Fertility Support

It’s now well documented and studies have proven that acupuncture increases the success rate of IVF from 26% to almost 46%.

IVF Support

If you are planning to do IVF, it’s recommended that you have acupuncture and Chinese herbs for at least three months before your IVF/ICSI cycle. This is because it takes at least three months for follicle development to mature eggs. It will also improve the quality of your endometrial lining. We will also discuss nutrition and lifestyle advice since pre-conception health is important and preparing your body for a pregnancy is always in your best interest.

Having acupuncture treatments alongside your IVF cycle will do the following:

• Increase the blood circulation to the ovaries to nourish the developing follicles, boost ovary stimulation, create better egg quality and produce stronger embryos
• Regulate the body’s natural hormonal production which in turn improves ovarian function, egg quality, reduces FSH levels and boost progesterone levels
• Regulate and increases endometrial lining and thickness
• Support implantation
• Relax the body and associated stress levels to improve reproductive function and support the IVF process
• For male partners, acupuncture increases blood flow to the testicles for improved sperm quality in order to optimise the males contribution to embryo quality

The extra beauty of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine is that it will address any imbalances in your body that may be contributing to your particular fertility issues and it will also treat any side effects from the IVF medication such as headaches, difficulty sleeping, bloating, hot flushes and anxiety.

Timing of Acupuncture treatments with IVF

Preparation

We recommend that you start weekly treatment 3 months prior to your IVF cycle as this is the time it takes for an egg to mature. It’s also more benefical to take Chinese Herbal Medicine along with your Acupuncture.

Down regulation, Stimulation and Egg Collection

We recommend weekly treatments during the down regulation stage and biweekly during the stimulation phase or depending on how follicles are performing based on your scans. Acupuncture can help increase the responsiveness of your ovaries to the fertility medications. It can also help mitigate some of the side effects of the medications. It will increase blood flow to the uterus, which will improve the endometrial lining and quality of the follicles. For women with PCOS, it can also help adjust the fluid balance in your abdomen which can help you avoid potential symptoms of hyperstimulation. We also recommend a treatment after egg collection, to decrease cramping and feelings of nausea or other side affects from the anesthia such as headaches. Lastly, Acupuncture will help decrease the feelings of stress and anxiety that comes with an IVF cycle.

The Day of Transfer

Pre and post transfer treatments will put your mind at ease, relax your cervix and uterus by decreasing contractions from the procedure, as well as increase blood flow to the uterus so that it is a warm and nutritive place for implantation to occur. Log House Clinic will accommodate early morning and weekend appointments for your pre and post transfer treatments.

The Two Week Wait

We recommend that you have a treatment 7- 10 days after your transfer. This treatment helps to assist and stabilize implantation and associated anxieties.

Modern Research on Acupuncture & IVF/ICSI Support

• Effects of acupuncture on pregnancy rates in women undergoing in vitro fertilization: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Zheng CH et al. Fertil Steril. 2012 Mar;97(3):599-611. [PMID: 16616748]: “Acupuncture improves CPR (clinical pregnancy rate) and LBR (live birth rate) among women undergoing IVF based on the results of studies that do not include the Streitberger control. The Streitberger control may not be an inactive control. More positive effects from using acupuncture in IVF can be expected if an appropriate control and more reasonable acupuncture programs are used.”

• Increase of success rate for women undergoing embryo transfer by transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation: a prospective randomized placebo-controlled study. Zhang R et al. Fertil Steril. 2011 Oct;96(4):912-6 [PMID: 21862001]: “The clinical pregnancy rate, embryos implantation rate, and live birth rate of group I with mock treatment (29.3%, 15.0%, and 21.2%, respectively) were significantly lower than those in group II with single TEAS treatment 30 minutes after ET (42.7%, 25.7%, and 37.3%, respectively) and group III with double TEAS treatment 24 hours before ET and 30 minutes after ET (50.0%, 25.9%, and 42.0%, respectively). Transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS), especially double TEAS, significantly improved the clinical outcome of ET.”

• Effect of acupuncture on the outcome of in vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic sperm injection: a randomized, prospective, controlled clinical study. Dieterle S et al. Fertil Steril. 2006 May;85(5):1347-51 [PMID: 16616748]: “In group I (who received luteal-phase acupuncture), the clinical pregnancy rate and ongoing pregnancy rate (33.6% and 28.4%, respectively) were significantly higher than in group II (who received placebo acupuncture; 15.6% and 13.8%). Luteal-phase acupuncture has a positive effect on the outcome of IVF/ICSI.”

• Influence of acupuncture on the pregnancy rate in patients who undergo assisted reproduction therapy. Paulus WE et al. Fertil Steril. 2002 Apr;77(4):721-4.[PMID: 11937123]: “Clinical pregnancies were documented in 34 of 80 patients (42.5%) in the acupuncture group, whereas pregnancy rate was only 26.3% (21 out of 80 patients) in the control group. Acupuncture seems to be a useful tool for improving pregnancy rate after ART.”