Should You Use Acupuncture For Fertility?

Acupuncture For Fertility

Acupuncture for fertility remains one of the most controversial aspects of a technique which is already shrouded in controversy. There are many claims that using this age old Chinese technique of inserting needles into the body at strictly defined meridian points can actually help a would be mother conceive. As with so many other difficult to assess techniques, there are always going to be mothers who have conceived following the use of acupuncture, and nothing will convince them that it was not the technique which did the trick.

The belief that acupuncture can help with becoming pregnant has been given a huge boost by respected journalists who claim to have experienced this very phenomenon. It has not always been a deliberate attempt to become pregnant, but has often been a treatment for some other condition which has apparently released energy across the body. This release of energy apparently helps the body to ovulate at the right time, leading to the desired outcome. The energy is often physically felt by the patient, who is never in any doubt that the treatment is real.

There are also journalists in the opposing camp, who believe that IVF acupuncture is nothing more than a way of exploiting the weakness of desperate people, giving them false hope. They point to statistics of regular IVF treatments, and the successes of them, and suggest that the figures are completely unaltered when acupuncture is added as an extra ingredient. It will be necessary for extended trials to be carried out to ascertain exactly whether or not acupuncture has an effect.

The use of acupuncture for infertility has proven to be successful with seemingly barren women from many different backgrounds. Many were overcome with grief at losing babies through medical malpractice or stillbirth. Others had physical illnesses which were believed to be a handicap in their ability to conceive. All of these women believed that their mental state of extreme frustration was helping to reinforce the fact that they were not able to conceive. There is always the possibility that the results were due to a placebo effect, but if the results are achieved that is all those women were really concerned with.

There is much to be learned from the historical study of acupuncture, and the way it is used to treat different ailments. As of now, there are only a relatively few practitioners who are truly versed in these crucial techniques, and this means that many who need them will not be able to access them without extremely long and expensive journeys. It is to be hoped that those practitioners who do have the knowledge needed to make this happen, will freely share their expertise and open up the whole new world of possibility which this technology brings to a far greater number of people.

It has to be borne in mind that acupuncture is never going to be a completely safe technology, and that the risks can be greater here than with other types of treatment. When you treat a woman using acupuncture for fertility, you are invariably taking a risk that the needle damage will occur in a region which could permanently affect that woman’s chance of conceiving. When you consider that this chance is extremely low anyway, most will choose to bear the risk and go ahead. It is just absolutely vital to weigh up all of the risks, and be aware of all of the possibilities, before you decide to go ahead.

Anyone considering acupuncture for infertility will also want to look into the alternatives, and see if there is any other system which will promise better results, or even one which could be operated alongside the acupuncture system. One possibility is acupressure, which uses fundamentally the same points as the acupuncture system, only in a less invasive way. It involves the stimulation of those points, rather than their penetration, and as such is inherently safer. It is unlikely that you will find a clinic specializing in this technique, which has also been set up with the purpose of helping those who want to conceive. If you want to try this safer method, you may need to use a practitioner with a more general outlook.

It has to be borne in mind that those who use acupuncture for fertility are invariably feeling desperate and overwhelmed, and that anything which leads to the result they are desiring has been worth the effort. It is quite possible that the energy shifts which have been felt by those reporting positive results are real, and that acupuncture will help in these cases. Remember also that any form of IVF treatment has a poor success rate, with only 15% achieving their objective. This is true whether or not you use acupuncture for fertility.