Can acupuncture treat infertility?

For a couple, being able to successfully conceive and give birth to a healthy baby is the biggest wish of both of them. However, in real life, women often suffer from infertility. There are many reasons for female infertility, the most common of which include fallopian tube disease, uterine disease, etc. For example, severe blockage of the fallopian tubes can lead to female infertility, so you need to go to the hospital for a detailed examination, find the root cause and then treat it symptomatically. So, can acupuncture treat female infertility?

Can acupuncture treat infertility?

To observe the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine acupuncture in treating female infertility. It was found that acupuncture can promote ovulation, increase uterine blood flow, reduce uterine artery resistance, relieve emotional stress, and is effective in treating female infertility.

The causes of male infertility can be summarized into deficiency, excess, cold, heat, phlegm and depression. However, clinically, whether it is spleen deficiency, blood deficiency, phlegm and dampness, blood stasis, liver cold, damp heat, liver depression, etc., the changes in the pathogenesis will result in the loss of kidney essence and infertility. Nourishing the kidney and replenishing essence is an important principle for treating this disease. Treating the root cause can be divided into benefiting the kidney and tonifying the spleen, and benefiting the kidney can be divided into tonifying yin, replenishing essence and strengthening yang; treating the symptoms can be divided into activating blood circulation, resolving phlegm, clearing away heat, promoting dampness, dispersing cold and relieving depression. In addition, in the treatment of male infertility, it is important to avoid the use of warm and hot products. Warming the kidney and strengthening yang too much can easily cause congestion and edema of the reproductive tract in patients with damp-heat type, which not only aggravates the inflammation but also affects the quantity and quality of sperm. Foreign journals also show that acupuncture is very helpful for male infertility, whether it is kidney deficiency type (high FSH & LH), damp-heat type (prostatitis, seminal vesiculitis), blood stasis type (varicocele) or immune type infertility.

Dietary considerations for infertility patients

1. Improve nutrition: Studies have found that if one of the man or woman is deficient in essential trace elements in the body, it may affect the woman's pregnancy. Therefore, when a couple or one of them lacks certain essential trace elements in their body, they should adjust their daily diet, improve their nutritional status, and supplement the necessary trace elements. In particular, they should eat more foods rich in zinc and iron, such as seafood and dark-colored fruits and vegetables.

2. Both husband and wife should give up the habit of smoking and drinking.

Causes of female infertility: 1. Infertility after artificial abortion. 2. Immune infertility: It can be divided into two types: anti-sperm immune infertility and anti-zona pellucida immune infertility. 3. Tubal infertility: The factors that lead to female fallopian tube obstruction or dysfunction are acute or chronic fallopian tube inflammation. 4. Cervical disease: Any changes in a woman’s cervix can affect the passage of sperm, and in severe cases can even lead to female infertility. Among the factors of female infertility, ovulation disorders and fallopian tube factors are the most common. Uterine factors: Uterine malformation, submucous uterine fibroids, endometritis, endometrial tuberculosis, endometrial polyps, intrauterine adhesions, etc. can all affect the implantation of the fertilized egg and lead to infertility. Cervical factors: abnormal cervical mucus function, cervical inflammation and abnormal cervical immune blood function can affect sperm passage and cause infertility. Vaginal factors: Abnormal development of the vulvovaginal area, vulvovaginal inflammation, and vulvovaginal scars can all cause infertility.