Based on the particular problem you're experiencing, different point combinations are stimulated using acupuncture needles. By stimulating these points, energy flow is rebalanced and the natural healing ability can take place.
For fertility, the needles are inserted into energy points associated to the reproductive organs to improve energy flow and balance to those areas. Approximately 6 to 20 needles will be inserted and retained in a selection of points for anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes. Most patients feel a sense of deep relaxation after treatment. Some patients can feel energized, relief of pain and other symptoms immediately after the treatment.
It has indicated that it can increase blood flow to the endometrium, helping to facilitate a thick, rich lining which is essential for a fertilized egg to implant itself into.
Most women who choose acupuncture are doing it together with traditional infertility treatments, but others hope that acupuncture might improve their chances after everything else has failed. Studies have shown that regularly undergoing acupuncture therapy from a licensed therapist for a minimum of two to three months, dramatically increased a couple's chances of successfully achieving a healthy pregnancy. Continuing to undergo treatment during the first trimester of pregnancy can help to prevent complications developing during gestation and can help to prevent miscarriages.
Acupuncture is used to treat elevated follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), repeated miscarriage, unexplained infertility, polycystic ovarian syndrome, endometriosis, as well as numerous other infertility problems. It is used to promote healing in chronic urinary bladder infection, uterine fibroids, dysfunctional uterine bleeding, anovulation, premature menopause, menopausal symptoms and hormone imbalances.
Currently, there are several hundred herbs used in infertility treatments along with acupuncture, moxibustion, Qi Gong, diet and other holistic therapies as alternative and complementary therapeutic infertility treatments.
My experience with acupuncture and moxibustion:
As soon as I was told I had a problem with my fertility, I found an acupuncturist and started going to about 3 sessions a week. I had been for acupuncture before for neck pain after a car accident and had found that it really worked, and I was desperate to do anything that I could think of that would help me to have a baby. In total I tried 6 acupuncturists - both in South Africa and then in the Netherlands and my experience was quite different at all of them.
The first acupuncturist I saw, was a Chinese doctor, who put me in a room with other patients and stuck needles all over my body - including in my ovaries. He was not the most gentle person, but I felt that at least something as being done and that my ovaries were being kick-started into action! Psychological probably, but it did start the journey... I was then referred to another Chinese doctor that a friend had tried. He was much more gentle and I was treated in a private room, with tranquil Chinese music and he used fewer needles. He also prescribed some herbs, which I took in a tablet form to help unblock my liver "chi" - which was apparently also causing some interference with my ovaries.
After that, I moved to the Netherlands, and I found another Chinese acupuncturist at a huge Chinese medical centre in the middle of the red light district in Amsterdam! He also prescribed herbs in a tablet form and was quite gentle with the needles. It was not that relaxing though, as the centre was so busy and there was constant chatter outside my room! He gave me some moxa sticks and showed me where to hold them at various points on my body - my knees and shins and a few other places. In indirect moxibustion, a practitioner (or you can do it yourself) lights one end of a moxa stick, roughly the shape and size of a cigar, and holds it close to the area being treated for several minutes until the area turns red.
I then found a Dutch acupuncturist, who took about 4 hours to treat me and did some direct moxibustion on my back. Moxibustion is often used along with acupuncture and it is used to draw toxins out of the body, mostly at the point of the complaint. Moxibustion is a traditional Chinese medicine technique that involves the burning of mugwort, or "moxa", a small, spongy herb, to facilitate healing and has been used throughout Asia for thousands of years. The purpose of moxibustion, as with most forms of traditional Chinese medicine, is to strengthen the blood, stimulate the flow of "qi" or "chi", and maintain general health.
In direct moxibustion, a small, cone-shaped amount of moxa is placed on top of an acupuncture point and burned until it burns out completely. The moxa is placed on the point and lit, but is extinguished or removed before it burns the skin. The patient will experience a pleasant heating sensation that penetrates deep into the skin, but should not experience any pain, blistering or scarring unless the moxa is left in place for too long.
Apparently there is the type that actually burns and scars the skin, but luckily none of my acupuncturists practiced it! I did have round bruises on my back for a few days afterward though! Finally, I found a South African acupuncturist, living in the Netherlands for many years and specializing in fertility and pregnancy acupuncture. She also did reflexology and moxibustion on me and I was required to keep a small needle in my ear for a few days after each session, AND after a few months of weekly treatments, I was pregnant!
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