photo credit: truk

Trying to get pregnant can be a frustrating thing, and in many cases you’re not sure where to turn. Sure, you can talk to a fertility doctor, but that opens up a whole new area of concern. Fertility treatments can get expensive, and often aren’t covered by insurance. Fertility drugs are pretty effective and relatively cheap, but they carry with them other risks. Many women choose to explore alternative options either before seeking fertility treatments or while they’re getting fertility treatments. One of the alternative options is acupuncture.

Get to the point

Acupuncture utilizes specific points inside the body to affect your fertility. These pressure points are gently poked with an acupuncture needle. It’s believed that this stimulates the corresponding organs or body systems. So, for example, one acupuncture point might help to stimulate the ovaries, increasing the chance of ovulation.

Generally speaking, acupuncture is fairly painless. The needles are small, and you feel only a mild prick when they go in.

Some scientific backing

While acupuncture is one of the oldest forms of medicine, dating back centuries, there is some medical research that suggests it may truly have a scientific basis. It’s thought that acupuncture may help improve blood flow to both the uterus and the ovaries. This makes the body much more ready to conceive.

Obviously, acupuncture is considered alternative medicine, and it’s not likely to be adopted on a widespread basis anytime soon. That doesn’t mean it’s not effective for some women, of course.

Stress and TTC

We’ve talked before many times about how stress can affect your ability to conceive. Perhaps one of the most demonstrable ways that acupuncture can help with trying to get pregnant is in the area of stress. Acupuncture can help to reduce stress, and cause your brain to release endorphins, those stress-killing, mood-improving chemicals. When the body is less stressed, you’re more likely to ovulate, and to have a higher chance of getting pregnant.

Acupuncture can’t fix medical causes of infertility such as a hormonal imbalance or blocked fallopian tubes. However, when used alongside medical treatment, it may just give you the extra push you need in order to be able to get pregnant.

So, what do you think? Have you used acupuncture in your quest to get pregnant? Would you consider doing so?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 31st, 2011 and is filed under Trying to Conceive.