Why Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine for Fertility?
Acupuncture is an effective and safe treatment option for women throughout the various stages of their hormonal life cycle. It’s very good at restoring balance to the hormonal madness that may at times characterize the female reproductive system. As such, it has wide applications in the treatment of women’s health and fertility. Of course, this is not isolated to women. Men also benefit greatly from the use of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine.
Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture has derived much wisdom from a long tradition of clinical trials lasting over 3000 years. Many dedicated practitioners recorded their findings so that the generations of doctors to come could benefit from and share their knowledge and build on it. Most of us still use formulas in our practice that were found in classics written a thousand years ago. They are incredibly effective!
We continue to build on the genius of these early masters and modernize approaches to meet the needs of today’s patients. We are also very lucky that modern researchers in the field are conducting controlled clinical trials and recording their findings to further advance the understanding of why and how it all works.
Many research studies are available at the American Board of Oriental Reproductive Medicine website—ABORM.org—on the topics Chinese Medicine/Acupuncture/Fertility.
Some typical challenges regarding the treatment of fertility are: IVF, miscarriage, low ovarian reserve, poor egg quality, endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), amenorrhea and anovulation.
Chinese Medicine is effective in treating cases of both male and female infertility. For men, it could be improving testosterone and/or strength of erection and, of course, the quality and quantity of sperm. For women, the focus is on appropriate hormonal balance, ovulation and creating an optimal environment to produce eggs and foster implantation.
Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine are an incredible compliment to Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), as they often take the edge off side effects of medications and have the potential to improve the possibility of a positive outcome. Specialized programs are prescribed in conjunction with IVF, IUI, clomid, letrozole & immune protocols. If curious, please refer to the ABORM.org website, which summarizes many relevant studies in this area.
In short, if your hormones are awry, try these ancient methods. You’ll be so very happy that you did. 🙂
All the best,
Christina Burns L.Ac, FABORM, OMD