Infertility impacts thousands of people across the United States who are trying to start a family. However, there are more options ever before for managing infertility issues. While hormonal therapy and in-vitro fertilization have helped numerous women conceive, it's important to consider natural methods as well, as they usually feature less side effects and are far less expensive. Acupuncture is one natural method increasingly being used to treat certain cases of infertility, and has shown a lot of promise. Here is information on how acupuncture works for infertility and the science behind acupuncture's success.

The Role Of Acupuncture in Treating Infertility

Acupuncture involves inserting very fine and thin needles into very specific areas of your body to help improve a wide range of conditions, with infertility just being one of them. Researchers and fertility specialists are looking into different types of infertility and which ones benefit the most from acupuncture.

One infertility issue that is quite common is miscarriage. One of the ways that acupuncture is believed to help is to improve blood flow to the area of the endometrium, which can help you have a much thicker and richer uterine lining. This can serve as a base of support for fetal development, and ensure that the burgeoning embryo receives enough blood flow and nutrients to help you avoid a miscarriage, a frequent problem for women in the first three months of their pregnancy. 

How Acupuncture Can Help Improve IVF

Although acupuncture can help improve infertility issues in some cases, there's also evidence it can improve the success of other fertility treatments as well. In many cases, it's important to combine a number of different fertility promoting options, such as herbal remedies, massage, acupuncture, and in-vitro fertilization (IVF). All of these treatments used in conjunction with each other can improve your odds of conceiving than any one treatment used in isolation.

There has been ample research into the use of acupuncture in conjunction with IVF, and the results have been promising. A meta-analysis of many different studies concluded that electro-acupuncture improved a woman's chance of conceiving while undergoing IVF. As a result, using acupuncture with IVF may enable you to avoid miscarriages early on in the treatment that can lead to multiple expensive IVF treatments.

How To Use Acupuncture To Treat Infertility

It's important to work with an acupuncturist who knows the specific areas involved with treating infertility. Acupuncture carries very little risks, but there are certain areas of the body that should be avoided when you're trying to conceive. These points are mainly located in the abdominal-pelvic region with special care taken to avoid your lower abdominal area. Treatment should be performed multiple times, as just a few treatments are unlikely to have a profound impact on your infertility. For those receiving IVF, treatment should begin 4 weeks before the procedure and continue for 4 weeks afterwards at a minimum. 

Ultimately, acupuncture is a cost-effective infertility treatment method that you should discuss with your doctor or fertility specialist. Use it alone or conjunction with other treatments, and you may be able to improve your chances of starting your own family. Check out clinics like Awaken Integrative Wellness to help you get started.