Did you know acupuncture can help you pregnant? Or that at times, celebrities inspire other celebrities? And in turn, their stories together can inspire hope to so many others?

The actions of celebrities in both Hollywood and those on YouTube have inspired many who have found themselves on the path of trying to add a child to their family.   

That is what happened when Celine Dion inspired Mariah Carey to try acupuncture for female factor infertility and experienced the increased success that can come from acupuncture for fertility.   

Want to know more? Ready to discover how acupuncture can impact female fertility? 

Let’s get started . . . 

Does Acupuncture Work for Female Infertility?

Various research experiments have revealed great increases in female fertility after consistent acupuncture sessions. Different people respond to acupuncture differently; however, there have been many different studies that have shown that acupuncture can help increase and boost fertility for women experiencing challenges conceiving. 

Wondering if acupuncture can help with a particular fertility challenge? Let’s take a look. . . 

Does acupuncture help with Unexplained Infertility?

Yes! Acupuncture can help improve fertility and success if you are experiencing unexplained infertility, and there are six other infertility causes, including: 

  1. Endometriosis: A condition where tissue grows on the outside of the uterus and not on the inside. 
  1. Recurrent miscarriage:  Miscarriages that happen more than three times in a row.
  1. Amenorrhea: The lack of a monthly cycle or period can be a sign of pregnancy. However, if you don’t experience a monthly flow and are not pregnant, you may be experiencing. 
  1. Irregular menstrual cycle: Monthly cycles that are not regular can make predicting ovulation difficult.
  2. Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome: A hormonal imbalance. It can lead to enlarged ovaries and may lead to the growth of cysts. 
  1. Poor egg quality: Having low egg quality or low-quality embryos

IVF Sucess Rate and Acupuncture for Fertility 

Even if you are using IVF to grow your family. Why? 

Because acupuncture has been shown through different studies to help improve rates of both pregnancy and live births in women who are in the process of in vitro fertilization. 

4 Times Acupuncture Cannot Help with Female Fertility 

As we just found out, there are many different reasons for female infertility that acupuncture can assist and help a woman achieve pregnancy. However, there are also four times that acupuncture cannot help with female fertility: 

  1. Polyps: Small tissue growths
  2. Blocked tube: Blocked fallopian tubes can be caused by scar tissue or infection. 
  3. Uterine infections: Infections in the uterus
  4. Structural issues: The presence of abnormal tissue 

If you experience any one of these four fertility challenges, you may still want to learn more about acupuncture. 

Why? 

Acupuncture can still help with fertility if you have one of those four challenges. For example, there a study of a 39-year-old woman who, after 28 acupuncture sessions, was able to achieve a positive pregnancy even though she had a blockage in one of her fallopian tubes. This was the main cause of her infertility. 

Fertility, Acupuncture, and Stress 

Stress can play a role in achieving pregnancy and success rates of achieving your dream of carrying a child. In addition, in a study conducted to discover the role of acupuncture in women’s fertility and success rates found that outside of the types of female infertility challenges infertility can help with, acupuncture aids female fertility in three main ways. 

What are they? 

Let’s find ou next . . . 

3 Ways Acupuncture Helps you get Pregnant 

The three ways that acupuncture can help you get pregnant : 

  1. Timing and Ovulation: Timing and ovulation play a large part in achieving pregnancy. Acupuncture for fertility can help increase your understanding and awareness of your monthly cycle and when you are ovulating. 
  2. Calmness and reduction of stress: Acupuncture can promote relaxation, calmness and help deduce your overall level of stress —boosting your potential of success rate for achieving a pregnancy. 
  3. Timeline to conception: Acupuncture for fertility is known to help cut the timeline of achieving pregnancy and helping to boost female fertility. 

Where do Acupuncture Needles go for Female Fertility?

Each acupuncturist will choose the best acupuncture points for your session when treating fertility. Although it can differ from woman to woman, there are acupuncture points based on studies that are most often used in treating fertility in women. The important part about acupuncture for fertility and women is that the points used will also shift and differ based on the timing where a woman is in both her monthly cycle and the process and timing of the conception process. 

Here is a list of where acupuncture needles often go for female fertility based on the timing of a women’s cycle: 

During Period:

After Period:

During Ovulation:

After Ovulation

Up next? When it starts the process of acupuncture for fertility. . . 

When Should you Get Acupuncture for Female Fertility?

For the greatest results, it is often suggested that women start acupuncture for fertility two or three months prior to starting the process of trying to conceive (TTC). An effective time to receive acupuncture treatment of any kind is when you feel some stress-relief is needed.

Many women have reported responding best to the soothing and relieving effects of acupuncture when it’s needed the most, and stress levels can play a role in the chances of conception.

In addition, asking an acupuncturist is always a good choice as an acupuncturist, in-person will be able to give you a personalized timeline for when to start acupuncture based on your needs for starting a family and other factors. 

How Long Does it Take for Acupuncture to Work for Female Infertility?

Acupuncture can take around five weeks to have its greatest effect. But keep in mind that you may respond to treatment much more quickly or slowly than expected, as people can respond to treatment in different ways and at different intervals. 

So how many sessions can you expect it to need? Lrt’s take a look. . . 

How many Sessions of Acupuncture do you Need for Female Fertility?

The frequency of acupuncture treatments for female fertility may range from weekly, bi-weekly, or even more frequently. For example, Mariah Cary’s frequency of acupuncture was daily prior to achieving her positive pregnancy test. 

However, daily acupuncture for fertility is not what is often suggested for infertility, and the frequency of acupuncture can differ from woman to woman for boosting fertility. So it is recommended that you always check in about frequency and number of sessions with your acupuncturist.   

Frequently Asked Questions 

Here is a frequently asked question often asked about acupuncture for female fertility: 

How much will acupuncture for female fertility cost?

Not many acupuncture clinics can be covered by insurance, so expect anywhere from $75-100. 

Nicole Kidman, who has experienced infertility, once said, “Anyone that’s been in the place of wanting another child or wanting a child knows the disappointment, the pain, and the loss that you go through trying and struggling with fertility….” —Australia’s 60 Minutes, February 2011

References 

Cochrane, S., Smith, C. A., Possamai-Inesedy, A., & Bensoussan, A. (2016). Prior to Conception: The Role of an Acupuncture Protocol in Improving Women’s Reproductive Functioning Assessed by a Pilot Pragmatic Randomised Controlled Trial. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4868913/

LX; W. J. (n.d.). Positive Effect of Acupuncture and Cupping in Infertility Treatment. Retrieved October 13, 2020, from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29682150/

Manheimer, E., Zhang, G., Udoff, L., Haramati, A., Langenberg, P., Berman, B. M., & Bouter, L. M. (2008, March 08). Effects of acupuncture on rates of pregnancy and live birth among women undergoing in vitro fertilization: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Retrieved October 13, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2265327/