Acupuncture can really improve Fertility Success?
July 1, 2024
When it comes to fertility care, there are many different considerations and recommendations to consider. In this article, we will be focusing on TCM Care to help you understand how you can prepare yourself if you are planning to start your family planning, and it’s never too early to plan ahead.
TCM Care for Fertility
To understand how TCM can help with fertility and preconception, let’s first take a look at the historical record of TCM on infertility, with different contexts for men and women. TCM sees every patient as unique individuals, and the treatment is then customised by their current condition, medical history and body constitution.
Signs and Cause of Infertility from a TCM perspective
Understanding the common causes of infertility, it’s important to understand the signs to help you identify your body constitution and the issue you might be facing.
Kidney Deficiency
In the TCM concept, 肾藏精，精化血, kidney deficiency can greatly affect the reproductive function of both females and male, and this can be seen in many cases of infertility. As in TCM perspective, Kidney deficiency affects women in her menstruation period, preconception, pregnancy and breastfeeding journey. Also for men, kidney deficiency will affect his potency and quality of sperm.
Common Signs for Female
If you are experiencing the following symptoms, you would most likely be experiencing kidney deficiency.
- Low Menstrual Flow
- Dark Menstrual Colour
- Tinnitus (Ringing or other noise in one or both of your ears)
- Sore Back and Knees
- Feeling Fatigue
Common Signs for Male
As for men, you would most likely have kidney deficiency if you are experiencing the following symptoms,
- Decrease in Sex Drive
- Tinnitus (Ringing or other noise in one or both of your ears)
- Dry Stool
- Urge to Urinate at Night
Liver Stagnation
Another aspect which is liver stagnation, 肝藏血，主疏泄, affecting Qi and blood circulation around your body, delivering the necessary nutrients required by your body.
Common Signs for Female
Some common symptoms you can identify if you are experiencing liver stagnation,
- Irregular menstruation period
- Menstruation abdominal pain (dysmenorrhea)
- Swollen Breast
- Temperamental emotions regularly
Common Signs for Male
As for men, you will the common symptoms are,
- Impotence
- Decrease of sex drive
- Inability to ejectulate
- Sperms abnormalities (Identify through Sperm test)
TCM Treatment that helps with Preconception
TCM Consultation
TCM consultation includes 4 main components (望、闻、问、切) which are Physical Observation, Listen and Smell Observation, Consulting and Examining.
望 (Physical Observation) is the visual observation process of your visible body indication such as skin complexion, colour of your tongue and physical movement flexibility.
闻 (Listen and Smell Observation) is the process of observing indication based on your breath and odour, such as breathing tempo, speed of speech and body odour.
问 (Consultation) is done through the personalized consultation to understand the issues that you are experiencing. For instance, if you are experiencing constipation, feeling light headed and even understanding your appetite.
切 (Examination) is the process of physical examination such as measuring your body temperature, pulse rate, acupoint stimulus reaction and others.
Through the 4 main components as pre diagnosis, our TCM physicians will be able to determine your body constitution and condition, hence, customising the right treatment plan for you.
TCM Treatment
There are different TCM treatments such as acupuncture, herbal steam therapy and TCM herbal prescription.
The most common treatments are acupuncture and TCM herbal prescription, and usually plan to go hand-in-hand.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture can help with stimulating the right acupoints and increase the blood flow to the uterus, improve kidney deficiency and liver stagnation, thereby increasing it will be more likely for a successful embryo implantation.
Some of the focal acupoints are 关元、气海、肾腧、志室.
TCM Herbal Prescription
In support of the acupoints stimulus, we also recommend TCM herbal prescription to help boost Qi and blood circulation and improve fertility. Such TCM herbs are 黄芪、党参、当归、菟丝子、杜仲、淫羊霍、补骨脂、枸杞子, and we often recommend it to be consumed together with fresh ingredients cooked into a soup, or our TCM herbal prescription that are soluble in hot water as a TCM Herbal drink.
If you wish to understand how you can benefit from these treatments, you can arrange a consultation with our Chinese Physician, Judy Chen, so as to better provide a treatment plan for you.
Challenges to Fertility
There are many different challenges when couples are trying to conceive, as a report shows that about 33.3% of infertile couples, the problem is with the woman. Another 33.3% of infertile couples, the problem is with the man, while the remaining can’t be identified or is with both the man and woman.
So it’s important for couples to get tested individually to help identify if either one has an issue which requires further medical treatment. Here are some common issues you might encounter and the symptoms,
Women
Endometriosis
Endometriosis is not an uncommon issue in Singapore, and it’s estimated that 1 in 10 women suffer from this. In 2019, National University Hospital (NUH) Women’s Centre saw an increase in women seeking for help increased six times, and according to Dr. Ma Li, “The largest increase is seen in women at the peak of their lives, from ages 30 to 50, when the pain affects their productivity and quality of life most significantly.”
Common symptoms are very painful menstrual cramps, abdominal pain, and pain during or after intercourse. Other signs can be excessive bleeding during menstrual period or bleeding between periods, experiencing fatigue, constipation, diarrhea, nausea and bloating during menstrual period.
