The September, 2009 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, carried the results of a study that is of particular importance to pregnant women.

Dr. Shu-Ming Wang and colleagues from the Yale School of Medicine, used pressure needles taped to the ear acupuncture points of pregnant women and found that they experienced significant reductions in lower back and pelvic pain as compared to those who had the needles placed at three “sham” points or women in a control group who didn’t get real or fake acupuncture.

Pain in the lower back and pelvis is a common complain among pregnant women and of course, they are reluctant to take medication to relieve the pain. This study confirms that acupuncture is a safe and effective treatment alternative.

A 30% or greater reduction in pain was reported by 81% of women in the acupuncture group, 59% of women in the sham acupuncture group and 47% of women in the control group. The difference between the sham and control groups wasn’t statistically significant.

Improvements in function were significantly greater among women who had real acupuncture compared to those who got the fake version or received no treatment.