Acupuncture for Urologic Problems

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Urologic disorders encompass a wide spectrum of conditions affecting the urinary tract, from kidney all the way down to urethra. These disorders can significantly impact quality of life, leading to symptoms such as urinary urgency, frequency, pain, and sexual dysfunction. Acupuncture offers a holistic and complementary approach to addressing the underlying imbalances contributing to urologic problems.

Acupuncture

Modern acupuncture involves stimulating specific points on the body with needles, laser, and/or electricity. Acupuncture is minimally invasive and causes few side effects. It’s becoming an integral part of collaborative health care in the United States.

Treating Urologic Disorders with Acupuncture

Recent studies, both in China and the US, indicate that acupuncture can be an effective and safe treatment option for many conditions:

Erectile dysfunction (ED)

By increasing penile blood circulation, regulating hormonal balance, and enhancing neurological signaling involved in the erectile process, acupuncture may help improve erectile function.

Interstitial cystitis (IC)

Acupuncture can help reduce pelvic pain, urinary frequency, and bladder discomfort in individuals with IC.

Overactive bladder (OAB)

Acupuncture may also help with OAB by reducing the number of micturition, incontinence, and nocturia by modulating detrusor muscle activity and neural reflexes.

Pelvic floor dysfunction

Acupuncture may help relax pelvic floor muscles, improve pelvic floor coordination, and improve bladder function in individuals with pelvic floor dysfunction.

Recurrent urinary tract infections (UTI)

Acupuncture may help regulate immune function, reduce inflammation, and promote urinary flow thus reducing urinary frequency and bladder pain.

Stress urinary incontinence (SUI)

Published research demonstrates that acupuncture (electroacupuncture) is effective for reducing the amount of urine leakage.

Urinary retention (UR)

Acupuncture seems to be a safe and promising complementary treatment option for neurogenic bladder caused by herpetic infection. Stimulating acupuncture points in the sacral and lower abdomen areas has been shown to inhibit the urethral sphincter while stimulating bladder contraction through the pelvic plexus. Another study found that acupuncture can reduce postvoid residual urine volume in hospitalized patients with urinary retention.

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Acupuncture in St. Pete

Doctor Elias Lu is seeing patients daily (except Saturdays) in his cozy downtown St. Pete studio. Feel free to contact him for a complimentary treatment to see if acupuncture may be helpful in your condition.

References

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Chen, S., Sun, H., Xu, H., Zhang, Y., & Wang, H. (2020). Effects of Acupuncture on Hospitalized Patients with Urinary Retention. Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2020, 2520483. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/2520483

Liu, Z., Liu, Y., Xu, H., He, L., Chen, Y., Fu, L., Li, N., Lu, Y., Su, T., Sun, J., Wang, J., Yue, Z., Zhang, W., Zhao, J., Zhou, Z., Wu, J., Zhou, K., Ai, Y., Zhou, J., Pang, R., … Liu, B. (2017). Effect of Electroacupuncture on Urinary Leakage Among Women With Stress Urinary Incontinence: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA, 317(24), 2493–2501. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2017.7220

Tan, Z., & Shen, J. (2023). Acupuncture treatment of acute urinary retention caused by varicella-zoster virus through by combining the mechanism of sacral neuromodulation: A rare case report. Medicine, 102(48), e36007. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000036007

Zhang, W., Ma, L., Bauer, B. A., Liu, Z., & Lu, Y. (2017). Acupuncture for benign prostatic hyperplasia: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PloS one, 12(4), e0174586. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0174586