TCM to Treat Infertility

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) suggests that there are three main causes of infertility: deficiency syndrome, stagnancy syndrome and heat syndrome. 

All three syndromes can be treated with Chinese herbs, acupuncture or a combination of both.  These traditional Chinese approaches can also be, and are often, combined with Western medicine in treating infertility.

TCM practitioners treat infertility by getting to the deeper, underlying root of the problem, instead of treating the most apparent problem.  Like and architect, TCM practitioners believe that the foundation is most important in a “home” or body.  Therefore, they strive to balance the “foundation” of the body.  Once the foundation of the body is healthy and qi (life energy) flows freely throughout the body, the body should be able to correct the problem of infertility on its own.

Acupuncture is an effective way of restoring fertility. Acupuncture aids in blood flow to the reproductive organs and stabilizes hormone levels.  This will increase ovarian function in women and sperm production in men. 

A German study published in 2002 showed that acupuncture may be helpful to couples undergoing in-vitro fertilization (IVF).  Of 80 women in the study who underwent IVF and received acupuncture, 34 women became pregnant.  Of another 80 women who only received IVF without acupuncture treatment, only 21 women became pregnant.  A later American study revealed similar results, showing that 51 percent of the women who had both acupuncture and IVF treatments became pregnant, while only 36 percent of the women who only received IVF treatment without acupuncture became pregnant.

Acupuncture also helps with men’s sperm count and sperm quality.  In a study published in Fertility and Sterility in 2005, men who received acupuncture had fewer structural defects in sperm and an increase in the number of normal sperm than men who received no acupuncture. 

For more information on using TCM to treat infertility, please contact Pacific College: (800) 729-0941, or visit www.PacificCollege.edu.

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