Melody's Musings

Can Acupuncture Help with Fertility?

It’s important to understand that the science behind acupuncture is not clear-cut: integrative health approaches like acupuncture and herbal medicine are studied less than other practices. While fertility science is evolving, there are still really big gaps in the research.

That said, even if an aspect of treatment isn’t validated by large-scale, randomized trials, it can still have great benefits for you as an individual. Ultimately, personal experience can be just as valuable as scientific evidence.

While new data emerges every year, there’s still nowhere near enough research on fertility-specific acupuncture’s effect on fertility and reproductive health-related conditions. Some studies suggest that acupuncture of any kind (not just fertility-specific acupuncture) may increase live birth rates in patients doing IVF treatment. Others demonstrate that it helps ease fertility-related stress and anxiety. There are no significant short- or long-term negative effects of acupuncture.

Here’s what the American Society for Reproductive Medicine has to say: “Acupuncture proponents have recommended it for a variety of medical conditions that affect fertility. These include polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), fibroids, endometriosis, and issues with ovarian reserve and sperm quality. It may also help relieve some of the side effects associated with fertility drugs (such as bloating and nausea). Acupuncture has been shown to promote relaxation. While some medical studies have shown acupuncture to be helpful in treating these fertility problems, other studies have not.”

A Systematic Review Meta-Analysis in 2019 found that: "The pregnancy rate was significantly improved with treatment (RR = 1.84, 95% CI 1.62 to 2.10, P < .00001), compared to that in the control group. Subgroup analysis showed that comparing with pure western medicine intervention, no matter intervention with acupuncture alone, with acupuncture plus western medicine, with acupuncture plus Chinese medicine, or acupuncture plus Chinese medicine and western medicine, all of these subgroups exhibited significant improvement. The subgroup according to different types of infertility showed a significant improvement in infertility caused by polycystic ovary syndrome, tubal infertility, ovulatory disorder, and other factors. In addition, the ovulation rate and endometrial thickness were significantly increased. The level of LH was obviously decreased. Moreover, with acupuncture, less adverse effects occurred. "

It has been shown that acupuncture can help lower anxiety and stress levels, which can soar through the roof. In fact, it's not uncommon for fertility doctors to endorse acupuncture for relaxation purposes.

Acupuncture and other fertility factors

Fertility hormones: We have reason to believe that acupuncture-induced signals make their way to the brain and affect areas like the hypothalamus (which is at the top of the control center for the production of many fertility hormones). Dialing up or down the activity of the hypothalamus can therefore affect levels of hormones like FSH and LH, which are crucial for ovulation (and thus for conception).

Direct evidence from large-scale studies of acupuncture affecting reproductive hormones in people is scant, probably in no small part because of the logistical and financial challenges of studying personalized treatments in the context of large-scale studies. But studies of female rats do find that acupuncture affects almost all reproductive hormones. Specifically, one recent study found that acupuncture administered to female rats every three days for a total of 15 days altered almost all reproductive hormones they looked at. We have yet to see how applicable this is to humans, who are a different species and have different treatment regimens. 

Thyroid function: Hormones related to thyroid function may impact fertility outcomes, meaning thyroid function may be an important thing to keep in check for people who are trying to conceive. Some reviews have suggested a beneficial impact of acupuncture on thyroid function.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00404-023-07142-1