At Almond Chinese Medicine Acupuncture clinic, we treat many women and couples who are at different stages on the path to pregnancy and birth. We offer a number of different programs for helping people getting pregnant.
These programs are designed to:
- Regulate menstrual cycle and balance hormone;
- Promote follicle maturation;
- Normalise hormones that regulate ovulation so that eggs can be released and conceived;
- Increasing blood circulation to pelvic area and reproductive system;
- Relieve stress and improve your over all health and well-being;
- Minimize symptoms associated with Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) treatment;
- Protect the embryo; Increase the successive rate for woman who are undergoing IVF (In Vitro Fertilization)
- Treat the original diseases that cause infertility such as PCOS, endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease.
You can have acupuncture treatment alone or with Chinese herbal medicine as a supplementary treatment.
Definition of infertility
If a couple have regular unprotected sex, not conceived after 12 month, they can be diagnosed as infertility. As to a woman who over 35, if after 6 month trying without conceiving, she can also be diagnosed as infertility. Males factor accounts 40% of infertility, female factor accounts another 40%, 10% with both partners and in a further 10% the cause is unknown.
Main causes for female infertility
Endometriosis
This condition, in which the uterine lining grows outside the uterus, is a major cause of infertility in women. Main symptoms of endometriosis includes: painful menstrual periods, irregular or heavy bleeding, possibly repeated miscarriages. This can be corrected by laparoscopic surgery and IVF may help conceive. Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine are very good in managing the symptoms, preventing recurrent endometriosis and help assist conceiving.
- Ovulation problems
Many conditions, especially usually hormonal imbalance prevents the release of a mature egg from ovaries. Main symptom includes absent or infrequent periods; excessively heavy or light bleeding. Ovulation-stimulating drugs such as clomiphene, follicle-stimulating hormones, human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) and in vitro fertilisation (IVF) using these drugs. Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine can help rebalance the hormone, relieve stress, and help ovulation.
- Poor egg quality
Eggs that become damaged or develop chromosomal abnormalities cannot sustain a pregnancy.
Usually it is age-related. Normally egg quality declines significantly in the late 30s and early 40s. An egg donor may be used.
- Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
Patients whose ovaries contain many small cysts have hormone imbalances and do not ovulate regularly. Irregular menstrual periods, excessive hair growth, acne and weight gain. Ovulation-stimulating drugs such as clomiphene, follicle-stimulating hormones, and IVF. 70 per cent who take fertility drugs ovulate and of those, half go on to conceive within six to nine months. Unfortunately, one in five of those pregnancies miscarries.
- Fallopian tube blockage
Blocked or damaged fallopian tubes prevent eggs from getting to the uterus and sperm from getting to the egg. Leading causes include pelvic inflammatory disease, sexually transmitted diseases such as chlamydia, and previous sterilisation surgery. Laparoscopic surgery may help open tubes, if possible (small area of blockage). If surgery fails, in vitro fertilisation (IVF) is an option. The conception rates vary widely -- from a low of 10 per cent to a high of 70 per cent -- depending on the severity of the blockage and the amount of scar tissue that develops after surgery.
Causes for Male infertility
- Male tube blockages
Any obstructions in the vas deferens or epididymis (the tubes that transport fertile sperm).
Varicoceles (varicose veins) in the testicles are the most common cause of male tube blockages. Sexually transmitted diseases, such as chlamydia or gonorrhoea, are also linked to tube blockage problems. Surgery to repair the varicoceles or other obstruction. About 40 per cent are able to impregnate their partner within a year of surgery, most within six to nine months.
- Sperm problems
Low or no sperm counts, poor sperm motility (the ability to move), and abnormally-shaped sperm can all cause infertility.The treatment are:
- Fertility drugs: About 25 per cent are able to impregnate a partner.
- Artificial insemination: 5-20 per cent of women become pregnant per cycle.
- Sperm injection: About 15 per cent of women get pregnant per attempt.
- Sperm allergy
Fewer than 10 per cent of infertile women and men have immune reactions to sperm, which cause them to produce antibodies that kill sperm cells. In men, this is most common after a vasectomy. Sperm washing and intrauterine insemination, assisted conception treatments. Immunosuppressive drugs, such as cortisone and prednisone, are sometimes used but many doctors don't recommend them. Success rates of 20-40 per cent per cycle have been reported for all these treatments, but these figures are considered controversial.
Acupuncture can affect sperm production and quality without sexual desire and behavior change. A number of studies shown that acupuncture can significantly increase the quantity and quality of sperm.
At the same time, for male with or without sperm abnormality, acupuncture helps manage the stress that promotes infertility. Acupuncture stimulates the release of serotonin that works to resolve depression and relieve stress during the ART treatment.
