Acupuncture relieves pelvic girdle pain

Adding acupuncture to the treatment regimen for well-defined isolated pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy can produce significant pain relief, according to a randomized, single-blind, controlled trial from Sweden.

Researchers divided 386 pregnant women with pelvic girdle pain into three groups. The first group received standard treatment, which included a pelvic belt, a home exercise program, and patient education. The second group received acupuncture along with standard treatment, and the third group was instructed to do stabilizing exercises along with the standard treatment.

While both stabilizing exercises and acupuncture provided additional benefits over standard treatment alone, acupuncture in combination with standard treatment provided the greatest relief, and was the treatment of choice for patients with one-sided sacroiliac pain, one-sided sacroiliac pain combined with symphysis pubis pain, and double-sided sacroiliac pain.