Acupuncture and its role in helping couples overcome unexplained infertility
Unexplained Infertility
One of the most frustrating issues for infertile couples is the inability to identify the cause of conception failure. Often after trying many years of natural menstrual cycles, artificial insemination (IUI) and cycles of IVF, there are still no clear answers. Some suffer low HCG levels or early miscarriages, and even when embryos that had passed PGD (pre implantation genetic diagnosis) healthy woman with a good uterine lining still don’t conceive.
There are common conditions such as Polycystic Ovaries, or Endometriosis, but the most common reason people come for Acupuncture is ‘unexplained infertility’. This can affect many aspects of a person's life, self-esteem, and dreams for the future, and relationships. Few situations in life are as challenging and overwhelming as the inability to create life. The emotional wellbeing often gets ignored, because it is such a private issue, many couples don’t feel they can share their experiences which can add to the problem. The result of this is devastating to all concerned, leaving this particular group of the population feeling very isolated, angry and depressed, having no control of their lives.
Why Acupuncture can make a difference
Acupuncture is believed to help when nothing shows up on blood tests or scans. Its principle's are based on treating the body as a whole; the lack of conception is a symptom of the body being imbalanced in some way, whether psychological or physiological. The practitioner will be looking for the underlying cause of this "imbalance". For example, the liver is responsible for circulation, and the uterus needs a good supply of oxygenated blood to help embryo implantation. A series of questions will be asked relating to family history, lifestyle, then a body diagnosis involving looking at skin tone, nail colour and texture, tongue colour and shape and feeling the radial pulse to establish if this may be a problematic area. A thorough knowledge of acupuncture and the ability to detect where the subtle imbalance may be is key to helping achieve pregnancy.
Each acupuncture treatment is individually tailored for the patient according to their specific imbalances. Discussing this treatment plan helps the patient regain:
- Some sense of control,
- To feel not be under so much pressure, and
- To feel less stressed.
It takes 3 months for ovum development to reach a mature egg release, so this is taken in to consideration when treating.
How does Acupuncture work
- Involves the insertion of fine needles working with the Central Nervous System
- Nerve fibres travel from acupuncture points to the spinal cord, through the spinal nerve column, to the brainstem and hypothalamus-pituitary gland.
- Stimulation in the brain and spinal cord cause the release of neurotransmitters (chemicals that transmit messages) such as beta endorphins, norepinephrine and enkephalin, serotonin and several more.
- Studies have shown that acupuncture therefore aids the release of various hormones, such as prolactin, oxytocin, luteinizing and growth hormone, and modulate thyroid function. The effect on hormone release might in part, explain acupuncture's effectiveness in treating gynaecological conditions such as infertility, polycystic ovaries, endometriosis, amenorrhea, and dysmenorrhoea.(1)
Unity Acupuncture Case Studies
Here are two cases taken from hundred successful pregnancies achieved. They came for more than 3 months and less than 12 months. They had been through the western diagnosis and assisted conception route - these all had failed.
Case 1: Sally and Tony
- A couple age 35 and 36, Sally had mild PCOS and Tony had poor morphology, so the odds were against them. They had been through two rounds of ICSI, the second appeared to have worked, but sadly was referred to as a chemical pregnancy where nothing developed.
- Sally was devastated, depressed and given up the chance of having children, as this is what she had heard for so long.
- Her energy levels where so low as she wasn’t sleeping properly and diet had also become an issue due to the lack of purpose she felt.
- The treatment aim was to help her through the shock of what had happened, rebuild her physically and get her menstrual cycle harmonised and establish if she ovulated.
- I saw Sally weekly for the first month, then every two weeks for a further three months. Dietary advice and nutritional supplements where given alongside the acupuncture and they now have two beautiful daughters.
- Trevor received treatment every two weeks for twelve weeks; we included zinc and vitamin E into his diet and cut out caffeine. A repeat sperm test wasn’t necessary as Sally became pregnant.
