Acupuncture and Infertility in women

Acupuncture, a Chinese traditional medicine, is a 3000 year-old complete health system which has shown tremendous beneficial effect on women’s fertility. May case studies have shown that women with fertility problem, given up hope on conceiving ended up going through the acupuncture procedure as a last resort and finally ended up being more than satisfied with the outcome of the treatment.

The aim of Chinese medicine is to regain harmony. It is based on the concept that the symptoms are not caused by the malfunction of an isolated area, rather the imbalance in the whole body’s system. It uses meridians, which are energy channels around the body. It is said that there are 12 meridians which connect the whole body and energy flows all over the body. Ailments and conditions are said to be caused by excessive, deficient, blocked or superficial flow of energy and during this treatment corrective measures are taken by correcting the energy flow by either blocking it unblocking it. Acupuncture is non toxic and relatively affordable and studies have revealed that it holds much promise as an alternative fertility treatment. It is the manipulation of thin metallic needles inserted into anatomically defined locations on the body to affect bodily function. Many, after a failed attempt at in virto fertilization, an unsuccessful frozen embryo transfer and other fertility treatments are opting for acupuncture. A small German study in 2002 found that performing acupuncture 25 minutes before and 25 minutes after an embryo transfer increases pregnancy rates to 42.5 percent, compared to about 26 percent without acupuncture. It also acts as a stress-reliever during a very emotional time.

The things which need to be considered for acupuncture would be to ensure that the acupuncturist is trained and licensed and has a lot of experience. Better yet, you can get a referral from a friend who has benefited from an acupuncturist.