Acupuncture for Infertility and IVF Support

We have many women who come to our clinic with a variety of health issues that create a potential barrier to becoming pregnant including endometriosis, uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, hypothyroid, and various autoimmune conditions. Responses to acupuncture can vary depending on each individual’s health history and severity of the condition.

Our specialized fertility protocol always involves acupuncture stimulation on both the front and back of the body.  As indicated above, there are essential fertility points located in both the front and back part of the body.  Treating a patient in one position severely limits the usage of effective acupuncture points.

The recommended treatment schedule is based on consideration of various factors in your specific case. In many cases, we recommend that you start acupuncture treatment at least one to two months prior to the commencement of the IVF cycle and that you continue for one to two times a week until the day of the transfer. This acupuncture IVF schedule is also consistent with the recommendation and protocols used by American and Japanese advanced reproductive medicine centers.

When someone mentions having acupuncture done on the day of the transfer, they are referring to a specific acupuncture treatment protocol used in a small clinical study conducted in Germany in 2002. The reported success rate among patients who had acupuncture 20 minutes before and 20 minutes after their embryo transfer were very impressive. The study became highly publicized and soon after the German protocol quickly became a “gold standard” IVF acupuncture protocol used by many practitioners who specialize in fertility acupuncture.  In the meanwhile, the German protocol has been re-tested in larger clinical trials. The outcomes were inconsistent and even the original German group failed to replicate their findings. Several recent systematic review studies on German acupuncture protocol have been inconclusive. Despite conflicting evidence, the German protocol is still widely used among fertility acupuncturists during IVF. In the most recent systematic review by Schwarze JE et al. (2018), researchers concluded that this particular acupuncture protocol should no longer be recommended for IVF patients on the day of transfer.

The negative conclusion from this study is limited to the German acupuncture protocol performed on the day of transfer. It is not applicable to other forms of acupuncture administered in different phases of the IVF cycle.

It should be noted that the German acupuncture protocol is a simplified, standardized acupuncture treatment.  All patients in the treatment group received the exact same acupuncture treatments, completely ignoring each individual’s constitutional patterns according to Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) principles and other crucial factors that influence acupuncture effects.

The acupuncture protocol that we have been implementing for IVF patients in our center is totally different (in terms of acupuncture methods used and timing of the acupuncture administrations).

We have been actively involved in the care of IVF patients from several fertility clinics since the late ’90s. Our fertility acupuncture system has been refined over many years, assisting thousands of IVF patients. Our protocol is based on the original concept of traditional acupuncture, combined with high quality experimental and clinical studies.  Our IVF acupuncture protocol is consistent with the method used by fertility acupuncture experts who work closely with leading reproductive medicine specialists in the United States and Japan. Our acupuncture treatment can help improve ovarian function, increase blood flow in the uterus, and decrease the excessive secretion of stress hormones. It promotes relaxation and provides the overall well-being of the patient. These physical and emotional changes can positively impact the chance of pregnancy and carry to term.

One or two days prior to the embryo transfer, we use a specific acupuncture technique that can help maintain adequate uterine blood flow to assist implantation.

On the day of the transfer, we have been recommending that our patients go straight home, relax, and practice HRV based breathing with or without our original CDs (Calming Massage or Breathing for Relaxation).