The Chinese Medicine Approach

                                

In this section, I will attempt to explain, as a brief overview,  the Chinese medical approach to the treatment of infertility.

In all conditions I treat, I will take a full case history including current signs and symptoms and any past illnesses.

I will also feel your wrist pulses. This is a skill that takes several years to learn, in which a practitioner will feel the pulses in six different wrist locations, and decide which of 28 characteristics a particular pulse falls into.

I will also look at your tongue, which gives me a further indication of what may be happening physically and emotionally.

The tongue will invariably reflect the characteristics of the pulses, and both the tongue and pulse will nearly always reflect the signs and symptoms that the person has described.

The fact that the signs, symptoms, pulses and tongues all relate to one another is helpful, as from all this information I will decide which points will be individually useful for you and your condition.

There are nearly 400 points on the body, most of them lying along 'meridians'. They all have different functions according to Chinese medicine and some of them relate to the treatment of infertility or difficulty conceiving.

There may be different presenting features from person to person, even within the same condition. Thus, a person with a history of polycystic ovarian syndrome, or fibroids is likely to have different pulse characteristics to someone else who over-exercises or eats a poor diet, or who is anxious and suffers from insomnia.

For this reason, each case is individualised, and a set of points is selected that is appropropriate. 

Some of the points I use will frequently be selected in the treatment of infertility, and others will be suited to you personally.

Some of the points will be chosen to nourish and strengthen features in Chinese medicine such as blood and 'kidney yin', while others will be used to calm, clear, cool or warm, regulate and move other signs and symptoms in Chinese medicine.

Acupuncture is said to help with the following:

Improve embryo quality

Improve the lining of the uterus

Reduce stress and achieve sense of well being and reduce the damaging effects of stress on hormones

Reduce and moderate unwanted side effects of medication

Regulate hormones

Improve the success rates of IVF

Encourage follicle growth & improve quality

Increase blood flow to the reproductive organs

I am always happy to explain what I am doing as I treat.

Many of my patients find acupuncture treatment very relaxing and enjoyable and some of the points used in fertility treatment are very calming.

I also treat other conditions of pregnancy such as morning sickness, late onset of labour, lower back pain and breech position.