Acupuncture and Fertility
Does acupuncture help to improve your fertility?
At Natural Fertility Co we are Naturopaths and use Western Herbal Medicine with our patients. A really common question our patients often ask is whether or not they should also be doing acupuncture? Despite not being experts in that field, because Chinese Medicine is an entirely different modality to Western Natural Medicine, we have the experience of our patients, the results of our research we’ve read and the conversations/working relationships with Acupuncturists that help us feel confident to recommend it to our patients if its something that would like to do.
What is Acupuncture and does it work?
In short, acupuncture is based on the theory that vital energy (or “qi,” pronounced “chee”) flows through the body along certain pathways. Acupuncturists try to balance this energy and restore health by stimulating specific points along the pathways with thin needles. Although it has been a staple of Chinese medicine for some 5,000 years, acupuncture has only gained acceptance in the Western medical community in the past few decades.
In 2002, a team of German researchers discovered that acupuncture significantly increased the odds of pregnancy among a group of 160 women who were undergoing IVF treatment. Forty-two per cent of the women who received acupuncture got pregnant, compared to 26 per cent of those who didn’t receive the treatment.
More recently, a meta analysis, which is a research studying comparing several different research studies and their outcomes, concluded that current evidence identified from this review suggested that acupuncture may be effective in the treatment of female infertility. (They also mention that the conclusion of this review is limited by the quality of the included studies so that is something to consider with this too) You can find that study here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31335705/
The use of acupuncture specifically for fertility purposes with IVF is still somewhat controversial as more larger scale studies are needed. However, in our practice we have seen significant improvement with acupuncture in conjunction with our program and herbal protocols and are really happy to see that many IVF clinics now include acupuncture on site and/ore recommend it at various stages throughout treatment.
Acupuncture can certainly address the stress of dealing with fertility treatments and the difficulty regarding fertility issues in general. And there are suggestions that it may increase blood flow to the uterus and possibly to the ovaries as well. And some fertility treatment experts also agree that it can be helpful for male fertility as well such as in this article here (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26791438/).
To learn details about Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture we suggest you watch an interview that our Clinical Director, Jaclyn, did with Sarah from Sarah George Acupuncture here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3MjmPru_Ec&t=6s).
Should I do acupuncture to help with my fertility?
We would suggest to speak to Jaclyn at your appointment as to whether your case may warrant utilising acupuncture and to definitely give it some thought if you are having an IVF procedure coming up.
A word on the use of Chinese medicine alongside our herbals
If you are considering using Chinese Herbal Medicine along with your herbals/program from us here at Natural Fertility Co then please speak to your Naturopath at the clinic at your next appointment. It is vital that your Naturopath is aware of this and lets you know of the possible reasons to consider including/not including it as a part of your routine.
Here at Natural Fertility Co we have been helping patients with their fertility and hormone health for over two decades. If you would like to book your first consultation with us then please go to our booking page.