Learn More About: Acupuncture & Fertility
About 10 percent of women (6.1 million) in the United States ages 15-44 have difficulty getting pregnant or staying pregnant, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Overwhelming stress and sense of loss for those who struggle drives them to seek other options to overcome fertility.
In the search for affordable and effective health care, alternative and holistic treatments are gaining appeal with the public. The practice of acupuncture, a tenet of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), has been growing rapidly in terms of acceptance and is now becoming a valued component of fertility treatments.
Acupuncture for fertility works with the use of special acupuncture needles, inserted on the body at specific points, opening meridians and allowing the body to become unblocked and naturally responsive to bodily, mental and emotional processes. Targeting disturbances in the flow of qi, or energy, opens up the body for overall health and fertility.
According to a Tel Aviv University report, “When combining IUI (intrauterine insemination) with TCM treatments, 65.5 percent of the test group were able to conceive, compared with 39.4 percent of the control group, who received no herbal or acupuncture therapy.”
Studies have found that acupuncture treatment can help women with conditions that can interfere with becoming pregnant, such as PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), as well as increase the chances of successful IVF (in vitro fertilization) and other forms of assisted reproductive treatments. In addition to treating issues of fertility, improving ovarian and follicular function, and improving pre and post IVF transfer, acupuncture helps increase blood flow to the endometrium, facilitating a rich, thick uterine lining. Typically, patients are treated three to four months in advance of IVF for the most therapeutic effects.
Just as important as what goes on “below the neck” relating to the body and pregnancy is what is going on “above the neck” in terms of fertility clients managing daily stress. The calming effects of acupuncture can help clients during pre-pregnancy planning stages, help with balancing hormones while on fertility meds, aid in morning sickness, and help prevent premature births and miscarriage.
Xu Wellness Center client Luchee Royer crossed the line from infertile to fertile and is now expecting her second child at age 42. Royer attributes the pure and natural aspects of acupuncture with helping her to conceive successfully with her IVF treatments. Royer states, “I am a firm believer in acupuncture now, after one failed IVF cycle without it, and two successful cycles with it that gave us our two miracles.
I highly recommend acupuncture to those who are trying to conceive, especially the ones who are doing Assisted Reproductive Technology. Thank you, Dr. Mark Xu for everything you have done for me!”
Today, even high-tech reproductive specialists are looking to acupuncture to help fertility patients for whom western medicine along is not quite enough for a successful pregnancy.
Click here to read one of Dr. Xu's many fertility success stories!