When Too Much Pain Isn't Normal: A Post-Partum Guide for New Mothers

After giving birth, most women experience some level of pain. It may be from the fatigue of pushing a long time or the exhaustion from labor. You may have pain at the incision site of your c-section or from your episiotomy. After one week of postpartum time when should you worry about your pain?  The short answer is: always. 

 

However,  I can be more detailed to help patients navigate when it's time to call their acupuncturist, midwife or doctor. There are many factors to consider in this decision: was it a vaginal, all natural birth? A vaginal, medicated birth where medication was administered via the spine? Was there vaginal tearing or an episiotomy?  Was it a planned cesarean or an emergency cesarean birth? Was there trauma involved with pain, unexpected events or did your baby experience complications? 

 

During your hospital stay your pain levels should be completely controlled. Once you return home, try to wean off your pain medication as quickly as possible, typically one to two weeks maximum. At that point, depending on how you answered the above birthing questions, you can expect soreness and discomfort for several weeks postpartum. If you have sharp, shooting, burning or stabbing pain you should call your care provider immediately but most likely it's an Acupuncturist who will be able to help you the most.

Some women find that a traumatic birth adds to the psychosomatic aspect of pain,  intensifying it everywhere. First, I'd like to address the word psychosomatic. The definition is: 1 : of, relating to, concerned with, or involving both mind and body ... 2 : of, relating to, involving, or concerned with bodily symptoms caused by mental or emotional disturbance. However, our society tends to interpret psychosomatic as "it's all in your head" or "it's your fault" or "it's not real". Emotionally traumatic birth experiences affect our emotions and make it harder not only to care for your child alone at first, but also make it harder to heal both emotionally and physically. Any compounded, negative emotion that is unresolved will heighten your pain response and need to be addressed either during your acupuncture sessions or with a therapist in talk therapy. 

Chronic pain after giving birth is more common than one would think but it manifests differently in each woman. You want to take the birth itself into consideration, per-existing conditions that also may cause pain, blood loss and emotional support during and after giving birth. Some have pain with intercourse, others have lingering pain in the external genitalia area. Others find they have muscle pain or joint pain. Some women have pain at the site of injections in their spine with an epidural or spinal block. If this doesn't resolve within three weeks on it's own, seek medical attention. If at any time, you have a fever, or a very stiff neck,  call your doctor immediately and be seen.

If you have pain that doesn't resolve within two weeks of birthing or prohibits you from caring for yourself or your baby, get treatment right away. 

First Try Acupuncture: The best form of medicine for pain relief by far is acupuncture. Acupuncture can release naturally occurring endorphins and enkephalins.  Both improve pain tolerance and lift your mood. Acupuncture,  when combined with traditional Chinese herbal medicine, can also repair nerve damage that may have occurred during the birth.  It is most common at site where the needle was inserted for an epidural or a spinal block. Muscle damage and ligament damage is also a possibility.

Try Icing or heating  the area: 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off. If it doesn't feel better try heating the area for the same amount of time.

Baths: As soon as your doctor or midwife gives you the ok, try a warm bath.

Changing posture and supporting with pillows. Women have a lot of changes going on post partum and one thing is for sure, holding, nursing and carrying a baby can put a lot of pressure on your back, neck and arms. Breast feeding adds to postural challenges so be sure to have a supportive chair and bed with props and pillows to help support your body, however you find comfortable.

Massage: Some patients find massage helps relax tight muscles and can alleviate muscular pain.

Herbal Medicine recommended by an Acupuncturist: Ask your Acupuncturist for herbal recommendations based on what type of pain, where your pain is and how long you have had it. Also, be sure to mention if you are breast feeding or not. Traditional Chinese medicine has treated billions of women so their natural medicine tends to be the most efficient and effective herbal medicine available. Herbal medicine can help heal nerve pain (shooting or burning), muscle pain, joint pain or bone pain.

Medication: As a very last resort, sometimes you will need medication to help with post partum pain. Find a doctor who trusts you and work closely with them. The shorter amount of time you are on pain medication, the better due to the high risk of becoming addicted.

 As a partner, friend, husband or relative:  believe her. Comparing your experience with hers, especially if you didn't experience any pain at all, is not helpful right now. Help care for the baby: when the baby cries, you go get the baby and bring it to her. Help her stay mostly in bed for one month. Draw her a bath, and cook all of her meals. Make sure she has water at all times, especially if she is breast feeding since she will most likely be thirsty and it will help keep her milk supply. Reach out to her friends to make more meals. Ask a family member to come and help so she can take naps, and they can do laundry for her. If it feels good to her, rub her back, scalp and feet. Do the grocery shopping or have it delivered. Most of all, tell her you love her and she is doing an amazing job. Be sure you let her know she is not alone, and you will help her get to the bottom of what is causing her pain. Help her schedule doctors appointments and find her the best acupuncturist in town. Be sure you find an L.Ac., as they have over 3,000-4,000 hours of training compared healthcare providers who also do acupuncture only may have 100 hours. 

