Acupuncture may help relieve constipation.
Last week a client was a little backed up from taking his pain relief medication after surgery. The night following acupuncture treatment he woke during the night with the urge to go and cleared the lot.
Of course this one treatment doesn’t prove that acupuncture effectively treats constipation, but there has been some research to show that it can. One review of clinical trials found that acupuncture relieved opioid induced constipation on it’s own, and improved the results of medication (1); a recent small clinical trial showed that it can improve the symptoms and quality of life of people with functional constipation (2); and a systematic review found that electro-acupuncture has favourable effects on chronic severe functional constipation (3).
In this case I also used electro-acupuncture.
1. Han C, Liu Y, Fan H, Li D, Guo N. Acupuncture Relieves Opioid-Induced Constipation in Clinical Cancer Therapy – A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review. Clin Epidemiol. 2021;13:907-919. Published 2021 Oct 2. doi:10.2147/CLEP.S324193
2. Xu, Xh., Zhang, Mm., Wu, X. et al. Efficacy of Electro-acupuncture in Treatment of Functional Constipation: A Randomized Controlled Trial. CURR MED SCI 40, 363–371 (2020).
doi:10.1007/s11596-020-2188-y
3. Na Z, Liangying H, Peijing Y, Xiuxia L, Yongfeng W, Junqiang N, Lufang F, Jingwen L, Kehu Y, Xingrong L.
Electro-acupuncture vs. sham Electro-acupuncture for Chronic Severe Functional Constipation: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Complementary Therapies in Medicine. 2021;54
doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2020.102521.