Chemotherapy-induced constipation Ear acupuncture helps

Ear acupuncture can solve constipation
Constipation is a common side effect of chemotherapy in breast cancer patients. A recent study shows that by ear acupressure the Opstipation can be solved.

Ear acupuncture is a special, commonly used form of traditional Chinese healing method. (Image: photophonie / fotolia.com)

In the study, a Korean team of scientists examined the extent to which ear acupressure can alleviate the constipation discomfort of chemotherapeutically treated breast cancer patients and increase their quality of life.

To this end, 56 patients were randomized into two groups of equal size. The verum group received an ear acupressure for six weeks with the first three weeks of a chemotherapy treatment cycle. The other group received the standard accompaniment.

For the treatment of the verum group, seeds of the cow's herb (Vaccaria) were fixed on the seven ear acupressure points colon, rectum, San Jiao, spleen, lung, vegetative and subcortex and pressed until the patients felt a slight pain.

In the following days, women should manually stimulate the respective regions three to four times a day. After five days, the seeds were removed. This was followed by two treatment-free days until the next acupressure treatment.

For all study participants, the degree of constipation and their impairment of quality of life was measured by means of the Constipation Assessment Scale (CAS) and Bristol Stool Form (BSF) using the Patient Assessment of Constipation Quality of Life (PAC-QOL).

It was found that after only three weeks of ear acupressure the patients had significantly less congestion symptoms (CAS) and a better stool condition (BSF). In addition, they rated their quality of life more positively (PAC-QOL) than the control group. After six weeks, all values ​​were also better. In contrast, the values ​​of the control group improved only slightly. Source: Carstens Foundation. The study can be found here.