Need an herbal consult for postpartum pain or other health problems. Just give us a call and we can help you. We have over 20 years and thousands of treatment success stories.

Burnout: Now It's Hitting Women Harder, But Why?

Who else out there feels like either their home life or work life has propelled them onto the path of burnout? We find this article to ring true to many of our female patients however, the article didn't give too many suggestions on how to recover from burnout. We are here to help:

Acupuncture:  is the number one form of medicine to recover from burnout. It can calm your mind, balance your hormones, emotional release, help you hit that stop button, take you into a deep restorative restful sleep and reboot your adrenals that so often take a hit. The best part: you just have to lie there. 

 

Herbal medicine: adrenal support, thyroid support, and adaptogens help counteract the harmful effects of stress on the endocrine, neurological and immunological systems in our bodies.

Meditation: for beginners we suggest guided meditations because they give you something to focus on, rather than expect you to master silence right away.

Restorative Yoga: these postures are meant to restore and energize, not further tax your body in the way hot yoga and extreme yoga classes can. Find a teacher who honors both the physical and the spiritual side.

Massage: gentle, soft strokes can be healing and restorative especially for those who give a lot at their work whether physically or emotionally.

Which tip is your favorite?

 

 

 

Good or Bad Women Feel Emotional During Ovulation

The wonderful thing about women, is we are all different and this is reflected throughout our menstrual cycle as well. So there are no typical reactions during ovulation, only personal experiences that we can often explain in both western medical terms and eastern medical terms. Around the time of ovulation, if a woman feels particularly moody we can usually attribute this to the rise in estrogen that occurs right before the LH (luteal hormone) surge that enables her to release a mature egg ready for conception. From a Chinese medical perspective we differentiate further asking if the moodiness is more crying, more anger or more despondency. Each emotion has a different pattern we can identify and treat from Liver Qi Stagnation to Heart Blood Deficiency.  

 Each woman has different experiences with their libido during ovulation. Some women report they actually feel more turned on and even find their partner more attractive during ovulation. They may also notice an increase in cervical mucus that makes intercourse more comfortable with the natural lubrication that helps sperm travel faster.  Other women, typically those who experience breast tenderness or mittelschmerz (mid-cycle ovulation pain) , are unfortunately less inclined to want to have intercourse due to their pain and sensitivity. It’s nothing to worry about and acupuncture can alleviate pain, inflammation and even increase libido if this is a concern.

Each couple has their own story when  trying to conceive (TTC) and some can find ovulation a really exciting time where they make the time to connect and be intimate with one another. However, many couples who have been TTC for a long time can get extraordinarily stressed from the pressure of timing and performance. It’s not uncommon for their husband to struggle with impotency if the pressure mounts too high. Many couples struggle with the monotony or forced timing of ovulation that can put a damper on their passion. 

Additionally, having had years of failed attempts at getting pregnant, it can be really stressful to continue to try month after month with so many negative pregnancy test. 
To help ease the stress, a woman can wear a watch at night to help find her most fertile window. This is the easiest way to figure out your best timing for conception and there is less pressure for one moment: it often gives you a 5 day window when you are most fertile so couples can have a more relaxed approach to when they have intercourse. 

 However, a skilled Acupuncturist and herbalist who specializes in infertility can strategize for ways to make their intercourse during her fertile window fun and exciting again. Sometimes we even encourage couples to stop tracking ovulation less diligently so that they can just enjoy one another and recover some of the passion they have lost. For those who still want to get pregnant we just encourage intercourse two to three times a week so they at least have an opportunity to conceive but with a lot less pressure.

  If a woman feels extreme shifts in mood around the time of ovulation I would strongly suggest she sees an acupuncturist who specializes in women’s health or infertility. Within three months we typically can balance hormones, regulate the Traditional Chinese medical pattern and disharmony that is causing the emotional imbalance. Exercise, massage, and guided meditation to treat anxiety or depression too can help calm women during this time as well. 

Kristen Burris, L.Ac. M.S.T.O.M "The Baby Maker" takes the most challenging infertility cases in the U.S. She helps couples conceive naturally who were told they had zero chance of ever conceiving on their own. She also help prepare couples for a successful IVF. Phone consults with out of state, customized fertility enhancing, natural medicine available. (208) 938-1277.

