Is Acupuncture Safe During Early Pregnancy?

Can Acupuncture Help Me To Get Pregnant?

At our Fertility Acupuncture Clinic Brisbane we offer SAFE – DRUG FREE treatments, both to support conception - natural or IVF, during pregnancy and after pregnancy.

We can help you with your fertility issues – in isolation or work in conjunction with your fertility specialists to support you throughout the treatment. This improves your chances of a successful conception or IVF transfer and a beautiful, happy and healthy baby.

From relatively simple infertility issues to the more complex, acupuncture can stimulate ovulation, regulate hormonal cycles and promote the function of the corpus luteum (increasing progesterone production) to ensure an optimum environment for the conception of a healthy baby.

And for women with more complex conditions, fertility acupuncture can also treat anovulation (no ovulation), Polycistic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis, amenorrhea (no period), menstrual irregularities, endometrial lining problems and miscarriages.

Is Acupuncture A Safe Treatment To Use During Early Pregnancy?

Pregnancy Acupuncture Brisbane offers Acupuncture as a very safe treatment protocol to use throughout your whole pregnancy, as long as it is performed by a fully qualified Acupuncturist with Obstetric knowledge and experience. At Austin Therapies we offer exactly that.There are a number of symptoms that occur in early pregnancy that are quite common.

These are all very treatable with acupuncture and are as follows:

• Nausea and vomiting
• Constipation
• Headaches
• Fatigue

There are some more serious conditions leading on from these, such as – Hyperemesis Gravidarum, which currently affects 2:1000 pregnancies. The symptoms of this condition are continuous nausea and vomiting - the biggest danger being that the patient becomes dehydrated. This condition needs to be referred directly to a hospital.

Once the electrolyte imbalance and ketosis - caused by the dehydration - is under control, acupuncture is then a great choice of treatment to help prevent another hospital admission and help bring the body back into balance.

 Treatment would involve a few acupuncture needles (according to pattern diagnosis) and two to three treatments per week until the body comes back into balance. This time varies according to the patient. Some diet and lifestyle changes may also be required.

Other Early Pregnancy conditions that may be treated with acupuncture are:

• Abdominal pain
• Bleeding
• Urinary Tract Infection

Once again caution is required with signs of abdominal pain, bleeding and urinary tract infection as they may all be signs of something more serious in some cases. The main one being threatened miscarriage or in some cases, ectopic pregnancy or kidney infection.

At Austin Therapies we are well aware of the presenting symptoms and their dangers. We always refer to hospital immediately if required.

Do You Recommend Pregnancy Massage?

We offer pregnancy massage for all stages of pregnancy at our Pregnancy Massage Clinic Brisbane which is situated on a beautiful acreage property in Belmont – minutes from Carindale and the Gateway Motorway.

The benefits of pregnancy massage are to:

• Improve circulation, muscle tone and energy levels
• Relieve pain / cramping in the back and legs
• Help to promote a restful sleep
• Relaxation and a good sense of well-being

There are areas on the body where great care needs to be taken with pregnancy massage. At Austin Therapies, rest assured that we are well aware of these areas and you have every reason to feel safe in our hands.

It is more than okay to reach out for help – just because you’re not enjoying certain aspects of your pregnancy, if not your entire pregnancy at all – does not mean you need to feel guilty or suffer in silence; pain is debilitating and needs to be addressed.

Contact us today at Austin Therapies – 0421 411 508 for an OBLIGATION FREE 15 minute phone consultation. Let us discuss how we can help you to reach your life goal of a beautiful and healthy baby!

Health Challenge Solution By Chinese Acupuncture

This is always a good question and sometimes a complicated one. We can quote the World Health Organization’s recommended list for “Conditions that Acupuncture Treats” – successfully with much research to back it up.

But how helpful really is this?

Let's take a condition like LOWER BACK PAIN – this is the first one on the list. Acupuncture is well documented in this area, with lots of research to back it up as being very successful in treating this condition.

However - let's take a look at this for a moment - the reality is that this will be dependent upon a number of factors, as follows:

1. The greater the pain range the greater the probability of success, i.e. if the pain scale ranges from 2 to 8 out of 10, there is likely to be a better chance of success than if the pain range is from 5 to 6 out of 10 and NEVER changes from that 24/7.

2. The length of time that the pain has persisted, i.e. the pain scale 2 to 8 out of 10 that has only been apparent for a couple of months has a much greater chance of success than the 5 to 6 out of 10 that has been persisting for 20 years.

3. The persons overall health, i.e. how well does the body react to treatment and how healthy is that body

4. The age of the person, a young fit person will have a greater chance of recovery than an older person who has a sedentary lifestyle

5. Medications (including recreational drugs and alcohol). These put extra stress on the body which will take away from the body's innate capability for self healing when stimulated with treatment

6. Mental attitude. There is no doubt in my mind that the mental attitude of the person coupled with their ability to comply with treatment protocols also makes a huge difference

We don't just look at one factor here, but ALL of them when making an assessment of prognosis. This is then only a guide as every acupuncturist will tell you stories of fantastic results with just ONE treatment and these are very real. However, this is not the average expected outcome.

Therefore, acupuncture is an excellent mortality to use for your lower back pain, however when determining the prognosis for your particular condition all 6 areas - as listed above - need to be taken into consideration. Even then there are the extremes at both ends of the spectrum, i.e.  the condition that is cured with one treatment and the one that shows no improvement or very little improvement at all for no apparent reason.

This way of thinking can be used to determine the likely prognosis for most conditions, substituting the pain scale for your back pain with a symptom scale for all your signs and symptoms, i.e. on a scale of 1 to 10 – how debilitating are your symptoms? Do they range from say 3 to 9 out of 10 and have only been apparent for a couple of months or is the range 6 to 7 out of 10 and been very long term. Taking everything into account the former condition is likely to have a better and quicker outcome.

With more chronic conditions Acupuncture is still a very good mortality to use even if the prognosis is not likely to be a complete cure. You may have to ask yourself – what kind of improvement to my condition would I be happy with? An intermittent pain / symptom scale of 1 to 2 out of 10 which is intermittent is a whole lot different to 6 to 7 out of 10 which is constant. Taking everything else into account, this could be a very realistic prognosis for your condition. At Austin Therapies – Chinese Herbalist Brisbane – we can also add Traditional Chinese Herbs to enhance your outcome.

At Austin Therapies we recognise that every therapy has its strengths and weaknesses as does every body. There will be times when treatment outcomes using your chosen mortality, whatever that might be will come as a surprise - good or poor.

The important thing to recognise here is that if treatment is not working for you - you need to change either the treatment or something within your lifestyle or both.

At Austin Therapies at our Acupuncture Clinic Brisbane we like to work in closely with Western Medicine protocols and other practitioners. We will always refer you to another mortality if we are not getting the results that you desire.

** EMPOWERING YOU TO TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR HEALTH **

For a FREE 20 minute phone consultation to discuss your health concerns, please call Sally on 0421 411 508. Visit http://www.austintherapies.com.au for more information.