Acupuncture to rid uterine polyp

Comment by Chad J. Dupuis, L.Ac.

Yes, they are very commonly treated and in many cases will resolve. But this resolution is not limited to Chinese Medicine (acupuncture and/or herbal medicine) - it can be brought about by an anti-inflammatory diet, exercise, hormonal balance and a combination of other things (). There are any number of studies that you can look up yourself to confirm that basics of this (lengthy general tcm discussion here).

Keep a couple things in mind, however. First, one limitation to Chinese Medicine studies is that there is far less money to perform them than you have with western drugs certainly, so they are somewhat limited from the get go. Second, the success rate with Chinese Medicine will depend on the skill of the practitioner more than it would with, again, western medicine, so they will likely be skewed. And, finally, along those lines, the entire value of Chinese Medicine in treating any issue is the tailorability of the medicine to the individual (which also makes it harder to study - that is, because it is by nature not a linear medicine).

All that said, as you seem somewhat biased against your practitioner (or Chinese Medicine generally) from the get go, know that Chinese Medicine is not often fast with issues like this. So you are likely looking at 2-9 months of treatment. Now the benefits would be no complications, very likely less rates of recurrence, generally other aspects of reproductive/menstrual and psychological health improve (the systemic nature of Chinese Medicine - see “treating the cause vs. the symptoms” for general information on that)

Now as far as western options, a d&c is not only not the only way to deal with fibroids (study), it is not that successful and when you add in rates of recurrence (study) and possible complications (long and short-term) it starts to seem a lot less desirable.