Ear Acupuncture Might Ease Constipation

Ear Acupuncture Might Ease Constipation

AsianScientist (Sep. 3, 2014) – A review article published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine shows that acupuncture could help ease chronic constipation.

Nearly one in six adults worldwide may suffer from chronic constipation and, over time, the disorder can cause serious complications such as diverticulosis of the colon, crissum diseases, and melanosis coli.

Dr. Yang Li-Hua and coauthors from the Hospital of Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Southeast University School of Public Health, Nanjing, China, analyzed the results of 17 published clinical studies, comparing the effectiveness of auriculotherapy in managing and relieving constipation and in alleviating symptoms associated with constipation between affected patients and a control group.

They concluded that evidence from numerous clinical studies published between 2007-2013 showed that auriculotherapy, a form of acupuncture that involves stimulating targeted points on the outer ear, was “probably beneficial” in managing the symptoms of constipation.

Although auriculotherapy is relatively safe, the authors cautioned that because all the studies were done in China, the results could not be extrapolated to other populations due to cultural and geographic differences.

The article can be found at: Yang et al. (2014) Efficacy of Auriculotherapy for Constipation in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.