How to reduce pelvic pain? Acupuncture can help!
Pelvic pain can have wide and varying effects on women. It can affect daily activities, relationships, work, self esteem and overall health and wellbeing. Endometriosis, adenomyosis, dysmenorrhoea, vulvodynia are just a few conditions that can cause and contribute to pelvic pain. Typical treatment options in Australia tend to involve medications or surgical interventions, however acupuncture is becoming more frequently utilised to support, reduce and manage pelvic pain in Australia. In this blog post, I will explore the benefits of acupuncture in addressing pelvic pain and how it can be a great addition to add in your tool box of pelvic pain management.
What is pelvic pain?
Jean Hailes defines pelvic pain as discomfort and/or pain below the umbillicus to your mid thighs. Pelvic pain can be chronic and persistent, and is characterised when experiencing pain for longer than 6 months. There can be many reasons why one may have pelvic pain and it’s important to find out what exactly is causing your pain and going on for you. Most commonly the pelvic pain I treat in my acupuncture clinic is endometriosis. Endometriosis is a whole body, systemic, chronic inflammatory condition that can contribute to and cause fatigue, digestive disfunction, mental and emotional disharmony, alongside pelvic pain, which is the common thing for which people initially seek support through acupuncture.
Acupuncture for pelvic pain
Acupuncture is a key treatment tool of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) that has been used for more than two thousand years. Without trying to simplify or dilute TCM theory, it’s important to touch on the basis of the medicine. Acupuncture involves the insertion of thin needles into specific points on the body. These points lie along pathways known as meridians, which correspond to different organs and bodily functions. According to TCM, the body is made up of Qi, also often translated as energy or circulation, that flows through these meridians. When Qi is blocked, pain can arise. Acupuncture then aims to restore the flow of Qi, reduce pain and promote healing and balance within the body. Acupuncture therefore can help with a variety of issues in a noninvasive way with minimal side effects. Regarding pelvic pain, there are a few ways in which acupuncture can support:
Pain relief: By stimulating specific acupuncture points along the body, acupuncture can help reduce pain by regulating the autonomic nervous system and central nervous system. This occurs through triggering the release of endorphins, the body’s natural pain-reliving chemicals. This can provide immediate relief and long-term management support for chronic pelvic pain.
Reducing inflammation: Inflammatory processes play a significant role in pelvic pain conditions such as endometriosis and adenomyosis. Acupuncture has been shown to reduce inflammation by modulating the immune response and promoting the realise of inflammatory substances.
Enhancing blood flow: Acupuncture can improve blood circulation and micro circulation promoting the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to tissues and organs. By enhancing blood flow to the reproductive organs, acupuncture can help alleviate pelvic pain and improve overall gynecological health.
Regulating hormones: Acupuncture has shown to support hormonal levels by influencing the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian (HPA) axis, which governs the menstrual cycle. This assists with mitigating symptoms such as painful persiods, irregular cycles and hormonal related pelvic pain.
Stress reduction: Pelvic pain can be a significant cause of stress and contribute to anxiety and depression in many women. Acupuncture can regulate the release of stress hormones, such as cortisol, and stimulate the production of serotonin and other neurotransmitters associated with stress and mood regulation. Acupuncture also works to encourage a parasympathetic nervous sysytem response supporting the body into rest and digest as opposed to fight or flight (which can often maintain and hypersentise pain responses).
Individualised approach: There is no one size fits all approach to acupuncture. Your sisters’, friends’ or mum’s pelvic pain can be dramatically different to your pain and that’s why acupuncture can be so targeted and effective. An acupuncturist takes into account your quality, timing and severity of pain, ameliorating and contributing factors (like warmth, cold, exercise, rest), your menstrual blood consistency, quality, colouring and your overal health including your sleep, digestion, mental wellbeing and overall stress and lifestyle factors. This enables a holistic approach and informs which acupuncture points should be selected and avoided.
Acupuncture offers a safe, effective, non-invasive whole body approach to managing pelvic pain. Through increasing circulation, reducing inflammation, supporting the HPA axis and supporting the nervous system, acupuncture provides holistic support for women with chronic pelvic pain. As an AHPRA registered acupuncturist and herbalist, I am dedicated to helping women find relief from pelvic pain and achieve optimal wellbeing through the use of acupuncture. If you are experiencing pelvic pain, or your sister, friend, or mum, consider exploring the benefits of this powerful healing tool and taking a step towards reclaiming your health naturally.
References:
Armour, M., Cave, A. E., Schabrun, S. M., Steiner, G. Z., Zhu, X., Song, J., … Smith, C. A. (2021). Manual acupuncture plus usual care versus usual care alone in the treatment of endometriosis-related chronic pelvic pain: A randomized controlled feasibility study. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 27(10), 841–849. doi:10.1089/acm.2021.0004
Xu, Y., Zhao, W., Li, T., Zhao, Y., Bu, H., & Song, S. (2017). Effects of acupuncture for the treatment of endometriosis-related pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLOS ONE, 12(10). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0186616
Giese, N., Kwon, K. K., & Armour, M. (2023). Acupuncture for endometriosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Integrative Medicine Research, 12(4), 101003. doi:10.1016/j.imr.2023.101003