FertilityACUPUNCTURE AND FERTILITY: CHINESE VS. WESTERN TREATMENTTraditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) describes and treats the same dysfunctions as western medicine, it merely uses different wording and concepts to express the same physiological functions. Therefore, when working with fertility, a TCM doctor is going to be concerned with your menstrual cycle and western diagnosis as well as factors that may not be as obviously applicable.  Acupuncture is a scientifically proven approach to treating infertility. The western community is coming to understand that Chinese medicine can be a successful adjunct for treating infertility and increasing Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) procedures take home baby percentages. More and more ART clinics either have an acupuncturist on staff, or will recommend seeing an acupuncturist during treatment. The approach of western medicine in In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) is usually to shut down your system so that your reproductive endocrinologist (RE) can control your egg output, effectively putting your body in a state of menopause. This can be accomplished using a GnRH Agonist or Antagonist such as Lupron. Then, they will hyperstimulate your ovaries to produce multiple eggs (typically only one egg is produced per month) using drugs such as Clomid or Follistim*. After retrieving the eggs, some are fertilized and transferred back into your body. Usually, progesterone shots are used to counteract the effects of the drugs used to stimulate your ovaries, which can thin your endometrial lining. At that point, you wait and see if the egg turns into a successful preganancy. TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINEThe approach of Eastern medicine is to bring your body back into balance. This takes six to nine months depending on whether or not a woman has taken fertility drugs or has a history of polycystic ovaries, PIV, STD's, etc. However, it has no negative side effects, and works to produce quality eggs as well as increase the quantity of eggs. For men, it takes 70 days to generate new sperm, and usually requires three to six months to increase sperm quality or quantity. TCM is geared towards making your body stronger, resolving your imbalances and bringing your body to a place of homeostasis. Acupuncture and herbal therapy are useful to:
The endocrine system is complex, and slight hormonal imbalances that may be undetectable through modern laboratory testing could have a dramatic effect on a woman's ability to conceive. Often with unexplained infertility as well as other idiopathic illnesses, there is more than one cause, but a group of imperceptible imbalances that all need to be addressed in order for the whole system (the body) to work efficiently. Western testing procedures are just starting to demonstrate that acupuncture and herbal therapy can assist in the ability to conceive. Chinese medicine has known this for thousands of years. Please take a look at the medical research papers in the "articles" section of this website for further information on this topic.© *I suggest you research these drugs on-line for possible side effects |