I learned to love needles

Acupuncture needles

By Regina McKenzie

The options were rather stark.

Live with a belly that makes me look like I am five months pregnant (which I’m not)  – or undergo a hysterectomy.

At 49  years old – I had developed a problem found in an estimated 80% of women – uterine fibroids. They are non cancerous tumours that grow in and around the uterus.

The good news – they are not malignant and can go unnoticed for years. But later on they can cause pain, cramping, heavy bleeding or in my case, grow to a noticeable size.

Hysterectomy offered

Most women simply head for the operating room. That’s why my family doctor referred me to a surgeon – who assessed my growth and offered me a hysterectomy.

In fact, fibroids are the leading cause for hysterectomy procedures worldwide.  But there are risks with any operation. And recovery takes about six weeks.

But me? I had no serious symptoms  other than my bruised vanity. ( Having strangers ask me “when are you due?” – was just not acceptable.)

Acupuncture

Then quite literally. A sign

A poster went up in the window of the new walk-in medical clinic at Warden and Danforth. An acupuncture specialist was joining the practice in Birch Cliff Village.

Then I hit the internet. Acupuncture is an ancient therapy that involves placing fine needles into parts of the body to  stimulate acupoints.

It’s among the most widely practiced forms of alternative medicine in the world used to treat treating everything from arthritis to skin conditions to pain

My question – would acupuncture shrink fibroids and save me from surgery?

Treatment of choice in India

So I set up a consultation with Dr. Gangadhar Rao – an acupuncturist and homeopathic practitioner from India who had recently arrived in Scarborough. Convincingly, he said this was the treatment of choice for women in his home country, and that it would help me too.

With that assurance, I became a skeptical, but hopeful guinea pig, funding my own very study of “one” – going for a 30-minute treatment every week.

Never one for needles – I couldn’t watch as he ripped open a package of sterile acupuncture needles. They are the width of a hair. For the most part, I didn’t feel a thing.

SP6 and SP10

SP6 - spleen point number 6

The most powerful acupuncture point used to treat uterine fibroids is known as SP6 (spleen point number six) and is on the inside of the lower leg just above the ankle . When Dr.Rao placed a needle there, now that I could feel – as a “shot” of pain fired through my body. But it quickly subsided.

He would also treat another important spot above the knee on the inside of the leg.  Spleen point 10 is known as “the sea of blood.” Very appropriate.   But there were also treatment points on my feet my belly and my arm. Once the needles were all in – perhaps 15 at a time – I would rest on the table for 15-20 minutes.

The belly flattened

Over the following weeks – these points became less sensitive. And as they did, so too coincidentally, did my inflated belly flatten. In less than 8 weeks it was clear the acupuncture was doing the trick. Out came the low-rise jeans!

Pleased with the results,  I stopped treatments for a month.

I wondered if it was all a placebo effect. I wanted the therapy to work, so my mind somehow influenced the size of these growth.  But within a matter of weeks of stopping treatment, it was clear “they” were growing again.  So I returned to therapy for to bring them back under control.

Fibroids no longer an issue

The good news- after eight more weeks of visits -these fibroids are now so small they are no longer an issue.  At my recent general check up, my family doctor – who initially referred me to the surgeon – was so surprised by the change, she asked for the acupuncturist’s name – for other patients.

Unnecessary hysterectomies?

My question – how many other women are ending up with hysterectomies when this alternative treatment may be an option?  Acupuncture is the accepted treatment for fibroids in China and India – yet in North America, there are few studies to measure its potential benefits as an alternative to surgery.

$50 a treatment or more

The drawback to acupuncture therapy is the time commitment and the cost. Appointments can cost 50 dollars or more depending on the practitioner. Some insurers cover part of the fee and some practitioners like Dr. Rao, offer sliding fees based on a patient’s ability to pay.

Along with the shrinking belly, I can attest to other health benefits.  If I’ve had a stressful week, there are points for that. There are sleep points too. Stick a needle in there and within a minute or two, I’m ready to doze off.

Want to alert other women

So what’s the purpose in writing this? Not to brag about my belly – but to let other women with fibroids be aware that  acupuncture may be an option – to delay or even possibly prevent a hysterectomy. Scientific studies would be helpful, but unlikely given these alternative approaches can’t be patented.

Before my own treatment I would have found the idea that needles in the skin could fix problems inside the body highly suspect.

My Birch Cliff acupuncture journey has taken me from cynic to a flat-bellied believer.

Regina McKenzie is a long-time Birch Cliff resident.