For Fertility

I am wondering about acupunture for fertility. I am 41 with a FSH of 15 (10 or under is good for fertility) I just started getting acupunture for this to help with trying to conceive. I just wonder if the person I have been going to will help or what to look for. He is certified and he says he can help but how do I know he is using the right points during my cycle. Can you give me any advice or things to watch for? Have you had any success in this area?
Thank you.

[Monica B Kaderali, MS, LAc]

If your practitioner went to an accredited school for traditional Chinese medicine (you can check their school by going to:  http://www.acaom.org/accdtd_cndtdschls.htm) and then passed the state or national boards to practice acupuncture and Chinese medicine, your acupuncturist has learned the protocols for assisting with fertility.  
Fertility has a long history within Chinese medicine, as the Emperor's were very concerned with passing on their lineage (in particular having a male child) and thus there are books and case studies about fertility that are literally thousands of years old.
Certainly there are protocols and common points used for the four phases of the menstrual cycle, but these protocols are always tweaked according to the patient's individual presentation.  There are also herbal formulas designed for the four phases of the cycle, and herbs are almost always added or subtracted to the formulas to tailor to the patient.
So in other words, there are no "right" or "wrong" points during your cycle, but the points that he thinks need to be addressed during that particular phase.
It would be very odd if you were not prescribed Chinese herbal medicine for this issue, so that would be something to question if herbs were not being used.  There may be an obvious reason like another drug you may be on that might interact with our medicinals.
Other than that, does your practitioner give you confidence and do you like him?  If you don't feel comfortable with this person, then it is important to find someone who you feel at ease with.  On the practitioner side, I have referred several patients to other practitioners when I felt like we did not connect for whatever reason.  You are going to be working with this person for several months, so it is important that you like them, and they like you.
I hope this was helpful. Please to do not hesitate to contact me with any other questions you may have.

[Ray Rubio, DAOM, L.Ac. (FABORM)]

Remember that FSH levels are primarily an indicator of the number of eggs left (quantity), and that age is the greater indicator of the quality of those remaining eggs. Because FSH levels do tend to climb as the pool of eggs diminishes with age, higher FSH levels are sometimes correlated with poorer fertility outcomes.

Why is this important for you? Primarily because it determines what your goals are with your complementary healthcare provider/acupuncturist.

What I mean by this is if your goal is to try to lower your FSH levels in order to proceed with ovulation induction for IVF, then that must be weighed against your advancing maternal age, because the cost/benefit ratio can quickly get to be disadvantageous. In other words, if the Acupuncturist you are working with is not a Fertility Specialist, you might lose valuable time and money that you could be putting toward working with a Fertility Specialist Acupuncturist.

The older you get, the more that likely that IVF with your own eggs will become non-viable and that you will have to resort to donor eggs to do your IVF cycle. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) which incorporates both Chinese Herbs and Acupuncture and Lifestyle and Dietary counseling can definitely improve the fertile potential of your remaining oocytes (eggs) by improving ovarian/uterine haemodynamics(blood flow) and thereby improving the ovarian milieu. The more sensitive the ovaries are, the less hard the pituitary has to work to get follicles to grow, and so the serum FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) levels may come down.

But again, your age and your FSH definitely require that your are working with an Acupuncturist who specializes in Infertility and Reproductive Disorders.

Some good resources to locate Fertility Specialist Acupuncturists are:

1. The American Board of Oriental Reproductive Medicine (ABORM) - www.aborm.org. Go to the Certified Practitioner's page for a list of ABORM Board Certified Fertility Specialists across the USA and Canada.

2. Clinical Excellence in Fertility Professionals (CEFP) - http://www.thefertilesoulcefp.org. These practitioners have done advanced training in Fertility.

These are both reputable resources where you will find practitioners who have done advanced training in Reproductive Medicine and Infertility and may also be Board Certified (meaning they have passed a national Board Certification Exam certifying them as Fertility Specialists).  

A fairly good rule of thumb is this: If the Acupuncturist's Website lists the gamut of conditions that they treat - fertility being just one of them - it's likely that unless they belong to one or both of the two groups above, they are not specialists, and given your situation you should work with a specialist.

Warmly,

Ray Rubio, DAOM, L.Ac. (FABORM)
President/ABORM

[mjmom69]

Thank you for the advice. Unfortunately, I live in Indiana and there are no acupuncture fertility specialist in this state. Good information to know though. Thanks

[Monica B Kaderali, MS, LAc]

I know of a great L.Ac. in Indianapolis.  

Her info:
Erica Harris, L.Ac.
[phone]

[mjmom69]

Thank you!

[tcmuk]

TCM gynecology is a special branch of TCM, it is closely associated with other branches especially internal medicine. A qualified TCM gynecologist should have general TCM practitioner training from a well-recognized chinese medicine institution and be familiar with a variety of physiological and pathological disease syndromes.

Secondly, they should properly understand both Western and Chinese medicine modalities, so that they are capable of integrating the advantages of these two medical practices.

World famous gynecologists (fertility problem) in traditional chinese medicine (TCM) and acupuncture.

Beijing
Dr. Cai / lain Xiang

Nanjing
Dr. Xia / Gui Cheng
Dr. Zhao / Ke Ning

Guangzhou
Dr. Luo  / Song Ping

Harbin
Dr. han / Bai Ling

Shandong
Dr. Li / Ke Qin

Hong Kong
Dr. Zhao / Shao Ping

United Kingdom
Dr. Lui / Chak Hong

United States
Dr. Bei / Run Pu

Canada
Dr. Leng / Xiao Chun

[allmymarbles]

My daughter has great trouble conceiving. She turned to Chinese medicine and now has a lovely daughter.

[Minigingerbread]

I have quite high FSH and LH for my age, and very high prolactin. and currently I'm seeing a TCM doctor who specialize in fertility for about 7 months now. He does acupuncture with me, and prescript me herbal medicine. I find that my menses have since become more regular (it used to be very irregular). Doc says my hormonal imbalance is treatable.
With information I have gathered on TCM, they basically work by removing obstacles to balances in your body (stagnation of blood and 'qi'), so that your bady can heal itself of the imbalance. If your doc is a certified acupuncturist, he should know the points that correspond to the related reproducive organs. My doc 'pokes' points on my belly (uterus area), ears, ankles, and back (uterus area). Not sure if it should be the same locations for you, hope this provides a reference for you.