Lower back pain associated with pregnancy may find cure in acupuncture

• A Yale researcher and expert in the practice of acupuncture is conducting a three-year study on the effectiveness of this ancient Chinese practice in reducing low back pain during pregnancy.
• The study is funded with a $400,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health and will include 150 women who are at least 24 weeks pregnant.
• The lead researcher, Shu-Ming Wang, M.D., associate professor of anesthesiology at Yale School of Medicine, was approached by a colleague three years ago who was suffering from severe low back pain and sciatica in the final months of her pregnancy.
• "She asked if I could do anything to help," said Wang, who inserted three, two-millimeter needles into her colleague's ear.
• A subsequent survey of more than 1,000 pregnant women in New Haven County showed that 65 percent suffered from low back pain and sciatica.
• Acupuncture involves stimulation of anatomical points on the body by a variety of techniques, including penetrating the skin with thin, solid, metallic needles that are manipulated by the hands or by electrical stimulation.
• In this study each of two groups of women will receive slightly varying acupuncture treatment.
• Wang said those women who do not receive treatment and those who do not improve with assigned group interventions will be invited to return for additional treatment at no cost after the study is completed.
• The treatment consists of three tiny needles inserted on one side of the ear.
• "They can sleep, and shower, and forget about the needles, other than when they answer the telephone," Wang said.