We often get asked the question ... How does acupuncture help improve fertility? There are many ways to look at potential aspects of the success of acupuncture and other oriental reproductive medicine treatments, one of them being increased blood flow and in specific increase blood flow to the uterine artery.
Below is a great video posted from The Fertility Foundation that summarizes some of the benefits of acupuncture for fertility. Compiled by Irina Szmelskj, it is a well put together summary helping to show the areas where acupuncture can help increase success outcomes. For patients who are struggling with fertility challenges, have had a previous IUI, IVF or other reproductive medicine treatments failure and are considering adding in alternative treatments to improve egg quality and other areas of fertility this is a great video to watch. It's a quick 4-minute video, very well done.
Going through reproductive medicine treatments and other fertility challenges can be extremely stressful and overwhelming. With each month that passes without success pressure and emotions build. A series of acupuncture treatments can help to reduce stress, anxiety and help reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed. High levels of chronic stress have been shown to negatively impact fertility and at many levels. While I don't recommend telling patients to "stop stressing" adding in things to reduce stress such as fertility acupuncture and other activities can be a great help.
In addition to reducing stress fertility acupuncture has been shown to help regulate reproductive hormones and promote healthy ovulation, improve blood flow to the reproductive organs assisting helping to improve follicle health and promote a healthy uterine lining, reduce cramping and menstrual pain and uterine contractions, increase successful pregnancy rates of IVF & IUI, and helps to reduce miscarriage rates.
Another question we often get is … When is the ideal time to start treatment? While it is ideal to start treatment 3 or more months prior to to the start of a cycle, we recommend starting as soon as you feel ready. Often times patients are going through the stimulation phase of an IVF and think, what else can I be doing? A doctor, nurse, or friend often recommends acupuncture. This is still a great time to begin as we tailor treatments specifically to where you are at. While 3-6 months of preparation is a lot of time and the thought can be overwhelming, the life-long reward is worth the investment.
At Tree of Life Acupuncture, our fertility, and reproductive medicine treatments combine both proven methods and the culmination of clinical experience to enhance natural fertility and also assist success when going through Western medicine treatments.
If you have any questions we are happy to help go over these in more detail and even set up a free fertility consultation to see if acupuncture would be a good fit for you.
