Acupuncture and Infertility: How To Rev Up Your Reproductive Organs With Acupuncture

Acupuncture is an alternative medical treatment that has been practiced for more than 2000 years. Created in China, the practice of acupuncture is based on the belief that a interference in the energy flow in the body can cause energetic imbalances, which is considered to be the root cause of most of the diseases suffered by people. These obstructions can be removed and the energy flow of the body can be restored by the insertion of slender needles into specific acupoints of the body. There are more than 2000 different acupoints on the human body and the disease determines which insertion points should be used. Acupuncture is now used around the world to treat a variety of conditions, like Meniere's disease, bronchitis, trigeminal neuralgia, infertility, migraine and conjunctivitis.

How Does Acupuncture Help Infertility?

The use of acupuncture to cure infertility is a fairly new concept for western societies. The idea behind acupuncture for infertility is that acupuncture will increase the volume of blood flow to the sexual organs and readjust the hormones present in the body. This practice is confirmed to be effective by increasing ovarian fertility in women and assisting in sperm creation for men.

Using acupuncture for infertility treatment is most regularly applied when a couple is experiencing functional issues, like fluctuating ovulation or erectile dysfunction. In some scenarios, acupuncture is used as supplemental procedure for in vitro fertilization, helping women to relax their uteruses during the embryo transfer process. A study conducted in 2002 by German researchers found that acupuncture increased the success rate of in vitro fertilization by up to 16% and reduced the amount of miscarriages in women receiving in vitro fertilization by 12%.

What is the Acupuncture Treatment Like?

Acupuncture is a rather painless procedure and side effects are very uncommon. The most common negative events reported include needles broken beneath the skin, minor bleeding at the insertion point and the transmission of infectious agents. These risks will be substantially reduced if the acupuncturist is a licensed and accomplished professional that has gone through the required 2000 to 3000 hours of training and has passed the required board exam.

Acupuncture for infertility treatment can be a very long process. On average, acupuncture therapy requires 12 individual sessions, each about an hour in length and occurring weekly. During this hour long appointment, a physical examination will be given and any complications or issues that have arisen since the last appointment will be discussed.

Using acupuncture to treat infertility is quickly gaining acceptance in the USA. Although whether the procedure is effective is fiercely debated among experts, the fact of the matter is that it seems to work and it certainly doesn't hurt to try. For couples who have been trying to conceive a child without success, using acupuncture therapy to aid in infertility treatment may give them the boost they need to finally have a bundle of joy.

Natalie Williams is the author of Pregnancy101.net, a treasure tome full of pregnancy tips on fertility, birth, pregnancy symptoms, conception and breastfeeding issues. Be sure to discover a woman's infertility story on how she overcame multiple miscarriages to become pregnant in her thirties.