Fertility Acupuncture Sydney, IVF Acupuncture Sydney: Blog

Treating Infertility: Acupuncture Or Herbal Medicine?

Posted on September 25, 2015

Chinese Medicine involves both acupuncture and herbal treatment. Out of the two, acupuncture has become more synonymous with IVF. The non-pharmacological nature of acupuncture removes the possibility of any co-interaction with the drugs used in IVF. This enables acupuncture to be an excellent adjunct therapy to IVF in clinical practice. The close association, which has developed between acupuncture and IVF, has in turn led to the perception that acupuncture is better at treating infertility in general.

Contrary to popular perception, I am of the opinion that herbal medicine is the more effective for treating infertility. Acupuncture is a process of regulation. Its mechanism is to bring the body back into a state of balance. I ask you this: for fertility purposes, is there any point in making a woman in her 40’s balanced and representative of her age? I think not. I personally would rather treat her so that she could present better than her age suggests.

Chinese herbal medicine, like acupuncture, is an energetic medicine. But unlike acupuncture, it is not limited to the having a regulatory function. Instead, herbal medicine can be used to push the body to where it will be more optimally suited to aid conception.

Given most cases of infertility involve varying degrees of age related poor egg quality, herbal medicine is definitely the best way to go about treatment.

Fertility Treatments: Where Do The Needles Go?

Posted on September 18, 2015

I have heard that some women have been weary about receiving acupuncture to assist them in conceiving. This was due to some confusion as to where the acupuncture needles will be inserted during the treatment. They have wrongly assumed that the acupoints used to treat infertility will be located close or around the genitalia. This in fact, is not the case.

Best practice in treating infertility requires what is called “whole body acupuncture”.* This means that acupoints from all around the body are used. At the Fertility & IVF Acupuncture Clinic, Dr Kirk Wilson (PhD) inserts needles into the legs, arms, abdomen and even the head. None of these are located close to the genital region and patients are able to maintain their modesty throughout the treatment.

* A brief explanation: According to Chinese Medicine theory, acupuncture is used to treat the underlying energetic imbalance which is causing the problem within the reproductive system. Acupuncture works via a closed loop system of channels which continuously circulate energy around the body. Along the channels are specific locations, where if stimulated, the circulating energy is regulated in a particular manner. The choice of acupoints is made based on which energetic imbalance needs to be addressed. This is why the acupoints used to treat infertility are located on different parts of the body.

I Want A Baby: How Long Will It Take?

Posted on September 11, 2015

During the initial consultation at the Fertility & IVF Acupuncture Clinic, patients are given a detailed explanation as to what the treatment involves and what is expected from them during the treatment. This will include a discussion on the length of time which will be required to achieve a favourable outcome. When starting out on a treatment program, it is imperative to set a timeline containing the goals which need to achieved. This makes the expectations clear to both the practitioner and the patient so there will be no misunderstandings down the track.

In most cases where acupuncture and herbal medicine are used as stand alone treatment (ie not in conjunction with IVF), Dr Kirk Wilson (PhD) asks his patients to commit to five (menstrual) cycles of treatment. For the easy cases, many will be able to achieve a positive pregnancy within this time frame. For those who do not, this will give Dr Wilson enough time to gauge how well the patient is responding to the treatment. If there has been little or no response, then discussions may be undertaken to consider different treatment options. This may involve the addition of other forms of treatment to complement the acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine. Though after five months of treatment, most of those patients who are yet to conceive, simply need a couple more months of trying.

Acupuncture For IVF: Does It Help?

Posted on September 3, 2015

Acupuncture is suitable to be used as an adjunct treatment. This means being used in addition, or to support, another form of therapy. It is particularly suitable when the other therapy is pharmacological (such as with IVF), since acupuncture does not involve ingestion of any substances (medication or herbal medicine). In turn, this omits the risk of potential co-interactions between the two treatments. As a consequence of this, acupuncture is being increasingly used to coincide with IVF. But, I hear you ask, how effective is the acupuncture? The answer to the above question is not so simple.

