Accupuncture and IBS

[Wallace-s]

Hi everyone,

Has anybody any experience with having Accupuncture to ease their IBS symptoms?

My symptoms are more bloating and pressure, and not IBS-D

Thank you

[Shirleywhirl]

Hi. I tried acupuncture a few years ago when l was getting high levels of pain with my IBS. It did help me. I found it very relaxing which in turn eased my pain and helped me cope with all the symptoms. However, l found it expensive to maintain the sessions long term, so only went for a few months. It is worth a try.

[Trenholm]

Didn’t work for me but worth a try

[xjrs]

I haven't tried acupuncture myself, but here is the research I'd previously done into it in relation to IBS:

Acupuncture – acupuncture has shown mixed results for the treatment of IBS pain. Some people find that it helps them, other people do not benefit from it. (43) A clinical trial of acupuncture for IBS-D patients at a rate of 3 times per week, total 36 sessions during a period of 12 weeks has been discussed (52). An overview of acupuncture is contained here: (53). This also includes a link to the accredited register of acupuncture practitioners in the UK. The cost may be prohibitive for the number of sessions that may be required e.g. for initial consultation of £60 and £40/hour each session, extrapolating that to the 36 session trial, this would be a cost of £1,500 for something that may or may not work. Meta-analysis suggests that the benefit of acupuncture on IBS symptoms is no better than placebo (118).

Acupuncture-moxibustion – a technique in which the herb mugwort is burned over specific acupuncture points; it is believed that its effects reach deeper into the body (110). Clinical trials have shown acupuncture-moxibustion helps to improve low threshold of the rectal sensation, gut motility, and pain perception (70) (111). When compared to electroacupuncture, acupuncture-moxibustion was superior in terms of improving diarrhoea in IBS particularly those who react to cold drink/food. (112)

Electroacupuncture – uses acupuncture needles to deliver an electrical current to acupuncture points. In addition to helping with visceral pain, it has also been shown to help motility in IBS-C patients. Its treatment of constipation was superior to acupuncture-moxibustion. (112)

Let me know if you need any of the links/references.

[Mango3]

hi I have regular acupuncture to help with my ibs c & post cholecystectomy syndrome. I find it really helps with my bloating, gut motility & energy levels. It might take a few sessions to feel the benefit & for your acupuncture to really kick in, but thankfully I found it helped after the 1st session, & it’s definitely worth a go.

You can join a ‘cash health plan’ & claim 50% of your acupuncture fees back ( I use simply health) which works really well for me & you can also get money back for dental, optical, osteopathy etc, so it works out a lot cheaper this way. Good luck with it.

[Wallace-s]

thank you all so much for replies and input. Very interesting about the research- often wonder if placebo is the body doing it’s thing or exactly the opposite - guess we’ll never truely know.

Thank you again