We are passionate about empowering women to work with their bodies in order to achieve optimal health. Our specialty is developing personalized treatment plans to help women with fertility challenges, IVF support, difficult menstrual cycles, and hormonal imbalances. Through our custom tailored combination of acupuncture, nutritional counseling, lifestyle recommendations, and effective Chinese herbal formulas we can work with your body to better your chances of conceiving naturally. We can also work with you to support and compliment your fertility treatments from an OB/GYN or RE.
Preconception
Acupuncture helps optimize fertility by stimulating the nerves to increase circulation and improve blood flow to the uterus, reducing inflammation to aim embryo implantation, and by reducing stress and balancing your reproductive hormones. To increase the chances of conception, we work on individualized plans for overall well-being that help prepare a woman’s body for a healthy pregnancy.
Our Treatment
We begin by making recommendations for healthy lifestyle changes three months to a year before you plan to conceive. Together, we go through the steps of preconception: learning about the right diet to support your fertility, limiting toxins in your home, implementing solutions to reduce stress, and finding ways to support male fertility. We pair this with fertility acupuncture sessions and a custom Chinese herbal formula to optimize your chances of natural conception.
IVF Support
Acupuncture treatments before and after IVF procedures have been found to increase your chances of conceiving by up to 50%. Acupuncture helps improve the efficacy of the drugs that are taken in conjunction with your IVF cycle and it increases blood flow to the ovaries during the stimulation phase of IVF. It also relaxes the uterus and addresses uterine spasm after embryo transfer.
Our Treatment
We schedule acupuncture treatments before and after IVF procedures to aid your assisted cycle, reduce stress during all aspects of your procedure, and help offset the side effects of your fertility drugs.
“As a woman with PCOS, I always knew getting pregnant was going to be difficult. After three years of trying, I decided to do a round of acupuncture before going in to try full on fertility treatments. Beck was fantastic. She was very knowledgeable about my condition and how to get myself as healthy as possible.
The acupuncture sessions were soothing and really helped with my anxieties. I am happy to say that I am 16 weeks pregnant and couldn’t be happier with the level of care and attention I received. ”
Fertility Challenges We Treat
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a health problem that affects 1 in 10 women of childbearing age. Women with PCOS have a hormonal imbalance as well as metabolism issues that may affect their overall health and appearance. PCOS is also a common and treatable cause of infertility. Symptoms include infrequent, irregular or prolonged menstrual cycles are some of the common signs of PCOS. For example, you might have fewer than nine periods a year, more than 35 days between periods, and abnormally heavy periods. Elevated levels of male hormone may result in physical signs, such as excess facial and body hair (hirsutism), and occasionally severe acne and male-pattern baldness.
Our Treatment
We can treat the hormonal imbalances associated with PCOS and alleviate or eliminate the symptoms with acupuncture treatments that improve blood flow to the reproductive organs, regulate your cycle, and can improve your chances of conception.
Endometriosis
One in ten women have been diagnosed with endometriosis, which causes painful periods and is one of the leading causes of infertility -- with more than 50% of women with endometriosis having difficulty becoming pregnant. Endometriosis is caused when tissue that resembles the lining of the uterus can be found growing elsewhere in the body, most commonly inside the pelvis, on the ovaries, the bladder, bowel, and fallopian tubes. During a woman’s monthly cycle, hormones stimulate these cells, causing them to grow, break down, and bleed. Symptoms include painful periods (dysmenorrhea), pain with intercourse, pain with bowel movements or urination, excessive bleeding, and infertility.
Our Treatment
Through a combination of acupuncture and Chinese herbs, we are able to target the reproductive organs to reduce or eliminate painful cramps, improve blood circulation, and clear inflammation. In our sessions we also work to maintain your regular menstrual cycles.
By treating your underlying conditions associated with your endometriosis, and our health coaches recommending custom dietary changes, we can work to drastically reduce your symptoms and improve your chances of conception.
Fibrosis
Fibroids are abnormal growths, consisting of muscle cells and fibrous tissue masses, that can affect the reproductive organs and inhibit a woman’s chance of conceiving and maintaining a healthy pregnancy. When fibroids change the shape of the cervix and/or uterus, block fallopian tubes, or change the size of the lining of the uterine cavity, this affects how many sperm enter the uterus and interfere with the movement of the sperm or embryo. When fibroids inhibit blood flow to the uterine cavity, this decreases the chance of an embryo to implant itself to the uterine wall or develop. Symptoms include heavy menstrual bleeding, menstrual periods lasting more than a week, pelvic pressure or pain, frequent urination difficulty emptying the bladder, constipation, backache or leg pains.
Our Treatment
Regular acupuncture can promote blood flow in the pelvic area that can help reduce fibroids. We also educate patients trying to conceive on limiting your exposure to external estrogens and toxins to support your liver and ways to improve blood flow in the pelvic area.
Unexplained Infertility
Approximately one in five couples will be diagnosed with unexplained infertility, even after going through a complete fertility work-up. It might be that an egg is not released at the optimum time for fertilization, or it might not enter the fallopian tube. It might be that sperm are unable to reach the egg, or that implantation fails and fertilization simply fails to occur.
Our Treatment
Achieving optimal health is the first step. Our bodies are incredible machines that have the ability to tell us when something is wrong and and we can use acupuncture treatments to help your body, including your reproductive system, function. Your commitment and participation will help to optimize the success of your treatment.
Male Fertility
Low sperm quality overall can be a contributing factor to a couple’s inability to conceive. It is common for a patient’s semen analysis to be below average as a result of endocrine disturbances, low testosterone levels, exposure to medicines or environmental toxins, varicocele, increased scrotal heat, systemic diseases, smoking and alcohol, or testicular torsion and trauma.
Our Treatment
Frequent acupuncture treatments can help to improve sperm quality and quantity. We also provide individualized wellness plans that include healthy lifestyle modifications to help increase the viability of sperm. These changes can take several months to take effect, so we recommend you begin sessions as soon as possible when trying to conceive.