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Acupuncture Beats Drugs for Endometriosis: One Leading Cause of Infertility

At Eagle Acupuncture one of the most common diagnosis is endometriosis. Many women suffer tremendous pain and the condition can cause infertility. Many patients are recommended to try birth control bills to reduce their symptoms related to endometriosis but this obviously poses a challenge for couples who want to conceive. Other patients are referred out to a fertility center or a reproductive endocrinologists office for IVF (in-vitro fertilization) consultation . However, most patients aren't told about a non-invasive, safe and more effective treatment: Acupuncture. This study proves yet again, acupuncture and TCM treat endometriosis effectively and reduces a woman's level of pain and lowers her bio-markers for cancer. Read on for intriguing and impressive results.

In an astounding discovery: researchers prove acupuncture more effective than hormone drug therapy for the treatment of endometriosis. Acupuncture relieves menstrual pain caused by endometriosis, reduced the size of pelvic masses, lowers CA125 levels, and reduces the recurrence rate of endometriosis. CA125 a one bio-marker for several types of cancer and benign conditions including:  endometriosis and menstrual disorders.

Researchers at Tongji University hospital compared acupuncture with standard drug therapy. Patients receiving acupuncture achieved a 92.0% total effective rate. Patients receiving the drug mifepristone achieved merely a 52.0% total effective rate.

Mifepristone, also known by its trademarked name RU-486, is a synthetic steroid that inhibits progesterone action and is used for the treatment endometriosis and also for inducing abortions.

Acupuncture reduced pain levels more than the medication mifepristone. Endometriosis relapse rates were less in the acupuncture group than compared to the drug group. At the one year follow-up exams found that the recurrence rate for the group receiving drug therapy was 36%. By comparison, the group that had received acupuncture had an endometriosis recurrence rate of only  20%.

In addition, pelvic mass sizes and growth lessened more significantly in the acupuncture group than in the drug group. The findings were detected and verified with B-scan ultrasound.

Inclusion criteria for this study included Traditional Chinese Medicinal (TCM) differential diagnostic pattern differentiation of blood stasis. In TCM, endometriosis is related to the dysfunction of the Kidneys, Spleen, and the Liver organs. In addition, cold may create coagulation of blood and obstruction in the uterus. This deleterious pattern impedes qi and blood circulation in the uterus, leading to menstrual pain due to a lack of delivery of vital energy,  nutrients  and proper blood flow to uterine tissues. Endometriosis treatment in TCM typically focuses on invigorating blood circulation, dissolving blood stasis, and regulation of the kidneys, spleen, and liver organs.

The patients in mifepristone group, patients received 12.5 mg tablets one time daily for six months. Patients in the acupuncture treatment group were treated with the following acupuncture points:

• CV6 (Qihai)
• CV4 (Guanyuan)
• CV3 (Zhongji)
• Zigong (Extra)
• SP10 (Xuehai)
• SP6 (Sanyinjiao)
• LV2 (Xingjian)
• LV3 (Taichong)

Treatment commenced with patients in a supine position. After disinfection of the acupoint sites, a 0.30 mm × 40 mm disposable filiform needle was inserted into each acupoint with a high needle entry speed. Xuehai, Sanyinjiao, Xingjian, and Taichong were perpendicularly needled to achieve a deqi sensation. Qihai, Guanyuan, Zhongji, and Zigong acupoints were obliquely (in a downward direction, 45°) needled to a standard depth. Needles were rotated, lifted, and thrust rapidly after insertion to achieve a deqi sensation in the pelvic region. Subsequently, the needles were retained and moxibustion was applied to acupoints (Qihai, Guanyuan, Zhongji, Zigong). Moxabustion, each 2 cm long, were attached to each needle handle and lit for warmth. Moxa was left in place to self-extinguish. Moxibustion was applied three times per 30 minute needle retention time. One acupuncture and moxibustion session was applied every other day, and omitted during menstruation. The treatment was applied for a grand total of 6 months.
The treatment effective rate for all patients in the study was evaluated based on the VAS rating scale and categorized into 1 of 3 tiers:

• Significantly effective: Rating reduction of at least 50%. Significant improvement of menstrual pain.
• Effective: Rating reduction of at least 25%. Improvement of menstrual pain.
• Ineffective: Rating reduction of less than 25%. No improvement of menstrual pain.

