Infertility is something with which many couples struggle. Acupuncture is a safe and natural way to work with your body and naturally restore its fertile capabilities. You often can do acupuncture, as a male or female to correct imbalances that are keeping you from conceiving. In addition to helping you conceive, acupuncture will give you the added benefit of a healthier baby and a healthier body overall for you. While you are pregnant, you can use acupuncture to keep improving your health, alleviate back pain or digestive issues, control stress, and to help the baby develop at its most optimal. There are certain, unique points used each month that help the baby develop as it goes through each stage.
If you still decide to use Western Medicine for fertility, you can and should do acupuncture before, during, and after the pregnancy. By doing this you can treat the underlying cause of the infertility, balance any undesirable side effects of the Western treatments, and ensure the best success rates. Acupuncture treatments can improve success rates of IVF by up to 40%. Why would you not use it?
Recently, IVF success rates have increased from 25% in 2002 to over 60% in 2014 with the advancement of IVF technology and chromosomal screening. So, now you may be asking yourself whether you still need to do acupuncture; and does Acupuncture still bring value to couples struggling with infertility when IVF clinics are claiming success rates as high as 80% now? The answer is yes! Yes we can help those who cannot afford IVF or where IVF has failed repeatedly and donor egg is not an option for them. We can also play a role for infertility conditons such as PCOS, endometriosis, male factor, blocked tubes, recurrent pregnancy loss, unexplained infertility and advanced maternal age. If none of the above apply to you, yes, we still can bring lots of value to the treatment room, especially when it comes to preconception care regardless if you are trying naturally or with IVF.
Most couples are focusing just on getting pregnant. Acupuncturists are focusing on you having a healthy child. IVF can do very little for egg and sperm quality or implantation issues. But Chinese medicine can help the sperm and egg reach their fertility potential. There is a lot the we acupuncturists can offer to optimize Jing (essence) and the health of your unborn child and future generations through preconception care.