What do the clinical trials indicate? Well surprisingly, these are not a good indication. Chinese medicine is highly idiosyncratic. This means it is difficult to standardise. Yet the foundations of sound scientific method require standardisation. So, in order to uphold the demands of the scientific model, often the integrity of the Chinese medicine is jeopardised in the clinical trials which use acupuncture as an adjunct to IVF. This means the acupuncture is not used in the most effective way. As a consequence, the clinical trials have yielded mix results. In clinical practice, acupuncture can be better administered in accordance with best practice. In turn, the outcomes are much more impressive than indicated in the clinical trials.

At the Fertility & IVF Acupuncture Clinic, Dr Kirk Wilson (PhD) has used his experience in academic research to devise treatment protocols of best practice which uphold the integrity of the Chinese Medicine model. If you are considering undertaking IVF, it is advisable you make contact to find out how he can best help you prepare for success.

How Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine Can Assist Fertility – Part 3

Posted on August 27, 2015

Over the last two blogs I identified how acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine can be used to: regulate ovulation and the menstrual cycle; improve egg quality, men’s fertility health and the thickness of the endometrial lining; as well as increase cervical mucous. The Fertility & IVF Acupuncture Clinic also carries out other fertility related treatments, some of these are:

IVF preparation: This can commence months before an IVF cycle. The longer the preparation, the better the chance of improvement. Treatment of this nature involves acupuncture and herbal medicine but the herbal medicine will stop once the treating IVF specialist prescribes medication. IVF preparation is especially beneficial for those who are experiencing poor egg quality.

Acupuncture as an adjunct to IVF: This is when the acupuncture is administered during the IVF cycle. Due to a possible risk of co-interaction with the IVF medication, no herbal medicine is taken during the IVF cycle. This treatment consequently only involves acupuncture. Best practice requires two treatments per week as well as one immediately before and after the IVF transfer. A subsequent treatment is given one week after the transfer.

Post conception treatment: Once a positive pregnancy test has been achieved, treatment still continues for the duration of the first trimester. This treatment involves both acupuncture and herbal medicine. Treatment continues on weekly basis up until the seven-week scan, then fortnightly until the end of the trimester.

How Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine Can Assist Fertility – Part 2

Posted on August 20, 2015

In last week’s blog I identified how acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine can be used to regulate the menstrual cycle, improve the thickness of the endometrial lining and increase cervical mucous. There are other fertility related concerns which are also treated at the Fertility & IVF Acupuncture clinic, some of these are:

Egg quality: This clearly is a necessary requirement to aid conception. Even before the modern advancements in the understanding of treating infertility, the Chinese have always had their own version of improving egg quality. This can take time to successfully treat, but it is very treatable.

Ovulation: The absence or the regulation of an unreliable ovulation is one of the most easily treated fertility problems. This is a situation in which acupuncture tends to be more effective than herbal medicine.

Men’s problems: This can be further divided up into three areas, these are: sperm count; morphology; and motility. Sperm count is very difficult to treat. During my time in clinical practice I have not witnessed nor heard of any patient who was able to have a severe deficiency in their sperm count successfully treated. Mild cases are however treatable. Problems with morphology (the shape of the sperm) and motility (the movement if the sperm) are more easily treated. On average, both of these take no less than two to three months to turn around.

How Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine Can Assist Fertility – Part 1

Posted on August 13, 2015

There are a number of ways that acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine can help you conceive. Following are three areas of concern which are commonly treated at the Fertility & IVF Acupuncture Clinic.

Regulating the menstrual cycle: This involves bringing the menstrual cycle back to a regular 28-day cycle. Patients can be treated for both short and long cycles. These situations stem from problems which are specific to either the follicular, luteal and/or ovulation phases of the menstrual cycle. Irregular cycles can also be treated to become more consistent. If your periods have stopped, acupuncture and herbal treatments will be able to restore your cycle. This is can even be done for those who have amenorrhea (an absence of a period for three months or more).

