementary Health Care 2004).

ACUPUNCTURE, IVF and PREGNANCY
A German study reported in NEWS 69, June 2002 showed that adding IVF to the treatment protocol of patients receiving IVF increased their chances of becoming pregnant by 50%. Now a further study carried out at the Reproductive Medicine and Fertility Centre in Colorado Springs, USA, has compared the pregnancy rates of 114 women, half of whom received acupuncture before and after embryo transfer, whilst the other half underwent transfer without acupuncture (control group). The acupuncture group obtained a 51% pregnancy rate and an 8% miscarriage rate compared to 36% and 20% respectively in the control group. Acupuncture also was found to reduce the risk of tubal pregnancy and increase the live birth rate. (October 2004 meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine).