Chinese Medicine For Fertility.
Below you will find lots of information relating to the use of Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine to aid conception. TCM can offer you low risk care, with good benefits at a relatively low cost.
If you are looking for help with your own fertility problems, please feel free to contact Laura with any questions or concerns. Laura is fully trained and registered TCM practitioner and has undergone specialist training for TCM support in Fertility and IVF.
Oriental Health Treatment Package.
Oriental health offers a comprehensive treatment package for those seeking help with fertility.
On initial consultation your practitioner will aim to establish which elements of the couple need treatment, and the best methods available for you to use. You will be given an information folder containing everything you need to start you on your journey to parenthood, including information on acupuncture, chinese herbal medicine, acupressure, massage and nutrition. You will also receive your first treatment of acupuncture if necessary and your treatment plan for future sessions. A joint package is also available should both partners wish to receive treatment together.
Female:
Prior to your visit it is helpful if you bring any records you may have of you BBT (Basal body temperature). Don't worry if you do not have any records as you will be given chart copies at your initial consultation, or you can this chart if it is helpful. BBT Chart. You may also find some of the fertility Links helpful.
Male:
If there are problems with sperm quality, motility etc it is helpful if you can bring any test results along to consultation.
If you have just started to consider seeking help, you may feel comforted by the knowledge that fertility problems are not uncommon and it is often much harder to conceive than we are led to believe.
There are varying statistic relating to fertility problems in the UK, but around 1 in 7 couples look for help in there journey to parenthood. There are many different factors, which may cause problems when trying to conceive. Such as:
| Unexplained | 30% |
| Ovulation Failure | 27% |
| Male Factors | 19% |
| Tubal Factors | 14% |
| Endometriosis | 5% |
| Problems with both Partners | 39% |
(taken from Infertility Assessment and Management in Primary Care, Hewish, 2006)
Statistics for chances of conception at an age less than 35years, with intercourse 2 x's per week.
35-45years figures are roughly half.
| 3 Months | 57% |
| 6 Months | 72% |
| 1 Year | 85% |
| 2 years | 93% |
(taken from Human Reproduction, 2003, 18:#9, Gnoth.et.al)
Acupuncture and herbal medicine can help in a number of these cases, with the evidence for its effectives growing every day. After a consultation, you would be advised on the best treatment approach for you.
Below are details on how acupuncture may help in each of the situations mentioned in the above table, to jump to the cause which interests you the most click the appropriate description in the table.
Acupuncture for the Ovulation
Clinical studies on the mechanism for acupuncture stimulation of ovulation. Mo X. et al. J Tradit Chin Med, 13(2): 115-9, 1993.
A positive effect for women with polycystic ovarian syndrome. Effects of electro-acupuncture on anovulation in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Stener-Victorin E, Waldenstrom U, Tagnfors U, Lundeberg T, Lindstedt G, Janson PO,. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 79(3):180-8, 2000.
Effective in ovulation induction and also in the remission of OHSS [ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome] induced by HMG [human menopausal gonadotropin]. Substitution of Acupuncture for HCG in Ovulation Induction. Cai XF., Journal of Traditional Oriental Medicine 17(2):119-21, 1997.
Acupuncture to Increase Blood Flow to the Uterus.
Increased blood flow to the uterus.
Reduction of blood flow impedance in the uterine arteries of infertile women with electro-acupuncture. Stener-Victorin E, Waldenstrom U, Andersson SA, Wikland M., Hum Reprod 11(6):1314-7, 1996.
Acupuncture for Hormone Imbalances
Normalizing dysfunction of hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis.
Acupuncture normalizes dysfunction of hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis. Chen BY., Acupunct Electrother Res 22:97–108, 1997.
Achieved a comparable pregnancy rate to those of various hormonal treatments. Auricular acupuncture in the treatment of female infertility. Gerhard I, Postneek F., Gynecology & Endocrinology, 6 (3):171-81, Sep 1992.
Acupuncture for IVF
Increasing IVF (in-vitro fertilization) success rates. Influence of acupuncture on the pregnancy rate in patients who undergo assisted reproduction therapy. Paulus, et al., Fertility and Sterility, Vol.77, No.4, April 2002.
Electroacupuncture analgesia during oocyte aspiration showed a significantly higher implantation rate, pregnancy rate and take-home baby rates. A prospective randomized study of electro-acupuncture versus alfentanil as anaesthesia during oocyte aspiration in in-vitro fertilization. Stener-Victorin E, Waldenström U, Nilsson L, Wikland M, Janson PO., Hum Reprod 14(10): 2480-4, 1999.
Acupuncture for Male fertility Problems
Quantative evaluation of sperm ultrasound after acupuncture treatment for idiopathic male infertility. (Jian Pei Ph.D., Erwin Strehler M.D. et al, Fertility and Sterility, Vol. 84 (1) July 2005, p.141)
Summary: 40 men with low sperm counts, poor motility or poor morphology were included in the study. 28 received acupuncture 2 times per week for 5 weeks. 12 were untreated in the control group. After treatment there was significant improvement in the percentage and number of normal sperm, especially the head and midpeice of the tail. Motility also improved. Full Article
Effects of acupuncture and moxa treatment in patients with semen abnormalities. (Asian 3 Androl. 2003 Dec; 5(4):345-8, Gurfinkel E, et al).
