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Treating infertility with Acupuncture and herbal medicine

Can Chinese medicine can help pregnancy?

Yes, in China there is long history of using herbal medicine and acupuncture to help infertility. The idea is that acupuncture and Chinese medicine can correct the hormone imbalance.

Zhenzhen Zhang has received excellent results in treating infertility disease. Since 1997 she has been working in the Women’s Health Center of Salem Hospital. She has treated many infertility patients who seek a combination of IVF and acupuncture and she is highly recommended by her patients.

How does Chinese medicine treat infertility?

The causes of infertility are many, including male and female factors as well as emotional and physical problems. Female factors causing infertitility are: ovulatory ( hormonal problem and stress etc.), cervical (inadequate cervical mucous or infections.), pelvic (scar tissue or "adhesions" , endometriosis etc.), tubal and uterine (thin or abnormal uterine lining etc. ), as well as unexplained causes. The most common male factors include: low sperm count, abnormal sperm morphology (shape), and low sperm motility. We have a individualized treatment approach, where almost no one gets exactly the same treatment, because Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine are applied depending on the cause of pattern. First we will exam patients by asking questions and looking at patients' tongue and pulse, in order to find out what the cause(s) of the infertility are according to Chinese medicine theory. At same time, we also take into consideration the western medicine diagnose. For example: endometriosis or painful menses are likely to be caused by qi and blood stagnation; elevated FSH is usually caused by heat; low sperm counts or motility or abnormal sperm morphology is due to kidney deficiency. Then we will discuss with the patient about a treatment plan and recommend he or she acupuncture treatment and/or herbal medicine.

Some studies show that herbs which supplement the kidneys (the word kidney here refers to a Chinese medicine term, not necessarily the kidney organ by western medicine) can help to promote ovarian function and ovarian follicle development, invigorating blood, move the qi to promote ovulation, and promote the corpus luteus development. These factors are all directly related to assisting pregnancy.

Acupuncture has also been used to treat infertility and sexual functioning by enhancing the body's natural aphrodisiac responses. Studies have shown that acupuncture may affect parts of the central nervous system related to sensation and involuntary body functions through which blood pressure, blood flow and body temperature are regulated. These functions factor greatly into fertility issues.

For those who are not at an age where they need to rush to get pregnant right way or do not want to try hormone therapy first, acupuncture and herbs are applied as the major therapy. The goal of our treatment for them is to harmonize and balance the whole body system, treat individual problems in order to restore the reproductive function.

For those who are under western medication treatment ( e.g. IUI, IVF) we usually do not prescribe herbs to those who are taking fertility medications especially, hormones. For those that want the benefit of acupuncture, our treatments focus on preparing the whole body before and during drug procedures. Our goal is to assist western medicine’s treatment by providing the best situation of the body: boost ovarian function to increase drug response, reduce stress, increase blood flow and normalize the uterine lining, and reduce the side effect of drugs. By doing so, will increase western medicine procedure’s success rates. As we all know the success rates of IVF are not very high.

How long and how often the treatment is needed?

It is really depends on the patient’s condition. General speaking we will recommend our patients to plan on 3-6 menstrual cycles in order to get pregnant (some of our patient get pregnant in one cycle and some need more than 6 cycles), and acupuncture treatment could stopped or till three month of pregnant. Some patients need acupuncture treatment once per week and others will need treatments twice a week during a particular time in their menstrual cycle. Patients who receive the IVF transfer procedure will need acupuncture treatment twice a day.

Who can benefit from acupuncture and herbal medicine?

Almost any infertility patient can be benefit from acupuncture and herbal medicine, except when infertility is caused by a gene problem.

Safety issues

We are well educated and trained with many years of experience as acupuncturists and herbalists. We provide safe acupuncture and herbal medicine for our patients. We are very cautious of any unsafe acu-points or herbal medicine for any condition, especially for pregnancy. We always provide effective and safe treatments to our patients.

	Acupuncture & Herbal Healthcare