Fertility
In ancient China, the ability to have a child, particularly a son, was of utmost importance. For this reason, gynecology, obstetrics, and fertility were some of the earliest and most-developed specialties in Oriental Medicine. Acupuncture and Chinese medicinal herbs can do a great many things to increase the chances of achieving pregnancy, naturally or in conjunction with Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART). Please read the following for more details:
In general, acupuncture and Oriental Medicine can help:
- Regulate the menses/hormones. Controlling irregular menstruation can enable couples to better predict the time of ovulation. It is important for a woman to ovulate at the optimal time so that the body is prepared to transport the egg and receive the embryo.
- Increase the thickness of uterine lining. Optimal endometrial lining is crucial to healthy implantation. Acupuncture can increase the blood flow to the uterus, resulting in a thicker uterine lining, creating a more hospitable environment for an embryo to implant.
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Improve all parameters of sperm quality. Separate studies have shown that acupuncture can increase sperm count, sperm motility, and the percentage of sperm that are normal within a given sample.
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Prevent miscarriage. Certain herbal formulas and acupuncture are known to help secure a fetus and prevent a miscarriage.
- Relieve stress. Acupuncture has been shown to increase the level of Beta-Endorphins (the body’s natural feel-good chemical) in the blood. Most people find the experience very relaxing.
In conjunction with In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF), acupuncture may help:
- Regulate the hormones. This is important because a woman’s hormone levels must fall within a desired range in order to continue with treatment. Acupuncture has shown to regulate hormonal imbalance (e.g. high FSH) by influencing hormonal regulation center in the brain and hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian (HPO) axis.
- Increase the number of follicles and improve the quality of eggs produced. Obtaining enough good-quality eggs is the most important factor in determining whether or not IVF will be successful.
- Increase the likelihood of implantation. A study conducted in Germany found that women who underwent the traditional IVF protocol became pregnant at a rate of 26%.Women who also received acupuncture in addition to the traditional treatment had a 43% rate of success. These benefits were obtained using a uniform acupuncture treatment and only two treatments. Some experts estimate that customized, consistent treatment coupled with herbal therapies could improve success rates to 75%.
- Moderate the side effects of hormone therapy. The medications given during ART are very powerful and can cause unwanted side effects such as hot flashes, irritability, labile mood, and insomnia. Patients who have undergone ART without, and then with, acupuncture report that the side effects were either minimized or eliminated with the use of acupuncture.
- Relieve stress. IVF can be a very stressful course of events. Again, as mentioned above, acupuncture can help to achieve state of relaxation during the process.
For more information, please click here for an article co-authored by Jeanie Lee Bussell on Acupuncture and Fertility.
Please also read Menstruation section for more conditions that Oriental Medicine can address prior to Fertility treatments.
Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine can help a great deal at any stage of natural conception or ART (IUI/IVF). Whether the problem lies with the female, male, or is unexplained, the optimal time to begin acupuncture and Oriental Medicine treatment is at least 3 months before you try to conceive.