Summary: This was a pre planned, controlled, blind study. Including 19 patients aged 24-42 years, 11 an average of 11 years without children, semen abnormalities in count, morphology and/or motility without apparent cause. Patients were randomly put into 2 groups and given either acupuncture and moxa using correct or unsuitable points, for 10 weeks. Semen analysis was performed before and after the treatment course. Among other improvements, patients receiving the correct points showed a significant increase in the percentage of normal sperm, compared to the patients who received the unsuitable points.
Improve sperm quality. Effect of acupuncture on sperm parameters of males suffering from subfertility related to low sperm quality. Siterman S. et al., Arch Androl Sep-Oct;39(2):155-61, 1997.
Chinese Herbal Medicine for Male Fertility Problems
Effects of Shao-Fu-Zhu-Yu-Tang on Motility of Human Sperm. Department of Urology, China Medical University Hospital Taichung 400, Taiwan, ROC. (AM J CHM. 2003;31(4):573-9, Yang C, et al)
Summary: This was a clinical study evaluating the sperm count and motility in 36 patients with chronic prostatitis before and after treatment for 60 days. The results revealed a significant increase in sperm motility after treatment as evaluated by computer-assisted semen analysis (17.27 +/- 9.00 versus 28.29 +/- 10.00, p < 0.01). An increase in sperm quantity and quality was observed by count and morphology with a high-powered intravital microscope. To gain an understanding of the mechanisms that caused this effect, they assessed sperm acrosin activity levels before (10.6 micro lu/10(6)) and after medication (28.6 micro lu/10(6)) (p < 0.01). The levels of the free radicals was relatively higher before medication, 2144, compared to a normal value of 780 after medication (p < 0.01). It was concluded that Shao-Fu-Zhu-Yu-Tang increased the motility and quality of human semen and this increase is related to an increase in sperm acrosin activity. Shao-Fu-Zhu-Yu-Tang also works as a sperm antioxidant and antiaging agent.
Effect of acupuncture on sperm parameters of males suffering from subfertility related to low sperm quality ( Institute of Chinese Medicine, Tel Aviv, Israel.)
The aim of this prospective controlled study was to assess the effect of acupuncture on the sperm quality of males suffering from subfertility related to sperm impairment. Semen samples of 16 acupuncture-treated subfertile patients were analyzed before and 1 month after treatment (twice a week for 5 weeks). In parallel, semen samples of 16 control untreated subfertile males were examined. Two specimens were taken from the control group at an interval of 2-8 months. The expanded semen analysis included routine and ultramorphological observations. The fertility index increased significantly (p < or = .05) following improvement in total functional sperm fraction, percentage of viability, total motile spermatozoa per ejaculate, and integrity of the axonema (p < or = .05), which occurred upon treatment. The intactness of axonema and sperm motility were highly correlated (corr. = .50, p < or = .05). Thus, patients exhibiting a low fertility potential due to reduced sperm activity may benefit from acupuncture treatment.
Chinese medicine approaches health in a different way to conventional medicine. This means it is often possible it find areas within a persons health which can be improved, even when no conventional reasons for a problem can be found. In the case of unexplained fertility there are a number of factors which may affect your ability to conceive, without producing any major physical indicators.
Such as:
- Becoming sexually active when too young or having an inappropriate amount of sex. This leads to a poor flow of qi and blood through the main meridians involved in fertility (Chong and Ren).
- Exposure to a cold and damp environment, the cold and damp then become to accumulate in the meridians again affecting the flow of qi and blood in the meridians, but also the uterus.
- Emotional Stress and worry. This can lead to deficiencies within some of the key organs (spleen and Kidneys).
- Pre heaven Weakness. This basically means that the constitution you inherited from your parents had areas of imbalance or deficiency and so you started life with these weaknesses. It is a similar concept to the genes you inherit.
from the above examples it can be seen that factors common in most peoples lives can affect the flow of qi and blood and produce deficiency within the body. This in turn can lead to fertility problems, but since acupuncture was designed to increases qi and blood flow and re-balance the body. Conception can often be archived with the aid of acupuncture.
When there are problems with both partners, often such treatments as IVF and ICSIS are suggested. However with the success of Chinese Medicine in the field of fertility, would it not be advisable to try it before such expensive and invasive methods?
TCM has been shown to be very good at regulating the cycle and cycle defects, increasing blood flow and nourishment of the organs, increasing sperm quality and quantity. Oriental Health offers joint treatments, allowing both partners to receive treatment at the same time, if necessary, so you and your partner can start to re balance your bodies ready for conception.
Treatment prices are also offered at a reduced rate for joint treatments, making it cheaper than 2 separate treatments. If you need more information and cant find it in the sections relating to individual conditions, feel free to contact us.