Quick links:- Causes, TCM Philosophy, Principles, Working with IVF, Male Infertility
We can help you increase your chances of getting pregnant by 70% . Because we can
Balance your hormone levels;
Increase blood supply to the uterus and ovaries, improve the eggs quality;
Strengthen the endometrial lining and create a welcoming environment in your womb for conception;
Calm the uterus to prepare it for implantation;
Minimise the risk of miscarriage if a pregnancy achieved.
Help male to get more and healthy sperms
What can cause infertility?
Infertility is a package of diagnose for ladies who have difficulty to conceive. For conventional medicine, they find out that there are quite a lot problem can cause infertility, such as:
- Luteal phase defect;
- Hormonal and ovulation problems;
- Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS);
- High FSH and Low AMH;
- Diminished Ovarian Reserve (DOR)
- Premature ovarian failure (POF), or peri-menopause;
- Endometriosis and fibroids;
- Unexplained infertility;
- Immunologic reaction and recurrent miscarriage;
- Mechanical infertility – pelvic inflammatory disease and fallopian tube obstruction
- male factor infertility
Hormone imbalance which can cause irregular period, heavy period, or even can cause period stopped.
Blocked fallopian tube which can stop the egg meet the sperm or even can cause topic pregnant if it partially blocked.
Polycystic ovaries which cause ovary stop ovulation.
Immune problem which can cause lady’s body reject sperm and embryo.
Endometriosis which can cause sever period pain, obstruction and even ovarian cyst.
Period too little which normally caused by womb lining too thin and therefore unable for embryo to implant.
Male factor infertility normally caused by semen and sperm disorder such as sperm abnormality, Oliqozoospermia, Azoospermia, weak sperm vitality etc
Doctors normally will test male’s semen, give lady blood test to check if your hormone level normal or not, pelvic ultra sound, to see if there are any fibroids in your womb, and put the dye into the floppy tube to see if there is any blockage there. In some cases, after all the examination, everything is clear, so the patient will walk out with a diagnose of unknown reason infertility. But everything happen there are some reasons, so what behind these conditions? Let me tell you how TCM view infertility.
TCM Philosophy for infertility
According to TCM philosophy, the human body is an integral whole in that its constituent parts are inseparable in structure, connected with and conditioned by one another in physiology, and interact on one another in pathology. The reproductive and gynaecological health is not just related to your ovary and womb, it closely related to the kidney, spleen and liver organs. The harmony of these organs functioning properly is vital for lady to conceive successfully, if any of the organs is dysfunction, the fertility problems will appear.
Kidney, the ‘origin of congenital constitution’, stores the essence which is considered as the origin of yin-yang of the organs and the source of life of human body. Kidney essence is the major material foundation for our body’s growth, development and reproduction. So dysfunction of kidney in storing the essence may lead to delayed period, non-ovulation or scanty menstruation, or even amenorrhea or infertility. Nourishing kidney yin (essence) can regulate period, restore normal levels of FSH, support oestrogen production to thicken the uterine lining, and develop healthy follicles and eggs, and healthy sperm production for men, whilst strengthening kidney yang will support progesterone level, promote fertilization and implantation.
Spleen, the ‘material basis of acquired constitution’, is the foundation of life after birth, and is known as ‘the source of Qi and blood’. It governs most energetic processes in the body, transports and transforms the food we eat into Qi, blood, nutrients and other types of usable energy, and keeps the blood flowing in the vessels. It must therefore be functioning optimally for a healthy menstrual cycle. The spleen is also responsible for producing thyroid hormone and progesterone, as well as for the circulatory and immunological systems, and dominates the luteal phase. If the spleen becomes dysfunction, the Qi and blood will be insufficient and the commending action of spleen Qi will be reduced, thereby producing such as problems like earlier and heavy period (short luteal phase), prolonged period or even flooding, eventually poor blood supply to the reproductive system, and then causing infertility.
Liver, governs the normal flow of Qi and emotions, stores the blood and regulates the volume of circulating blood, which is believed to play a major role in assisting ovulation. The liver shifts the blood from other body parts to the uterus, therefore has a great influence over the menstrual cycle.
If the liver system is not functioning smoothly, neither is the hormonal system. Dysfunction of liver Qi may bring about distending pain of chest, breasts or lower abdomen, irregular period and mental depression, or flushed face, irritability, restlessness, PMT and menopause syndrome. If repeated and persistent emotional abnormality will in turn, impair the function of liver, resulting in stagnation of liver Qi or hyperactivity of liver yang, and leading to heavy periods, or short menstrual cycle. A certain amount of blood in the liver can restrain the liver yang from going up excessively. If the liver blood is unable to replenish the “house of blood”, which is called womb, scanty menstruation, or amenorrhea may occur in women.