In TCM perspective, it’s believed that endometriosis is caused by blood stasis and the treatment plan is to reduce and eliminate abnormal endometrial tissue from forming, regulate menstruation period and improve fertility. Also to decrease the chances from relapsing.
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)
PCOS is caused by an imbalance of reproductive hormones and women suffering from this condition may have their eggs not being developed or released during ovulation as it should be. This condition is likely to occur if you have obesity and can be inherited from your family.
Common symptoms are irregular menstrual cycle, missing one or more menstrual periods (amenorrhea), too much hair on areas where men usually have hair (hirsutism), weight gain and having difficulty losing weight.
In TCM perspective, it’s believed that PCOS is caused by kidney deficiency and phlegm stasis, and improving kidney deficiency will improve hormonal imbalance and improve your reproductive system.
Men
Low Sperm Count, Poor Sperm Quality and Activeness
It’s one of the most common issues occurring in men, and an article in the UK shows that low sperm count and problems with sperm quality contribute to around 1 in 3 couples facing infertility.
The common symptoms are usually decrease in sex drive, erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation. Other than that, men might experience fatigue, back and legs aching.
It is believed that poor sperm count and quality are generally caused by kidney deficiency, and lack of Qi and blood. Hence, the treatment plan is to improve Qi and blood circulation and Kidney deficiency through acupuncture and TCM herbal prescription.
Any other tips to help in fertility?
It’s important to start adjusting your lifestyle and dietary habits 6 months before you plan to start your family planning. As your body needs time to recuperate and adjust, and during this period you can start your TCM consultation and treatment as well.
Lifestyle Tips
It’s important to allow your body to rest and recuperate, therefore, resting early is definitely a lifestyle change you can start immediately. Other than that, you should adopt the following lifestyle change,
- Resting early, preferably before 11pm
- Have sufficient rest, between 7 to 9 hours a day
- Avoid smoking
- Avoid wearing tight shorts or pants for men, as you will need to keep your groin area cool
- Do not place your phone in your pocket, to avoid radiation
- Avoid wearing clothes that expose your belly for women, as you need to keep your belly area warm
Special note: Health Tuina can also help you improve your Qi and blood circulation and help you relax physically and emotionally. It’s very effective for couples facing infertility due to stress, anxiety and depression.
Dietary Tips
Other than the TCM herbs that were mentioned above, there are some dietary habits you need to take note of and also there are other fresh ingredients or food to help in your nutrient intake to improve your body constitution.
- Consume your meals regularly
- Consume mainly fresh ingredients
- Minimise consumption of cold food and drinks
- Avoid eating processed food
- Stop or minimise your alcohol intake
Other than that, there are special tips for women,
- Avoid eating raw and chilled food
- Consume more Black Chicken, Mutton, Black Rice, Red Dates and Longan
As for men, you can consume more of,
- Chives
- Sea Cucumber
- Prawns
- Oysters
- Walnut
- Mussels
If you have special dietary requirements and are looking to adopt a healthier diet in preparation for your conception, you can talk to our Customer Service Specialist and secure a consultation with Chinese Physician Judy Chen.
Fertility Recipe
A TCM herbal soup recommended by our Chinese Physician, Judy Chen, to help women boost their Qi and blood, and at the same time improve menstrual volume irregularity.
四物汤
Ingredients
- 9 grams of 当归
- 12 grams of 熟地黄
- 9 grams of 川芎
- 9 grams of 白芍
- 250ml of Water (equivalent to 1 cup)
Cooking Instruction
- Soak all the TCM herbs for 30 minutes.
- Add all TCM herbs and Water into a pot and bring it to boil
- Let it boil for 30 minutes, and it’s ready to drink.
This soup helps to boost your Qi and Blood, improve Qi and blood circulation, and nourish your uterus and kidney. However, do note when consuming this soup, do not drink any cold drinks or consume any chilled food, as it will affect the efficacy.
An Inspirational Story
We have a success story to share with you, the story is about Ms. Y, aged 36 with a 4 year old child.
Ms. Y and her husband has been actively trying to have their 2nd child for 2 years, and in the process, Ms. Y suffered a miscarriage. She didn’t know what to do and she was recommended to Madam Partum in July 2020 for a TCM consultation.
During the consultation, Chinese Physician Judy Chen understands from Ms. Y that she is having uterine polyps and fibroids, and she also suffers from menstruation abdominal pain (dysmenorrhea).
Her husband after going through a sperm test found out that his sperm are abnormally shaped and the movement of his sperm is low. All these lead to their successful conception.
With Chinese Physician Judy’s recommendation, they went through her course of TCM treatment which consisted of acupuncture sessions and TCM herbal prescriptions for a period of 2 months.
To Ms. Y’s surprise, she successfully conceived after 2 months of TCM treatments, and her baby was born healthy in June 2021.
Chinese Physician Judy Chen, 陈医师, is an Accredited and Certified Professional Member with TCM practitioner Board in Singapore and also a Member of Singapore Chinese Physician Association. She has also actively participated in the Fertility Department of Singapore Chung Hwa Medical Institution for their regular panel discussion and fertility consultation.
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