Comments on: Acupuncture for Infertility – An Acupuncturist’s Tips for Getting Pregnant

By: Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen

Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen — Mon, 17 May 2010 03:00:49 +0000

Hi Frustrated,

Maybe I should write an article about acupuncture not being successful in improving male or female infertility! It didn’t work for us either.

I think the success of acupuncture really depends on the cause of the infertility. For instance, it may not help with serious fallopian tube damage due to endometriosis…but it could help with stress and FSH levels (like with your wife!).

How do you know when it’s time to give up on a particular fertility treatment? That, too, might make a helpful article…I don’t know the longest someone has gone before they either got pregnant or gave up….if someone else does, I welcome the information! That’s a good question.

Laurie

By: Frustrated

Frustrated — Wed, 12 May 2010 23:05:01 +0000

I wish I had a success story in regards to Acupuncture and TCM, but I don’t. It hasn’t helped us and we’ve tried for over six months (we went for three months before that with a different practitioner). It’s expensive and, of course, there are no guarantees. It’s still cheaper than IVF or IUI or any of the Western approaches. My skeptical nature has a hard time with it, too, which I’m sure doesn’t help. It did lower my wife’s FSH level dramatically, but she is older and so far nothing else has changed. My wife believes in it and wants to continue treatments. I am having a hard time justifying the cost at this point and since we are single-income family, I’m not sure how much longer I can do it. Anyone know the longest someone has gone before they either got pregant or gave up. You don’t hear much about the people who gave up with TCM. I tend to only find success stories.

By: arthritisguy

arthritisguy — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 06:30:32 +0000

Acupuncture is really a good alternative medicine technique for common ailments such as allergies, minor headaches and pains. I have been practicing acupuncture for 4 years now.

By: Apple

Apple — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:42:15 +0000

Acupuncture definitely is helping my husband infertility! He had 1 million sperm count, 5%morphology,30%motility to start with. After 3 months of acupuncture and drinking Chinese herbal tea twice daily, his semen test has jumped to 10.5 million,10%morphology and 43%motility. He is still doing acupuncture and the tea to achieve 20 million plus. We will see when he does the test again next month.

By: Laurie PK

Laurie PK — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:42:05 +0000

Thanks for this, Iris. I’m not sure if “most” physicians prescribe acupuncture to couples having problems with infertility. None of my fertility doctors have!

By: Iris Taylor

Iris Taylor — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:14:37 +0000

Most physicians also prescribe acupuncture to those couple having problems with infertility, as posted in a New York Times article.

By: bodydetoxboy

bodydetoxboy — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:13:10 +0000

i am always astonished how Acupunture helps in dealing with my migraine. it works wonders on other diseases like anxiety and allergy.

By: Laurie PK

Laurie PK — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 17:37:30 +0000

I’m sorry the acupuncture didn’t work for your infertility issues…how disappointing.

Thanks for sharing here – it’s good to hear how and if acupuncture helps! And you’re right: often taking control and trying SOMETHING helps people coping with infertility.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 15:54:26 +0000

I tried accupunture and traditional Chinese herbs after I was diagnosed as infertile (azoospermia). I did this for six months. The accupunture felt good, very relaxing, and I thought I could feel the effects in my groin. It was a positive experience because throughout the six months and the following two and a half months before retesting I had hope and felt optimistic. Unfortunatly, there was no change in my condition. That was crushing but at least I tried something and took a bit of control from a otherwise beyond control situation.

By: Laurie PK

Laurie PK — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 16:12:44 +0000

Nancy just emailed me, and said something I think it’s really important to remember:

“There’s lots of stuff on fertility on the internet….some good advice, some not so much,” she said.

When you’re researching male or infertility on the internet, make sure you’re reading good advice. How do you know? I’m going to investigate that now, and write a post about it…if you have any suggestions for recognizing bad versus good fertility information, please share it here!