Acupuncture is something that many women use to help with infertility. If you google it, you can find many success stories where acupuncture has helped with infertility.
How does acupuncture help with infertility?
But what does the research say? A recent study of over 800 Australian and New Zealand women undergoing acupuncture treatment during IVF treatment has confirmed no significant difference in live birth rates between real acupuncture and a sham treatment (a noninvasive needle placed away from the true acupuncture points).
The study’s authors, did however note that a psycho-social benefit from acupuncture was reported by the women who took part in the study.
Co-author Professor Michael Chapman confirmed that they will be writing up these psycho-social benefits in another paper.
Feeling relaxed and reporting relief from stress and women feeling good about themselves is to be welcomed for women as they undergo an IVF cycle – Michael Chapman.
So while this particular study concluded there is not a significant difference in outcomes for women who have real acupuncture versus fake acupuncture, this ‘psycho-social’ effect cannot be ignored.
What do we know about the mind body connection and acupuncture?
This connection between the mind and body, is explored in a brilliant book by Jo Marchant (‘Cure: A journey into the science of mind over body’). She speaks to Ted Kaptchuk, who studied Chinese medicine and set up and opened an acupuncture clinic in Cambridge.
He would see dramatic cures, sometimes before patients had even received their treatment….Ultimately, Kaptchuk concluded that he didn’t have paranormal powers. But equally, he believed that his patients’ striking recoveries didn’t have anything to do with the needles or herbs he was prescribing.
This led Kaptchuk to study the placebo effect. In one of his first trials, Kaptchuk compared a fake pill and fake acupuncture. This makes no sense from a conventional science perspective. When comparing nothing with nothing you wouldn’t expect to see any difference. But there was a difference – placebo acupuncture was more effective for reducing the patients pain, whereas the pill helped them sleep.
What does have an effect, of course, is our psychological response to these inert substances. Jo sets out how while sham acupuncture generally has similar effects to the real thing – both are significantly better than no treatment at all. Suggesting that for most complaints, any benefit from acupuncture results from a potent placebo effect.
A personal acupuncture story
At Parla, we have one anecdote (and of course anecdotes aren’t science but it is interesting nonetheless), that supports the above. Before setting up Parla, Lina spoke to a friend who had just taken a fertility test that came back very negative, and recommended that she try some diet changes (taking vitamins like folic acid) and start acupuncture and meditation. Here is how she described her acupuncture experience (her acupuncturist is called Deb):
“Deb happen to be an ex basketball professional player, who after having been in the Corporate world for many years, decided to change her life and study acupuncture. Deb looked to me strong, she spoke to me firmly, and said she was going to help me.
I had not realised how depleted my body was, probably as a result of the many years I had the stomach issues or maybe because I have been working for almost 20 years now, and living under so much stress!
I decided I was going to give Deb a chance, also remembering your positive experience with acupuncture. I also wanted to try to get my body into a better and strong place before spending the time, money and emotional effort. Since that day I have not stopped seeing Deb.
I go 2 or 3 times per week at 7:30 am which is the only time I can go without the possibility of a meeting or a call forcing me to cancel the appointment. I go and lie in that warm bed, Deb gives me words of encouragement or tells me I am too stressed or taking too much coffee, then she pokes me everywhere and I fall asleep for one hour, which feels amazing.”
And the most amazing part, after these intervention her fertility profile massively improved:
My egg production went from 8 to 15 eggs, my level of FSH from 20 in first exam, 13.5 in second and 9.87 in this last one. AMH went from 0.35 (the doctor tells me it needs to be above 1) to 2.158.
When should you get acupuncture for fertility?
Ultimately this is up to you – this blog has set out what the science says. Ultimately the science says that acupuncture helps women feel better but doesn’t have an impact on fertility treatment outcomes.
It’s also fair to say anecdotes do not count as science. But if you’re feeling stressed and worn out – perhaps acupuncture can help you feel better and more relaxed on your fertility journey. And that is no bad thing!
Where do needles go?
One of the things that you might feel a bit squeamish about is the needles. So where do those needles go?
The needles are inserted into specific points on the body. Up to 12 points may be used per session, sometimes more. They are inserted just under the skin, or sometimes a little deeper (to the muscle tissue).
The needles are fine and usually only a few centimetres long. They of course should be sterilised and single use.
You may feel a tingling or dull ache when the needle is inserted, but shouldn’t feel any pain.
What is the average cost of acupuncture treatments?
My two favourite acupuncturists are:
An initial consultation with Kate is £150
However, prices can really range in London and the UK. With costs of £50-£70 for the initial consultation and follow up appointments of £35-£50
Our work at Parla
At Parla, we are dedicated to understanding and utilising the science behind the mind body connection to better support women with their reproductive health. It’s an area that has been neglected for a long time, but the emerging evidence suggests can have a big impact.
If you’re a practitioner or researcher in this area, or have a personal story – we’d love to chat. Contact us at hello@myparla.com.
