Acupuncture
Acupuncture is the stimulation of specific points located on the surface of the skin which have the ability to alter various biochemical and physiological conditions in order to achieve the desired effect.
Acupuncture evolved from the principles and philosophies unique to Oriental thinking and is most effectively applied when used in accordance with those principles. The perspective from which an acupuncturist views health and sickness is based on concepts of "vital energy," "energetic balance" and "energetic imbalance." Just as the Western medical doctor monitors the blood flowing through blood vessels and the messages traveling via the nervous system, the acupuncturist assesses the flow and distribution of this "vital energy" within its pathways, known as meridians and channels.
Even though acupuncture needles and herbs have been used in China for over twenty three centuries, it has been only two decades that most Americans have heard of them. While the insertion of fine needles into specific acupuncture points on the body may seem strange and mysterious to many, this method of helping the body heal itself has been time tested over thousands of years and continues to be validated today.
For the treatment of infertility, acupuncture (in conjunction with herbal medicine) can be used to:
- Increase blood flow to the ovaries and uterus
- Regulate the hormones to produce larger number of follicles
- Reduce stress
- Strengthen the immune system
- Decrease chance of miscarriage
- Reduce side effects of IVF medications
- Decrease uterine contractility post IVF embryo transfer
- Improve sperm count, motility and morphology