Infertility has become a major challenge for couples in Canada, today. Roughly 16% (or 1 in 6) couples in Canada experience infertility. This number has doubled since the 1980s. Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture has become one of the main modalities helping couples conceive naturally or added to the assisted reproductive methods.

A new clinical study concludes that acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine have potent effects in reversing infertility. Several types of infertile patients participated in the study including those using IVF, IUI and those using no biomedical assistance. All groups showed significantly improved successful pregnancy rates. A total of 52.38% of women in the study conceived with acupuncture and/or herbal medicine without biomedical assistance. Another 9.52% conceived with acupuncture and/or herbs combined with IVF (in vitro fertilization) and 4.76% conceived with IUI (intrauterine insemination) combined with acupuncture (link to research). According to the principles of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), a person's health is determined by having a balanced flow of "Qi", the vital life force circulating throughout the body. Acupuncture and herbal medicine are the means of influencing the "Qi" to induce a particular effect in body. In modern terms, acupuncture can affect the nervous and endocrine system.

Many modern researches have confirmed TCM and Acupuncture benefits in the following areas:

Regulating the menstrual cycle, improving sperm count and motility.
Enhancing general health, reducing stress/anxiety, enhancing sleep/energy levels.
Balancing endocrine system, and hormones.
Improving blood flow in pelvic cavity, increasing the chances of pregnancy for IVF, or IUI.

Who can benefit from TCM and Acupuncture for infertility?

Good candidates for acupuncture and herbal medicine are people who have a functional, rather than structural etiology for infertility. Infertility due to hormonal imbalance i.e. fluctuating FSH, immune disorders, lack of menstruation, irregular menstruation, painful menstruation, dysfunctional uterine bleeding, fibroids and cysts, stress and age related factors, low sperm count, low sperm motility, all fall into the category of functional infertility. Stress can dramatically decrease fertility in both women and men. Acupuncture can increase fertility chances by reducing stress. For those whose infertility involves structural issues, such as fallopian tube damage or severe endometriosis, a complete medical evaluation is recommended to understand the exact nature of the problem before initiating TCM treatments.

What to expect?

Your initial TCM/Acupuncture visit is usually about 1.5 hours, and includes an evaluation based on TCM and an acupuncture treatment for fertility. Follow up visits are only one hour long. A customized herbal medicine treatment plan, can start from your second visit. Herbs are administered as raw herbs that you take home and cook them once a week, and keep the decoction in a glass jar in the fridge and normally drink it 2-3 times a day. Most couples who follow this regimen have a good degree of success ranging from 3-9 months of treatment, which depends on their age, partner's fertility health and so forth.

You are welcome to check out my website http://tcmclineek.com, browse the Infertility Testimonials, email me at tcmclineek@gmail.com, or text to 647-444-4083, for any fertility acupuncture or general acupuncture inquiries.