Acupuncture has been used to treat infertility for thousands of years, so it was only natural that this ancient practice would find its place as modern fertility treatments were being developed. That being said, there was much debate regarding the relationship between acupuncture and IVF during the previous decades, but newer research has shown that acupuncture is an effective adjacent treatment to IVF. But how does acupuncture help IVF? Let’s talk about everything, starting from the basics.
Acupuncture as a Fertility Treatment
Depending on the circumstances, acupuncture can be used both as a primary and complementary therapy to help with a wide range of fertility issues. It is often used as a primary treatment to help couples who are trying to conceive naturally without any additional fertility treatments, however, the benefits of acupuncture for fertility don’t stop there.
As a complementary treatment, acupuncture for IVF (in vitro fertilization) has been studied extensively in the last two decades and has been shown to improve the chances of conception and carrying a child to term (acupuncture and intrauterine insemination have shown similar results). So, how does acupuncture help IVF?
How Acupuncture Helps with IVF
IVF treatments include four main phases:
- The injection of hormones to stimulate egg development;
- The harvesting of mature eggs;
- Fertilizing the eggs in a laboratory;
- Transferring the eggs into the uterus.
During this process, the progress of embryos is tested regularly and one IVF cycle typically lasts around 6 weeks. Acupuncture for IVF treatments can be started before the IVF process itself begins and it can help with both egg development and later transfer. Acupuncture:
- Stimulates hormone production: Acupuncture activates your endocrine system, which oversees the production and release of key hormones involved in ovulation, menstruation, and pregnancy. By promoting balanced levels of estrogen, progesterone, follicle-stimulating hormone, and luteinizing hormone, acupuncture helps prepare your body for fertility treatments and enables it to develop healthy eggs. Studies have shown that acupuncture for IVF improves poor ovarian response and increases the number of retrieved mature eggs.
- Improves endometrial receptivity: Another way that acupuncture for IVF helps is by enhancing blood flow to the reproductive organs, particularly the uterus, which can improve the thickness and receptivity of the uterine lining. A well-nourished uterus is better prepared to receive and support an embryo after transfer, which ultimately increases the chances of conception and a healthy pregnancy.
- Reduces stress: Finally, stress can interfere with fertility by disrupting the hormonal balance, impacting ovulation. Acupuncture can help relieve stress by encouraging the release of endorphins, calming the nervous system, and reducing blood pressure – all of which contribute to improved overall health and well-being, in addition to having a positive impact on fertility.
So how does acupuncture help IVF? By stimulating the body’s natural processes to produce, develop, and receive eggs, it increases the chance of successful IVF treatments and, ultimately, carrying a child to term.
Outcomes of IVF Treatments Supported by Acupuncture
The success of IVF treatments can be measured by calculating the clinical pregnancy rate and live birth rate. The clinical pregnancy rate is the number of clinical pregnancies – a pregnancy that has been confirmed through ultrasound and includes detection of the gestational sac in the uterus, a fetal heartbeat, or other markers that confirm an embryo is developing – divided by the number of embryo transfer cycles.
So, if a person had one confirmed clinical pregnancy after undergoing four embryo transfer cycles during IVF, the clinical pregnancy rate would be 25%. The live birth rate is the number of babies that were born divided by the number of embryo transfer cycles. Just as with the clinical pregnancy rate, if a woman delivered a baby after undergoing four embryo transfer cycles, the live birth rate would be 25%. However, because not all clinical pregnancies result in a live birth, these two measures are used separately.
IVF combined with acupuncture has been shown to improve both the clinical pregnancy rate and live birth rate. As far back as 2008, a systematic review of the then-available randomized control trials that cumulatively included 1366 women undergoing IVF treatments supported by acupuncture suggested that acupuncture for IVF improves the clinical birth rate. A newer systematic review, from 2021, showed similar results – an improvement in clinical pregnancy rates.
More importantly, one of the newest systematic reviews and meta-analyses on this topic, from 2023, which included five trials and a total of 4757 participants found that acupuncture can significantly increase the live birth rate resulting from IVF treatments. In this study, participants who underwent IVF without acupuncture had a live birth rate of 28.7%, while acupuncture and IVF raised that to 38%, which is about one-third more pregnancies resulting from IVF.
In total, acupuncture for IVF can have a significant positive effect for couples who plan to undergo fertility treatments. On top of that, the short- and long-term benefits of acupuncture don’t stop there.
An Additional Benefit of Acupuncture for IVF Treatments
While IVF treatments are sometimes the only option for people to have children and are worth the potential side effects, we can’t discard that many people undergoing IVF experience negative symptoms such as bloating, cramping, headaches, and mood swings, often caused by hormone injections and the physical stress of treatment.
Acupuncture may help to alleviate these side effects by promoting relaxation, reducing inflammation, and enhancing blood flow. By stimulating the body’s natural healing responses, acupuncture can help mitigate discomfort, reduce stress, and improve overall well-being during IVF, in addition to increasing the chances of a successful treatment itself.
Is Acupuncture Safe as an Adjacent Treatment for IVF?
Yes, acupuncture is a safe complementary treatment for IVF. Some people may experience mild acupuncture side effects, such as slight bruising, soreness at the needle site, or lightheadedness immediately following treatment, but these are generally temporary and minimal.
However, if you have certain medical conditions, such as bleeding disorders, specific skin infections, or even severe needle phobia, you may need to avoid acupuncture, so it is always crucial to inform your acupuncturist of any medical conditions. Licensed acupuncturists follow strict safety protocols, making it a low-risk option to improve IVF outcomes without significant adverse effects.
An Acupuncture Clinic that Specializes in Fertility Treatments
Although acupuncture can significantly increase the chances of successful IVF treatments, it all hinges on finding acupuncturists who specialize in this form of alternative treatment. That is what we offer at BH Acuhealth Clinic. We are a licensed acupuncture clinic in Beverly Hills run by Dr. Mitra, who has over 24 years of acupuncture experience.
Dr. Mitra specializes in acupuncture for IVF and general fertility acupuncture, and works closely with reproductive endocrinologists and gynecologists to provide optimal integrative care for her patients undergoing in vitro fertilization, as well as other fertility treatments. Contact us today or schedule a consultation and let’s see how we can help with your IVF treatments.