All patients underwent Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) assessments before and after their treatments. VAS is an instrument that measures pain intensity levels experienced by patients. B-scan ultrasonography was conducted to calculate the size of pelvic masses. A CA125 test was also conducted to measure the amount of CA125 (cancer antigen 125) in the blood. CA125 is used clinically in the diagnosis and management of endometriosis.
Prior research (Chang et al.) documents that patients with endometriosis have higher levels of CA125 than women without endometriosis. Chang et al. note that the value of CA125 reflects the invasiveness of endometrial tissue beyond a normal locus. Additionally, the Tongji University researchers cite investigations demonstrating that the value of CA125 is related to the severity of dysmenorrhea (menstrual cramping and pain).
Compared with the drug group, the acupuncture treatment group displayed a significant improvement in VAS scores. Patients in the acupuncture treatment group had smaller pelvic masses caused by endometriosis and had lower levels of CA125. There is a statistically significant difference between the two groups. The researchers also conducted a follow-up survey after treatment completion. They found that the recurrence incident rate of endometriosis in the treatment group was 20%. The recurrence incident rate of endometriosis in the control treatment group was 36%.
The research demonstrates that acupuncture is a safe and effective treatment for the alleviation endometriosis. Subjective and objective data supports the conclusions of the researchers in the controlled clinical trial. Based on the data, acupuncture is found effective for the treatment of endometriosis and lowers relapse rates.
The study design was as follows. The study involved the selection of 50 patients at the acupuncture and gynecology departments at the affiliated Tongji hospital of Tongji University. All patients were diagnosed with endometriosis between January 2010 and December 2015. They were randomly divided into an acupuncture treatment group and a drug control group, with 25 patients in each group. The treatment group underwent Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) acupuncture therapy and the control group received mifepristone tablets.
The statistical breakdown for each randomized group was as follows. The average age in the acupuncture treatment group was 36 (±3) years. The average course of disease in the acupuncture treatment group was 2.49 (±2.11) years. The average age in the drug control group was 34 (±4) years. The average course of disease in the drug control group was 2.87 (±1.89) years. For both groups, there were no significant differences in terms of their gender, age, and course of disease prior to the beginning of the study.
The primary acupoints selected for the treatment of endometriosis were the following: Qihai, Guanyuan, Zhongji, Zigong, Xuehai, Sanyinjiao. The researchers provided the TCM basis for the acupuncture point selection. Qihai is located on the Ren meridian. Needling Qihai regulates source qi and blood circulation. Guanyuan is a meeting point of the Chong meridian and the Ren meridian. Needling Guanyuan regulates both the Chong and Ren meridians, promotes qi and blood circulation, and relieves menstrual pain. Zhongji is a meeting point of the three foot yin meridians and the Ren meridian. Needling this point is indicated for benefiting qi and blood circulation and relieving menstrual pain. In a clinical setting, Qihai, Guanyuan, and Zhongji are used as a combination for relieving menstrual pain. Zigong is an extra acupoint and is traditionally indicated for lower abdominal pain due to obstruction of qi and blood. Xuehai is an acupoint on the foot Taiyin spleen meridian. Needling this acupoint regulates qi and blood circulation. Sanyinjiao is a meeting point of the three foot yin meridians. Needling this point fortifies the liver, spleen, and kidneys, which is also helpful for regulating qi and blood circulation and relieving menstrual pain.
The focus of this study was to scientifically verify that traditionally indicated acupoints for the treatment of endometriosis are effective. Objective examinations and subjective data confirm that the TCM treatment protocol is both safe and effective for the treatment of endometriosis. Less pain, smaller masses, and improved CA125 levels were documented. Moreover, acupuncture outperformed  drug therapy.

 Quelle (July 2017): http://www.healthcmi.com
Source: https://ogka.at/acupuncture-better-than-drugs-for-endometriosis-pain-relief/

References:
Shen Q, Lu J. Clinical Observation of Acupuncture-moxibustion for Endometriosis [J]. Shanghai Journal of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, 2017, 36 (6).
Narvekar, Nitish, Sharon Cameron, Hilary OD Critchley, Suiqing Lin, Linan Cheng, and David T. Baird. “Low-dose mifepristone inhibits endometrial proliferation and up-regulates androgen receptor.” The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 89, no. 5 (2004): 2491-2497.

Blog Authored By USA Industry Leader in the Infertility Field: Kristen Burris, L.Ac., M.S.T.O.M. known by her patients as "The Baby Maker". She has practiced nearly 20 years treating the most difficult infertility cases throughout the U.S. She offers local treatments and herbal medicine consultations throughout the U.S that have resulted in over 500 births in: Idaho, California, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Nevada, Oklahoma, Virginia, New York and New Jersey.