Types of TCM Treatment That Can Promote Better Fertility
Traditional Chinese Medicine | | 08 Aug 2022
It can be challenging to start each day with hope and optimism when you have been trying to conceive for a long time but remain unsuccessful. Infertility can result from anything that disrupts hormone balance or obstructs blood flow to the reproductive system. According to TCM, the main reasons for infertility include kidney and blood deficiency, cold uterus, liver stagnation, and even blood stasis.
In TCM, menstrual cycle management is believed to be essential for women's health and should start early. Regulating the entire body's hormone systems will assist a woman to achieve vigorous health and later enhance her fertility.
But how can TCM help those struggling with infertility?
The Cause Of Infertility According To TCM
When it comes to infertility in women, the four major organ systems to look out for are the kidney, liver, spleen, and heart. TCM also looks into other areas such as Yin, Yang, Qi, and Blood, which are more likely to be out of balance. There are also various causes of infertility in Traditional Chinese Medicine philosophy that are wide-ranging which includes:
Stress
Stress is the number one factor in almost every health issue, including infertility. Staying stress-free can be challenging if you have a demanding lifestyle amidst trying to conceive.
According to TCM, stress is closely linked to Liver Qi stagnation and appears as irritability, frequent sighs, a tight chest, or PMS. The body may enter a "fight or flight" survival mode due to this biological reaction to a threat or a failure to react effectively to the surroundings.
Stress is frequently caused by excessive worrying, exhaustion from strenuous exercise, or lack of sleep, which prevents the body from using progesterone, which impacts fertility. It raises cortisol levels, which move blood away from the reproductive system and toward the brain and muscles.
Irregular Diet
Your diet might have an impact on ovulation. One of the primary causes of infertility is irregular or absent ovulation because this physiological mechanism controls the hormonal activity that makes a woman's egg available for fertilisation each month. Your chances of experiencing irregular ovulation will increase if your nutrition is neglected.
TCM nutritional therapy, which addresses the food shortage that should be distributed to your body, will be a component of a practitioner's fertility plan to assist you in better understanding your dietary requirements.
To help keep your spleen's energy up, it can involve warming your food more frequently and chewing it completely.
Lifestyle
Assessing your lifestyle choices is a step towards improving your general health. This entails giving up your unhealthy habits, such as smoking or drinking, and substituting more activity into your daily routine.
Paying attention to your body's requirements will not take a lifetime. According to TCM practitioners, hormonal imbalances are caused by restless shen (the spirit in your heart), which is either under or overactive. To remedy this imbalance, your TCM practitioner at the TCM treatment centre will advise you on the best food and exercise regimens to increase your fertility quotient.
The Benefits Of Acupuncture For Infertility
To remove blocked energy preventing your body from regaining its natural balance, acupuncture for fertility includes putting needles into specific locations on your body called acupoints. The process of fertility will then be improved after this.
The performance of the reproductive system will be improved
The effectiveness of reproductive organs can be increased by acupuncture, which can help to promote energy flow and deliver vital nutrients. Acupuncture points are primarily found on the lower abdomen, legs, and arms. These areas are connected to the kidney, liver, and spleen, three important organ systems for conceiving.
The body's natural balance will be restored, and blocked energies will be cleared
The human body comprises of meridians, also known as energy highways. According to TCM, an imbalance in these energies prevents your body from ovulating and destabilises hormonal rhythms. This equilibrium will be restored, and your fertility will be improved by the practitioners' delicate insertion of thin, disposable sterile needles to stimulate the 14 main channels in your body.
How Does TCM Help Pregnant Mums?
A developing infant needs ongoing care and attention until birth. Meanwhile, your body acts as a vessel to assist the baby's growth. When you become pregnant, TCM treatments do not end. Rather, it helps your body get better as you get older and become a mother.
Prevents miscarriage
Acupuncture treatment is acceptable and advised until the end of the first trimester, especially for women undergoing IUI or IVF, to stabilise the pregnancy.
Helps with morning sickness
Morning sickness is a common unpleasant pregnancy side effect for expectant mothers. Morning sickness is not limited to the morning, as the name might imply. You can rely on regular acupuncture to help with symptom relief.
Helps with pregnancy fatigue
Pregnant mothers frequently experience fatigue. This is because your body reacts to a surge of more energy used for hormone adjustments, placenta development, and feeding your kid.
The Role TCM Plays In Conjunction With IVF Or IUI Procedures
Two popular techniques of Assisted Reproductive Therapy (ART) that assist couples with their fertility issues are In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) and Intrauterine Insemination (IUI). There have been many successful cases of couples using both of these techniques from all over the world.
In contrast to IVF, which involves the sperm and eggs being fertilised by an embryologist before being implanted into the uterus, IUI tries to provide the sperm with a good chance to reach the fallopian tubes to maximise the likelihood of fertilisation.
Since 2002, when a group of German researchers first discovered that using acupuncture during IVF increased the likelihood of getting pregnant clinically, TCM has been routinely used to support IVF. As they both have the same purpose, they can work together to improve women's health and energy flow to boost conception.
The washing process used in IUI to separate the semen from the seminal fluid improves sperm quality. It is carried out when a man's sperm count is low, or sperm morphology or motility has deteriorated.
Additionally, it can treat ejaculation dysfunction, unfriendly cervical conditions, scar tissue from the past that stops sperm from entering the uterus, and unexplained infertility. Incorporating TCM's acupuncture and herbs may improve the likelihood of successful implantation.
TCM's Role In Male Infertility
Both men's and women's reproductive systems begin to deteriorate as we age. With natural ageing comes a decline in egg and sperm quantity and quality.
Your nutrition, lifestyle choices, and medical history will all be carefully examined during a thorough consultation with a TCM practitioner. Hence, your treatment plan, which may include acupuncture sessions and/or Chinese herbal medicine prescriptions, will be customised for your health history and present condition.
Get Treated For Infertility At Doux Visage
Doux Visage is the first leading TCM treatment centre in Malaysia to combine the power of Chinese Medicine with the goodness of Western beauty ingredients, Dr. Jenny Goh (PhD)'s speciality in treating your fertility issues is second to none! Call us at +603 7728 6113, +6012 622 4868 or contact us.