Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a wonderful medicine to help support the Fertility journey for the 1 out of 8 couples, who experience Fertility challenges. Traditional Chinese Medicine has an established system of TCM Gynecology that supports Women’s Reproductive Health including the tools of Acupuncture, Electroacupuncture, Chinese Herbal Medicine, Nutrition, and more. The end goal of the Fertility journey is to have a healthy baby. In order to reach this goal, both intending parents need to work on the many levels of physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, environmental, and relationship. The Fertility journey encompasses the ups and downs of hope and disappointment, fear and courage, grief and surrender, frustration and peace. Our goal is to walk alongside your Fertility journey, while helping you achieve your goal of having a baby.
Acupuncture has been researched and found to help:
● Restoring hormonal balance
● Regulation menstruation
● Increase blood flow to the ovaries and uterus to improve ovarian function and the quality of the cervical mucus
● Builds the immune system and reduces miscarriages
● Decrease the frequency of uterine contractions after embryo transfer (8)
● Within three months, the thickness of the uterine wall lining and quality of oocytes are improved
● Improving sperm function
“TCM sees every patient as unique, and the treatment is made by their current condition and constitution. With such a long history for more than 5000 years, TCM is highly effective with no side effects. Acupuncture as part of the TCM as a treatment for infertility is used for a very long time. With the insertion of tiny sterile needles into acupoints located at specific points on the body the way the body functions can be regulated and the problem that affects fertility can be addressed. Acupuncture treatment can balance the hormones, strengthen the immune system, regulate the energy and Blood flow, remove the stasis and phlegm and stimulate the nervous system. With a combination of acupuncture and herbs, it is possible to improve the ovarian and follicular function and increase the blood flow to the endometrium [1] [2] [3]].” [4].
Acupuncture has been found to improved the rate of conception by half the time compared to women only using lifestyle adjustments (5) By using the tools of Basal Body Temperature charting, tracking cervical mucus, cycle tracking, ovulation status, emotional wellness check in, tongue and pulse diagnosis, we use a multi-phase approach to fertility. This means we prescribe a different set of Acupuncture points each phase of the cycle alongside herbal medicine. We use herbal medicine and target nutrition to help optimize the building of the endometrium lining, improve ovulation regularity, improve quality of cycles, and increase cervical mucus to improve the environment of the womb for pregnancy. Research has shown by using” multiphasic fertility acupuncture protocol there was a positive influence, where the women who received it compared to the women who used lifestyle modification alone. It increased their fertility awareness and improved their wellbeing. Those who conceived did so in half the time of their lifestyle only peers (5)
Traditional Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture can be used as a stand-alone medicine for supporting Natural Fertility, or used in combination of Reproductive Technology such as IVF, IUI, ICSI, and more. Acupuncture has been proven to increase the chance of implantation for IVF and IUI procedures by 60-65 % (6,7). “It was observed that three sessions of acupuncture before and after ET significantly increased the pregnancy rates in women with unexplained infertility. It was also found that acupuncture significantly reduced anxiety levels that occurred before ET” (8). Not only did Acupuncture help improve success of implantation, but also improved the rate of live births.
It is essential to plan for Fertility to help optimize your health and the environment of the womb space. We recommend planning to prepare for fertility 1 year before trying to actively conceive by starting slow and adjusting lifestyle habits for optimal health such as whole food nutrition, stress reduction, getting lab work and semen analysis completed to check in, and working on sleep hygiene. The minimum preparation time with using TCM Gynecology is 4 months because within the 4 months Acupuncture can help improve quality of egg, endometrium lining, and sperm health for Male health. Each Fertility plan varies upon the need of each person and we do offer a Fertility consultation to do a full medical intake, review any recent labs, review supplements, lifestyle, cycle health, and emotional wellness.
Bibliography:
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3. Shi J. Boosting Fertility and Conception with Chinese Herbs. Acupuncture, and Diet. 2018. www.vitalitymagazine.com .
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Zhu J, Arsovska B, Sterjovska-Aleksovska A, Kozovska K. Acupuncture Treatment of Subfertility and Ovarian Endometrioma. Open Access Maced J Med Sci. 2018;6(3):519–522. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2018.128 PMid:29610611 PMCid:PMC5874376. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
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Berkley M. Infertility And Acupuncture. 2016. www.americanpregnancy.org .
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Zhu J, Arsovska B, Kozovska K. Acupuncture Treatment for Fertility. Open Access Maced J Med Sci. 2018;6(9):1685-1687. Published 2018 Sep 19. doi:10.3889/oamjms.2018.379
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Cochrane S, Smith CA, Possamai-Inesedy A, Bensoussan A. Prior to Conception: The Role of an Acupuncture Protocol in Improving Women’s Reproductive Functioning Assessed by a Pilot Pragmatic Randomised Controlled Trial [published correction appears in Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2018 May 2;2018:2343604]. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2016;2016:3587569. doi:10.1155/2016/3587569
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inar Gursoy Guven, Yasemin Cayir, Bunyamin Borekci. “Effectiveness of acupuncture on pregnancy success rates for women undergoing in vitro fertilization: A randomized controlled trial”. Taiwanese Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Volume 59, Issue 2. (2020). Pg. 282-(6). ISSN 1028-4559.
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E. Manheimer, G. Zhang, L. Udoff, A. Haramati, P. Langenberg, B.M. Berman, et al.Effects of acupuncture on rates of pregnancy and live birth among women undergoing in vitro fertilisation: systematic review and meta-analysisBMJ, 336 (2008), pp. 545-549, 10.1136/bmj.39471.430451.BE. 2008/02/09
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D.M. Huang, G.Y. Huang, F.E. Lu, D. Stefan, N. Andreas, G. Robert, et al.Acupuncture for infertility: is it an effective therapy? Chin J Integr Med, 17 (2011), pp. 386-395, 10.1007/s11655-011-0611-8