Good evening,
I see my Accupunturist weekly for hand pain and overall well being. She knows I am trying the get pregnant and I keep her updated on my cycle. I have just experienced my second miscarriage in 4 months. I am wondering if her needling li 4 (which she seems to do every visit) and s6 (the one above my ankle bone) could have caused my miscarriage? Any input would be appreciated.
Comment by Archived User
While you might find information that these points are often considered to be contraindicated for pregnancy, there was a recent study that Chad covered which showed in fact there is no real clinical evidence that they cause miscarriage. Not knowing anything about your case or condition I can say that in general the body needs time to recover. If this is your second miscarriage in 4 months that to me suggests your body needs more time to recover. I’d recommend waiting at least six months, the rule of thumb I learned from my professor (who was a 3rd generation of family practice specializing in gynecology) was nine months after a miscarriage.
I very much doubt that needling LI 4 and SP 6 would result in miscarriage, unless she was doing a very, very aggressive needling technique and had the actual intent of causing miscarriage -which again I very seriously doubt. I hope that helps.
Comment by Chad J. Dupuis, L.Ac.
Generally, I’ll second what Stephen says and point you to read the article of mine he mentioned in his post. That said, acupuncture can be incredibly useful in cases of recurrent miscarriage, and your practitioner should know this. If your current practitioner is uncomfortable working with pregnancy and fertility issues, I would see another one who is.