How do acupuncture and herbs help with infertility? by Lee Trask/Infertility Blogger: at DailyStrength Doctors and Advisors

Lee Trask is an advocate for women dealing with issues of infertility and miscarriage. Having struggled through more than six years of infertility, three miscarriages, and high-risk pregnancy, she is now happy raising her two…

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How do acupuncture and herbs help with infertility?

Posted in Infertility by Lee Trask on Aug 27, 2010

"How do acupuncture and herbs help with infertility? Herbs to me are like medications and they sometimes do harm if not taken properly. I've heard so much about these but have been too afraid to try. There is a book called The Pregnancy Miracle System that is base on herbal medications. Have you heard about it and if so do you think that it is reliable?"

I am a big fan of acupuncture and Chinese herbs. These methods have been used for thousands of years in Eastern cultures, but only recently have they started to mainstream into Western medicine. Acupuncture and herbs can help treat infertility and miscarriages, reduce the percentage of etopic pregnancies, aid in maintaining a healthy pregnancy, and speed the recovery of the mother after childbirth.

Studies have shown that combining assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) with acupuncture prior to and following ARTs increased success rates from 26% to 43%. Continued acupuncture during the first trimester also decreases the rate of miscarriage during IVF cycles. One study done at the Reproductive Medicine and Fertility in Colorado Springs showed the rate of miscarriage after IVF decline from 20% to 8% when IVF was combined with acupuncture.

Acupuncture can also be combined with Chinese herbs, although when undergoing ARTs, Western medication and herbal remedies can sometimes interfere with one another, so be sure to speak with both your reproductive endocrinologist and your acupuncturist about all methods being employed so that there are no complications.

I wrote two previous blogs about this, and here are the links:

The Benefits of Acupuncture

Who is Dong Quai and how can he help me get pregnant?

Best,
Lee

Related Links:

http://www.americanpregnancy.org/infertility/acupuncture.htm

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/endometriosis/DS00289/DSECTION=alternative-medicine

http://www.comoxvalleyacupuncture.com/infertility.html

http://fertilityfactor.com/infertility_acupuncture.html