How Does Acupuncture Help
with Conception?
Acupuncture can help to improve the success rate of in
vitro fertilization (IVF) in numerous ways:
Getting Pregnant with Traditional
Chinese Medicine
The process includes 5 to 7 acupuncture treatments. Three
to four are done during the ovulation simulation phase of
the IVF cycle. A treatment is done just before and after transfer
of embryos. This usually means stopping by BodyPoint on your
way to and from the fertility clinic. The timing of this treatment
depends somewhat on the protocol used by the fertility clinic.
If your physician recommends immediate bed rest after transfer,
the post transfer treatment can be done at an interval of
up to 48 hours after transfer. One or two additional treatments
are done after a positive test for pregnancy. These are done
to help maintain the pregnancy.
If there is a particularly difficult reproductive history,
it is also helpful to have acupuncture during the three to
four weeks prior to stimulating the ovaries.
Most women find the treatments to be relaxing and refreshing.
At BodyPoint we try very hard to make the addition of acupuncture
to your IVF cycle as stress free as possible.
Does Acupuncture Really Work?
There are a number of studies that have concluded that acupuncture
does affect the success rate of IVF. The most significant
is a German study published in 2002 which reported that the
pregnancy rate for women undergoing IVF increased by nearly
50% when acupuncture was added to the protocol. "Acupuncture
seems to be a useful tool for improving pregnancy rate after
assisted reproductive techniques. The analysis shows that
the pregnancy rate for the acupuncture group is considerably
higher than for the control group."* Nearly 43%
of women who received acupuncture before and after embryo
transfer became pregnant in contrast to only 26% of those
who did not have acupuncture. Age, the number of embryos transferred,
and the number of cycles were the same for both groups of
women that participated in the study.* Clinical observation
with ultra sound has shown that after acupuncture the color
of a woman's ovaries change from cloudy to bright and clear.
* Wolfgang E. Paulus, M.D., Mingmen Zhang, M.D., Erwin Strehler,
M.D., Iman El-Danasouri, Ph.D., & Karl Sterzik, M.D.,
"Influence of acupuncture on the pregnancy rate in patients
who undergo assisted reproduction therapy", Fertility
and Sterility, Vol. 77, No. 4, Apr. 2002
Acupuncture at BodyPoint
Patricia Bickett is an experienced and carefully trained
licensed practitioner of TCM. She has provided treatments
for many women undergoing IVF cycles at fertility clinics
throughout northern suburbs of Chicago. She uses the basic
protocols used in the German studies but is also able to
adjust the treatments to your specific reproductive history.
Whether that history includes endometriosis, thin uterine
lining, poor egg quality, multiple miscarriages, etc. acupuncture
can help. We understand how stressful the process of IVF
can be. BodyPoint provides a peaceful and calming environment
for treatments.
Please contact BodyPoint Acupuncture for more information:
34498 Old Walnut Circle, #D Gurnee, IL 60031
Phone: (847)223-0888 Fax: (847)223-2645
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