Case 2: Anne
- Anne age 31and her husband age 36 had been trying for 3 years, they had no explanation as to why they couldn’t conceive. Anne was very stressed, not just with the disappointment of each month passing by but with many aspects of her life. She had started overworking in order to take her mind off things, also over exercising and not spending time with her husband.
- The treatment aim was to initially calm Anne, discuss the external factors that affected her health, and treat the physical problems they were causing. We then went on to look at what other factors may be causing her to not conceive.
- We discovered that Anne was only having a light bleed during her menstruation, so we cut down her exercise.
- Anne received treatments initially every two weeks then monthly and after 7 months she conceived had has a lovely baby girl.
Research
Over the years acupuncture has created great interest for western medicine, especially where fertility issues are concerned. The good news is that almost all the research carried out has proved very positive. Here are some examples:
- Seven trials with 1,366 women undergoing in vitro fertilisation, concluded that current preliminary evidence suggests that acupuncture given with embryo transfer improves rates of pregnancy and live birth among women undergoing in vitro fertilisation (2)
- In the study, 28 men who were diagnosed with idiopathic infertility received acupuncture twice a week over a period of 5 weeks. Compared to the control group, motility levels increased significantly in semen samples in the men receiving acupuncture. While median motility levels increased from 32% to 37% in the control group, they increased from 44.5% to 50% in the acupuncture group. After 5 weeks of therapy, the median percentage increased to 52.2% in acupuncture patients, but actually decreased to 38.2% in the control group.(3)
- Since PCOS appears to be associated with increased sympathetic nerve activity, interventions thought to modulate sympathetic nerve activity, such as physical exercise and low-frequency electro-acupuncture (EA), might be beneficial. In uncontrolled studies of women with well-defined PCOS and women with undefined ovulatory dysfunction, acupuncture exerted long-lasting beneficial effects on endocrine parameters and anovulation without negative side effects (4)
Conclusion
My experience has been in line with what the research has shown. Acupuncture can be a positive assistance to couples experiencing unexplained infertility, where all other treatments have failed, and where tests have shown no clear reasons.
About the author
Yvonne Darnell, BSc,MBAcC, Lic Ac, MBFS, set up Unity Acupuncture five years ago. Having lost a child herself Yvonne felt drawn to helping others and could empathise with those suffering when either trying for, or having lost, a baby. She now dedicates all her time to providing specialist fertility and pregnancy treatment.
Unity focuses solely on treating all aspects of male and female infertility, assisted conception, and pregnancy, has achieved great success, and developed good working relations with GPs, consultants and local fertility clinics. The most rewarding part is being given another baby picture to add to the collection. Yvonne prides herself on giving the best support and care to her clients, and has recently with the help of her team extended opening hours until 8pm. Over the last 5 years she has had many successes and thirty three babies have been safely born this year alone. She is now well established and my work has earned the respect of local fertility clinics and GPs who often refer patients.
For further details please contact Yvonne on:
Tel: 01444 235400
Mob: 07830 109707
email: yvonne@unityfertility.co.uk
web: www.unityfertility.co.uk
References:
(1) Witt CM, Reinhold T, Brinkhaus B, et al. Acupuncture in patients with dysmenorrhea: a randomized study on clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness in usual care. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2008;198(2):166.e1–166.e8
(2)Manheimer E, Zhang G, Udoff L, Haramati A, Langenberg P, Berman BM, Bouter LM. "Effect of acupuncture on rates of pregnancy and live birth among women undergoing in vitro fertilization: systematic review and meta-analysis." British Medical Journal. March 8, 2008; 336(7643):545-9. Epub 2008 Feb 7.
(3)Pei J, Strehler E, Noss U, et al. Quantitative evaluation of spermatozoa ultrastructure after acupuncture treatment for idiopathic male infertility. Fertility and Sterility July 2005;84(1):141-7.
(4) Acupuncture and exercise restore adipose tissue expression of sympathetic markers and improve ovarian morphology in rats with dihydrotestosterone-induced PCOS Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, April 1, 2009; 296 (4): R1124-R1131. L. Manneras, S. Cajander, M. Lonn and E. Stener-Victorin
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