Electroacupuncture helps relieve urinary incontinence in women

Electroacupuncture may help relieve stress urinary incontinence in women, according to a study published in Deutsche Zeitschrift für Akupunktur. In the study, researchers evaluated the effect of electroacupuncture on stress urinary incontinence in women.

• For the study, researchers enrolled 504 women with stress urinary incontinence from 12 hospitals in China.
• Participants received 18 sessions of electroacupuncture involving the lower back over six weeks or sham electroacupuncture with no skin penetration on sham acupoints.
• The researchers measured the amount of urine leakage from the beginning of the study until the last treatment through the one-hour pad test.
• They also assessed the mean 72-hour urinary incontinence episodes through a 72-hour bladder diary.
• Among the 504 randomized participants, only 482 completed the study.
• The results showed that participants who received electroacupuncture experienced a greater reduction in mean urine leakage compared to the sham electroacupuncture group, with a mean difference of 7.4 grams (g).
• They also experienced greater changes in the mean 72-hour incontinence episodes than the comparison group.
• Adverse events occurred in both groups, but these were all mild and there were fewer incidents of these in the electroacupuncture group.

In conclusion, these findings suggest that a six-week electroacupuncture therapy involving the lower back helps reduce urine leakage in women with stress urinary incontinence.

To read more studies on the ways electroacupuncture can relieve your health problem, visit ChineseMedicine.news.

Journal Reference:

Zhishun L, Yan L, Huanfang X, Ots T. EFFECT OF ELECTROACUPUNCTURE ON URINARY LEAKAGE AMONG WOMEN WITH STRESS URINARY INCONTINENCE – A RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIAL. Deutsche Zeitschrift für Akupunktur. 2017; 60(4): 33-34. DOI: 10.1016/S0415-6412(17)30124-8