Endometrial lining: This involves increasing the thickness of the lining to facilitate an implantation.

Cervical mucous: This is an important component which is often over looked, and is needed to aid conception. This treatment is particularly necessary for the patients who are receiving Clomiphene to assist ovulation. Clomiphene can cause a significant reduction in cervical mucous. I recommend those who are prescribed and taking it, to seek out treatment using acupuncture and Chinese medicine, to avoid this side effect.

Treating Male Infertility

Posted on August 5, 2015

Male infertility occurs when a male is unable to cause a pregnancy in a healthy fertile female. It is commonly the result of problems within the semen. These problems generally fall under three main categories:

Low sperm count – the number of sperm.
Poor motility of the sperm – the movement of the sperm;
Poor morphology of the sperm – the shape / formation of the sperm.

Chinese Medicine theory has a clear causational understanding of each of these three areas of concern. Motility and morphology problems can be rectified with acupuncture and herbal medicine treatment. A course of treatment will on average take about three months. On the other hand, low sperm count is very difficult to treat. In my clinical experience, I think it is impossible if there is a severe deficiency.

Male infertility is often overlooked in clinical practice. At the Fertility & IVF Acupuncture Clinic, I always make inquires with respect to the male. This will often require an andrology test from a fertility specialist. Treatment will only need to be administered to the male if the test indicates a problem. Otherwise, the focus of the treatment will remain with the female. If treatment for the male is needed, subsequent andrology tests will be required to gauge the progress.

Male Infertility Has Experts At A Loss

Posted on July 29, 2015

An interesting article by Rosanna Ryan has been posted on the ABC website. It essentially was an interview of Professor John Aitken from the University of Newcastle. The main point of the interview was that there is an over clinical focus on female infertility and more efforts should be made to consider male infertility.

Prof Ryan said there is a shortfall in expertise and knowledge of male infertility. He claimed this has created a situation where females are forced to undergo IVF treatment because there is not enough understanding of what is wrong with the male. He expressed a concern over there being few specialists in the field of male infertility. More interesting he said andrology (which considers male reproductive health) is ten years behind its female equivalent.

Statistics indicate most men are able to produce the right amount of spermatozoa to fertilize an egg. The issue is the sperm’s lack of ability to enact the fertilization. Approximately one in 20 men are infertile and there are many more who suffer from subfertility. Prof Ryan said medical experts do not know why. The aetiology (cause) of male infertility is not understood.

In contrast, Chinese Medicine theory has a clear understanding of male infertility within it’s paradigm. This will be the topic of next week’s blog post.

Article link: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/sundayextra/couples-short-changed-by-lack-of-expertise-in-male-infertility/6628440

Anti-Muallarian Hormone: An Ancient Solution To A Modern Problem

Posted on July 22, 2015

The Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) is considered to be a reliable measure of the number of follicles a woman has remaining before she becomes infertile. This diminishing number of follicles is known as ovarian reserve. An AMH blood test is commonly used before an IVF treatment as one the indicators to help predict the chance of a positive outcome.

Women are born with a limited number of follicles. A finite number are dispersed over their reproductive life. In theory, AMH levels must then gradually decrease over time or after each menstrual cycle. However, in clinical practice I have witnessed AMH levels to increase on more than one occasion. In each instance, this was done after intensive acupuncture and Chinese medicine treatment. Given the definition of AMH, this clinical outcome should be impossible. It contradicts the notions of a limited supply of follicles and the constant gradual decrease in follicle numbers.

When assuming the role of the “devil’s advocate”, this raises some interesting questions.

Some of these include:

Is the test used to measure AMH levels unreliable and prone to inaccurate readings?
Is the relationship between AMH scores and the status of ovarian reserve yet to be fully understood?
Is the definition of ovarian reserve incorrect and it may not always diminish over time?
Does acupuncture and Chinese medicine have the ability to increase ovarian reserve?

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