Can Acupuncture Help with Fertility?
Short answer: Yes!
I frequently use acupuncture in my practice for fertility, it’s well loved because it: (a) is not another supplement and (b) is quite relaxing and is basically self care.
I’m often asked if someone needs to be undergoing IVF to have acupuncture done - and that’s not the case. You can have acupuncture doing for a variety of reasons.
Here’s what acupuncture can help with:
Causes the release of neurotransmitters thereby promotes regular menstrual cycles
Promotes ovulation - which is helpful for conditions like PCOS, where anovulation is one of the symptoms
Promotes and increases blood flow to the ovaries and uterus
Helps the uterine lining become more receptive
Decreases stress and anxiety - because let’s face it, sometimes the fertility journey can suck!
Reduces inflammation - from conditions like endometriosis
Decreases the chance of a miscarriage
Improves IVF success (more on that below)
Acupuncture and IVF
In fresh cycles (the embryo was transferred shortly after retrieval), studies show that acupuncture was associated with fewer biochemical pregnancies (compared to IVF alone). There was an increase in live birth rates for both non-donor and donor IVF cycles.
Specifically, acupuncture during an IVF cycle may:
In the down-regulation phase: recruit more follicles
In the stimulation phase: improve your ovary’s response to the medication and may improve and thicken your endometrial lining.
After the “trigger:” help with egg maturation, so more mature eggs may be retrieved.
During the embryo transfer: increase the chances of a positive pregnancy test
During the the “two-week wait:” decrease stress levels and prevent miscarriage
When should you start acupuncture?
You should start acupuncture treatments anytime in your journey, but ideally 3 months before you want start to conceive (or if you’re doing fertility treatments). This is because eggs take about 3 months to mature, so we want to influence this process in a positive direction.
If you’re doing an egg retrieval or a fresh/frozen embryo transfer, of course you can have acupuncture done before and after these procedures to reduce stress. But typically acupuncture isn’t a one-and-done type of treatment.
Next Steps
If you’ve always wanted to try acupuncture, consider booking an appointment with me! Plus, we can also take the time to go over your diet, lifestyle habits, and any herbs and vitamins that you might be taking.
References
Prior, Eugenie et al. "Fertility Facts, Figures And Future Plans: An Online Survey Of University Students". Human Fertility, 2018, pp. 1-8. Informa UK Limited, doi:10.1080/14647273.2018.1482569.
Hullender Rubin, Lee E. et al. "Impact Of Whole Systems Traditional Chinese Medicine On In-Vitro Fertilization Outcomes". Reproductive Biomedicine Online, vol 30, no. 6, 2015, pp. 602-612. Elsevier BV, doi:10.1016/j.rbmo.2015.02.005.
Hullender Rubin, Lee E et al. "Acupuncture And In Vitro Fertilisation Research: Current And Future Directions". Acupuncture In Medicine, vol 36, no. 2, 2018, pp. 117-122. BMJ, doi:10.1136/acupmed-2016-011352.