The liver Qi stagnation causes oestrogen to build up in the body, then uterus itself can become a toxic environment, hostile to implantation, as a result infertility appears. Oestrogen dominance is implicated in conditions like endometriosis, fibroids and polycystic ovarian syndrome.
TCM Therapy Principle
The success of TCM in treating infertility can be found in early Chinese medical literature dating back to the 11TH Century AD. TCM recognises that different energies dominate each phase of the menstrual cycle. It is the key to treat infertility that we must understand the characteristics of the menstrual cycle and the Yin-Yang patterns, therefore your prescription may vary depending on your needs at each stage of your cycle.
Phase I, Yin phase – follicular phase:
Kidney yin (essence) and blood govern the follicular phase. It is necessary to nourish the kidney yin and enrich Qi and blood, to support oestrogen, improve eggs quality, strengthen endometrial lining, and to prepare the basic condition for conception.
Phase II, ovulation phase:
This is a process of transformation. Liver Qi and blood flow control ovulation. Liver Qi is triggered to begin the transformation of yin energy (oestrogen) into yang energy (progesterone). Therefore to nourish kidney yin and warm up kidney yang, enrich the Qi and activate the blood to promote ovulation.
Phase III, Yang phase – luteal phase:
Kidney yang and spleen Qi dominate the luteal phase, so it is crucial to strengthen kidney yang and spleen Qi, nourish the blood to support progesterone, in order to increase the chances of successful implantation.
Phase IV, the premenstrual phase:
Liver Qi helps the premenstrual transformation, converts yang energy into yin energy. This harmonises the liver Qi to promote blood circulation, unblock the channels and regulate period.
Phase V, the blood phase – menstrual phase:
Blood is allowed to flow, menstruation is the resting stage for all the energies. It is important to regulate the Qi and blood, nourish the yin and move the blood stasis in order to eradicate the old blood, and fresh blood can then take its place.
How TCM acupuncture works together with IVF or other forms of ACT?
IVF is an advanced medical technology which helps infertile couples achieving pregnancy. However, the UK overall success rate of IVF is only between 10%- 30% for woman aged under 35, and the procedure can be very demanding and stressful. The reason of it is because there are so many different reason can cause infertility, IVF itself can only help certain type infertility. So, proper preparation before the IVF is the best way possible and is crucial and beneficial for a successful IVF or other forms of ACT. Whatever the nature of your fertility problem, TCM can maximise your chances of conceiving and carrying healthy babies to term when you embarking on ACT, research has showed that with TCM preparation to improve the lady overall health, IVF successful rate will be more than doubled.
Since a woman’s best response to any ACT depends on your overall endocrine status in the few months prior to the procedure, when the follicles are developing within your ovaries. We strongly recommend you starting TCM preparation three months prior to ACT/IVF, especially if there is hormonal, immunological, mechanical, age or implantation factors. This usually gives your body sufficient time to restore adequate balance of your energies and organs, reduce the chromosome abnormality. Therefore, the ACT will produce the best possible response, improving your eggs quality, increasing your success rate of conception.
Many couples visited our clinic while undergoing IVF, IUI or ICSI. We have designed a special course of acupuncture to support couples who are going to have IVF, IUI or ICSI treatment, or whilst undergoing the program. We need as much information as you could provide for us, including your IVF regime or treatment protocol, blood test and scan results, and past medical and fertility treatment history. Acupuncture has demonstrated that can:
- TCM acupuncture can support you physically and emotionally during and after the procedure, alleviate some of the tension inherent in these stressful procedures, relax your mind;
- Reduce some of the difficult side effects caused by some of the drugs and improve response to hormonal stimulation;
- Balance your hormone levels;
- Increase blood supply to the uterus and ovaries, improve the eggs quality;
- Strengthen the endometrial lining and create a welcoming environment in your womb for conception;
- Calm the uterus to prepare it for implantation;
- Minimise the risk of miscarriage if a pregnancy achieved
TCM can help Male infertility
In research , 50 % infertility caused by man’s problem. Acupuncture can support a man in much the same way as a female can be treated, helping him reach his potential for fatherhood. This is strongly supported by our clinical results. TCM has demonstrated that it can increase the blood flow and strengthen the functions of male reproductive organs, improve sperm quality and quantity. Therefore, the female partner may not only have a better chance of conceiving naturally, but also have less risk of miscarriage or complications, or you can attempt less invasive and less expensive procedures such as IUI or IVF, instead of ICSI.