Menstruation, Fertility, Pregnancy, Menopause, and Stress Relief
A woman’s body goes through many different hormonal cycles in the course of a lifetime. These changes start at puberty with menstruation, then again with pregnancy, and eventually through menopause. A woman’s body is in a constant state of change. Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine work to restore hormonal and emotional balance and overall vitality to women during any stage of their journey.
Acupuncture For Menstruation
Acupuncture and Chinese Herbs can help regulate the menstrual flow without the aid of birth control pills by helping to achieve the correct rhythm and flow of the period while working on the endocrine system to restore better hormone function and help symptoms such as:
- Irritability
- Emotional instability
- Cramps
- Breast tenderness
- Digestive issues
- Clotting
- Headaches
- PCOS
- Lack of ovulation [anovulation]
Acupuncture for Fertility
Not only can acupuncture help with regulating the menstrual cycle but it can help with fertility and those trying to conceive. The inability to get pregnant can be due to unforeseen reasons:
- Fibroids
- Lack of ovulation [anovulation]
- luteal phase deficiency
- Endometriosis
- PCOS
- Low sperm count or motility issues [in men].
For women trying to get pregnant, acupuncture and herbal medicine promote conception by boosting blood flow to the pelvic organs, providing them with better nourishment, normalizing FSH levels, balancing estrogen and progesterone levels, increasing follicle size, and improving and strengthening the lining of the uterus; therefore, promoting conception and healthy, full-term pregnancy.
Acupuncture not only helps the body get ready to be pregnant but helps women relax and de-stress, so their bodies can become pregnant more easily. Stress causes the sympathetic nervous system to be overstimulated causing blood flow to be diverted away from the ovaries and uterus to the adrenals instead and contributes to a potential inability to become pregnant
Acupuncture helps many women get pregnant with or without the additional use of assisted fertility methods such as IUI or IVF. Our acupuncturists have years of experience treating women who are using IUI, IVF, and embryo transfer in conjunction with acupuncture with great success.
Side Effect of Clomid Use
Many women use Clomid to help promote ovulation during IUI. However, Clomid often causes the uterine lining to become thin, which is detrimental to becoming pregnant. Acupuncture can help the uterine lining to thicken and become more uniform by way of increased blood flow to the uterine arteries which then aids in the ability to get pregnant.
Acupuncture Improves Success Rates
Many research studies demonstrate the positive influence of acupuncture on the pregnancy rate in patients who undergo ART. One study, Fertility & Sterility Vol77 April 2002, showed that: “Acupuncture May Improve Success Rate of IVF Pregnancies: Patients in the acupuncture group received two acupuncture sessions – the first treatment 25 minutes before embryo transfer, the second treatment 25 minutes after. In the acupuncture group, the pregnancy rate was considerably higher – 34 women (42.5%) were carrying a fetal sac at the time of examination. While In the control group, the presence of a fetal sac, the scientists’ criteria for a clinical pregnancy, was found in 21 women (26.3%)”*
Acupuncture for Menopause
During menopause, acupuncture and herbal medicine can eliminate:
- Hot flashes
- Night Sweats
- Sugar cravings while promoting weight loss
- Improve sleep patterns
- Relieve pain
- Reduce emotional stress
- Stabilize mood swings
Acupuncture treatments can also minimize osteoporosis and poor mental function by increasing clarity and focus while also treating anxiety and depression often associated with menopause.***
Acupuncture for Male Infertility
The acupuncturists at Modern Point Acupuncture not only treat women for infertility but treat men as well. “According to statistics from the National Infertility Association (an organization also known as RESOLVE), between 35 percent and 40 percent of infertility problems among couples are actually from male conditions.
Several factors may be responsible for male infertility, including low sperm count, abnormal sperm shape and size, and reduced motility. Lifestyle, genetics, and physiological changes can also raise or lower male fertility levels, and can significantly affect a man’s ability to produce offspring. Compared to the control group, motility levels increased significantly in semen samples in the men receiving acupuncture. While median motility levels increased from 32% to 37% in the control group, they increased from 44.5% to 50% in the acupuncture group.”**
Our patients and their situations are unique, and therefore recommendations vary and are tailored to your specific set of circumstances.
* “Relaxing the uterus with Acupuncture treatment allows for more successful IVF.” www.acupuncturetoday.com/archives2002/jul/07ivf.html
** Thus, acupuncture improves sperm count, motility, and morphology. www.acupuncturetoday.com/archives2005/oct/10infertility.html
*** Acupuncture As Hormone Regulation Therapy http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=32427