Acupuncture and IVF
A number of women can benefit from the rejuvenating effects of acupuncture, and IVF patients are no exception. Acupuncture is an approach from traditional Chinese medicine that can treat various reproductive and gynecological problems. In the realm of female reproductive health, acupuncture is known to benefit women suffering from anovulation, PCOS, dysmenorrhea, and endometriosis. Over the last decade, a number of peer-reviewed studies have investigated the efficacy of acupuncture in improving fertility and IVF success. This article will explain how acupuncture works and why doctors recommend it as a supplementary treatment for IVF.
History of Acupuncture
Long before the written word immortalized the practice of traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture was already being used to treat a number of chronic illnesses. The practice reached the West in the 1900s, first in France, until the whole of Europe began using it as an alternative treatment for a number of maladies. America ignored acupuncture until they become more informed about Chinese culture and medicine after President Richard Nixon’s state visit to China in the 1970s. The first acupuncture clinic opened in Washington in 1972 and today, the practice is widely available in over 46 states.
Acupuncture involves inserting thin, sterilized needles into specific acupuncture points all over the body. Acupuncture points are placed along certain meridians or pathways so that the body’s natural life energy, or Chi, can reach the organs and help them function. According to traditional Chinese medicine, chronic conditions like depression and infertility are caused by obstructions in the meridians. These obstructions can be removed by stimulating pressure points with needles, thus restoring good health, fertility, and normal bodily functions.
What makes acupuncture particularly attractive is that it offers highly personalized treatments that will address your specific problem areas. Practitioners of Chinese medicine believe that no two women have the exact same experience of infertility and IVF, and that each woman should have a unique treatment protocol that addresses her unique needs. This is probably why acupuncture is highly recommended by fertility clinics to increase the chances of IVF success and to reduce the side effects of fertility drugs.
Acupuncture and IVF
The first large-scale, long-term study was done by a German research group. The results of the study caused quite a stir among reproductive experts, for it showed that the success rates of IVF went up by almost 50% among women who received acupuncture treatments. In the study, short acupuncture treatments were administered before and after the embryo transfer. However, the study did not show exactly why acupuncture worked or the most effective method for IVF – it simply answered whether acupuncture could help women going through IVF.
Since then, a number of studies have been able to verify the results. Published research in the journal Fertility and Sterility observed higher pregnancy rates among IVF patients who received acupuncture, as compared to the control group who received a placebo treatment. A number of anecdotal evidence also reports that acupuncture reduced the side effects of fertility drugs and helped them relax during the anxiety-filled two week wait before the pregnancy test.
The protocols used in these studies are a highly simplified version of actual acupuncture practices used for IVF. For best results, you should start seeing an acupuncturist once or twice a week, at least two or three months before the start of your cycle. Once you start taking fertility drugs, you may see the acupuncturist at least two times a week in order to suppress some of the side effects. It is also recommended that you receive an acupuncture treatment once before the embryo transfer, and once right after.
