A hand in 103 pregnancies and counting...

Though the idea of treating infertility with Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine is relatively new in this county, there is a 2000 year history of its successful use in China. TCM uses a highly logical and systematic approach to looking at both the female and male reproductive systems. TCM uses the woman's menstrual cycle as the bellwether of her reproductive health. A woman with a regular 26-30 day, painless cycle with smooth blood flow of appropriate duration and little clotting shows a high likelihood of reproductive health. TCM also uses modern indicators like temperature cycles and western medical diagnoses to help guide treatment. Chinese herbal medicine is particularly effective at adjusting basal body temperature and cycle length to create the optimal conditions for predictable ovulation.

There are protocols to treat infertility related to unexplained causes, menstrual irregularity, high or low hormone levels, advanced age, endometriosis, fibroids/cysts, polycystic ovaries (PCOS), partial tubal blockage, and low sperm count and motility. TCM can also be used to treat habitual miscarriage.

Several recent research studies have also shown that standard acupuncture protocols can be used to increase the success rate of invitro-fertilization. In fact several well known IVF specialty clinics now require all patients to go through the acupuncture protocol prior to transfer. These protocols can also increase the effectiveness of IUI.

If you seek treatment for infertility or enhancing assisted techniques, we will discuss all of your options thoroughly and proceed in the manner you feel most comfortable with. We can take a more TCM approach, a more standard acupuncture protocol approach or combine the two. The TCM approach will use TCM pattern diagnosis to guide your treatment. I usually tell women to expect at least 3 months of weekly acupuncture and 3 months to 1 year of herbal treatment as a good test. You should feel improvements within your first 2-3 menstrual cycles and long term treatment should feel intuitively appropriate by the time you reach that decision. Male issues can usually be treated with herbs only and within 3 - 6 months. Standard protocols for enhancing assisted techniques usually require 2 weekly acupuncture treatments for 4 consecutive weeks. The cost of aggressive treatment with TCM can range from $1,000-$3,000. Compared with $10,000 - $20,000 for IVF, TCM provides a humanistic, nurturing, and cost-effective approach to treating infertility.

| Home |

All terminology and medical statements in this website are
based on the Traditional Chinese Medical model.