"It (acupuncture) can allow you to cross the line from infertile to fertile by helping your body function more efficiently, which in turn allows other, more modern reproductive treatments, like IVF, to also work more efficiently," says Dr James Dillard, MD, assistant clinical professor, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and clinical adviser to Columbia's Rosenthal Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine

But how does it work? Well it’s all based on Traditional Chinese Medicine and the theory that Qi (pronounced chee) which is basically a life force energy should flow smoothly and freely through your body without any blockages, not too fast or not too slow. Acupuncture works on ensuring this smooth flow of energy and helps build Qi up when it’s low and calms it down when there’s too much.

"Acupuncture works to restore the flow of Qi -- your essence, your body energy -- so with regards to infertility, treatment has a calming, restorative effect that increases a sense of well- being and ultimately helps the body to accept the creation of life," says acupuncturist Ifeoma Okoronkwo, MD, a professor of medicine at New York University School of Medicine.

If it all sounds a little bit too alternative for your liking look at it this way- you could suffer from a head ache for many different reasons- you’re tired, you’ve had too much coffee, you’re stressed out, your hormones are out of balance, you’ve just listened to really loud music for the last three hours… the list goes on. You might take a couple of Panadol to ease your pain. What you have done is treated the symptoms and not the cause of the problem which is a typical response in Western Society. There are so many variables as to why you got the headache in the first place. It could be a different reason every time you get a head ache too. So your fertility could be due to so many different reasons. Every single person is an individual and suffers from different causes. So when you start having acupuncture we look at your entire well being not just your cycle. We strongly encourage you take herbs to address the causes of your fertility and also strongly encourage you look at your lifestyle to help increase your chances of having a healthy baby. If you’re drinking heavily every weekend and not sleeping because you’re out all night we would strongly advise reconsidering your lifestyle because having a baby is not conducive to that way of living.

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