What is Acupuncture?
You may not be aware of the fact that American medical doctors started using acupuncture as early as the 1800’s as they witnessed how it was used and helped in Chinese immigrant communities.
Here in the UK the use of acupuncture is increasing in significance within our National Health Service (NHS) as well as in private practice. NHS acupuncture is mainly used for pain management in Pain clinics. This is often done by nurses and physiotherapists with minimal training.
Here in the UK people are now looking for different treatments that have less or no side effects and are less traumatic than some surgical interventions such as IVF and IUI therefore Chinese Medicine is an ideal option since it has been tested and used for hundreds of years dating back to early Chinese emperors whose court physicians used it to enhance the concubines fertility and bear heirs.
History and Present Practice of Acupuncture
It was actually 5000 years ago that very early Chinese doctors started using sharp implements to do blood-letting and burst boils. Over the centuries this was refined and a medical theory and practice evolved that uses 14 meridians and many points that are strategically place all over the body.
The existence of these points and the effectiveness of the herbs has been studied in hundreds of studies not only in China but increasingly in the West by medical acupuncture societies. What used to be recycled golden or silver needles are now stainless steel needles that are fine, safe and disposable after a single use.
We source our needles and herbs only from very reputable market leading companies with strict quality guidelines and prefer recommending organic products herbs and teas as we believe that a better quality product will help you to conceive quicker and they will be more effective.
Research Studies and Science Behind Fertility Acupuncture and using Acupuncture together with IVF
When used in conjunction with Western fertility treatments, acupuncture increases conception rates by 26%. A recent study from Tel Aviv University reports: “When combining IUI 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. Around 1 in 7 couples may have difficulty conceiving.
This is approximately 3.5 million people in the UK, so acupuncture may be just what the doctor ordered!
Another study (Westergaard et al., 2006) found that acupuncture on the day of embryo transfer significantly enhanced the fertility in infertile women.
Because of the delicate balance between the hypothalamus, pituitary, and reproductive glands, stress is capable of preventing a woman from ovulating entirely. This can contribute to the cause of female infertility.
Stress can also create spasms in both the fallopian tubes and the uterus, which can interfere with movement and implantation of a fertilized egg. In men, stress has proven to alter sperm counts, motility, and cause impotence. However, you should not be stressed about getting stressed.
Acupuncture infertility treatment will counteract stress and cortisol by releasing endorphins in the brain. Chinese herbal medication that helps impotence is also an option for men and reduces their stress.
Hormonal balance does not have to be disrupted by cortisol to cause infertility.
What causes female infertility?
The most common cause of female infertility is an ovulation disorder, in which the release of a mature egg from the ovary is prevented, usually because of a hormonal imbalance.
Without enough progesterone, for example, the fetus is unable to attach to the uterus. High levels of prolactin, the hormone that stimulates the production of breast milk, can also prevent ovulation.
An imbalance in reproductive hormones can also negatively affect male reproductive function, such as sperm motility and production.
However, the fertility drugs that stimulate ovulation in women by regulating the hypothalamus and pituitary, the glands that control reproductive hormones, don't perform nearly as well for men (success rates are about a third of those for women), nor have they been officially approved.
Male infertility treatment must take another track as there are different systems in place. Our herbal impotence cures -- if impotence is a factor in a couple's infertility -- will cause no side-effects and has a reported success rate when taken in conjunction with male infertility treatment that we do such as acupuncture or other treatments.
While the fertility drugs commonly prescribed for women can produce a 20 to 60 percent pregnancy rate, they also commonly include such side effects as abdominal tenderness, bloating, fluid retention, weight gain, and nausea. Some studies show that they may even cause breast cancer.
How Does Acupuncture Help Your Conception?
Acupuncture can increase fertility by reducing stress, increasing blood flow to the reproductive organs and balancing the endocrine system, according to several studies and medical research.
We agree with other Chinese medicine experts that “The goal of an infertility treatment from a Chinese medicine perspective is not just to get pregnant, but to stay pregnant and to have a healthy baby.”
Among many other benefits, acupuncture can provide better blood flow to the ovaries and uterus, creating a stronger chance for an egg to be nourished and carried to term.
Modern acupuncture consists of the gentle insertion and stimulation of thin, disposable sterile needles at strategic points near the surface of the body.
A great number of acupuncture points on the human body connect with 14 major pathways, called meridians or channels. Chinese medicine practitioners believe that these meridians conduct qi, or energy, between the surface of the body and internal organs. It is qi that regulates spiritual, emotional, mental and physical balance.
When the flow of qi is disrupted through poor health habits or other circumstances, pain and/or disease can result.
Acupuncture helps to keep the normal flow of this energy unblocked, thereby increasing a couple's chances of conceiving.
Acupuncture infertility treatment can improve almost every cause of this obstacle. While 35-40 percent of infertility is caused by problems in the female, another 35-40 percent is caused by problems in the male, such as low sperm count or motility.
The cause of female infertility stems from problems such as anovulation and endometriosis. The remaining 20 percent is caused by unknown factors.
One of the ways acupuncture infertility treatment increases fertility is by reducing stress, which is often a key factor in the fertility of both men and women.
When people are under stress, the hormone cortisol is released in the brain. This alters the brain's neurochemical balance, thus changing hormone levels and disrupting the pituitary balance that is key to the reproductive cycle.
If the thyroid is over- or under-functioning, acupuncture can help address the effects on fertility.
Acupuncture can also be used to treat any type of fertility disorder including spasmed tubes. Spasmed tubes are often de-spasmed with acupuncture, though blocked tubes will not respond to acupuncture according to the American Pregnancy Association.
Chinese medicine can help support a woman through this important time in her life—whether that is emotionally or physically, acupuncture can help with much more than just conception. During pregnancy it will help with morning sickness, breech babies, headaches, nausea, aches and pains (low back pain, for example), anxiety preparation for birth, and insomnia, among many other conditions.
What are the Side-effects of Acupuncture?
We try to make the acupuncture as painless as possible but minimal bruising and patients may experience slight discomfort or a feeling of tingling.
Acupuncture infertility treatment, by contrast, produces fewer or no side effects while performing the same function as drugs do: stimulating the hypothalamus to effectively balance the endocrine system and its hormones and getting to the root cause of female infertility as well as male infertility.
I hope this article will answer most of your questions and encourage you to contact me and start this natural and ancient and time-tested method of helping your conception and in your everyday life.
