If you’re considering acupuncture treatments to improve fertility, you may be wondering at what point you should begin treatments. In one sense, the sooner the better! But realistically, we know it’s hard to carve out time for regular treatments. So, what’s the optimal timing?
Here, we’ll guide you through the best timing based on where you are in your fertility journey and depending on what factors might be impacting your fertility. Even if you’ve already started trying to conceive (TTC), or are undergoing assisted reproductive techniques, acupuncture and Chinese medicine can influence a few physiological processes that happen on specific timelines, so it may still benefit conception and prenatal health.
Egg or Sperm Quality Concerns
Ideally, we’d have at least 3 months to work with a patient before they are trying to conceive. This is especially true if you have any factors compromising egg or sperm quality. In Chinese medicine, treatment is always individualized, and we don’t like to give blanket recommendations but there’s a physiological consideration behind this window whether working with females or males.
While ovulation happens roughly every 28 days, and every menstrual cycle gives us a chance to influence ovulation to some degree, the dominant follicle that results in ovulation in any given cycle has undergone a process of folliculogenesis that takes about 60 days. Similarly, spermatogenesis in males takes about 65-74 days.
So, to actually impact the quality of eggs or sperm, we need to get started before they start forming. Three months is just enough lead time to help improve blood flow to the reproductive organs, modulate hormones, and reduce inflammation. Environmental factors including nutrition can affect folliculogenesis and spermatogenesis, but it takes time to identify and implement necessary changes, and to see the benefit.
For many people who are trying to conceive later in their reproductive years, Chinese medicine can help counter the natural decline of egg or sperm quality, by optimizing other aspects of health, such as digestion, nutrition, stress and other inflammatory processes.
Irregular Cycles
No known egg quality issue, but problems with ovulation or irregular cycles? If they’ve only been irregular for a short time, or for example, since coming off of hormonal birth control, you may only need 1-2 months of treatment before your timing regulates. But for others whose irregular cycles are connected to a complex reproductive endocrine axis, treatment may take three months or more to see lasting shifts.
If you have irregular ovulation patterns, such as from polycystic ovarian syndrome, we may still need at least 2-3 ovulatory cycles. Treatments may start weekly and gradually space out from there, depending on your individual treatment plan and if herbal medicine is used as well. Certain herbs are not used in early pregnancy, so starting treatment before TTC gives us more options when it comes to herbal medicine.
How To Increase Your Odds
We often see patients who have already started TTC, or who are undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF). If egg quality is not the focus of treatment, the critical window for treatment may be the follicular phase, the roughly 2 weeks leading up to ovulation when the endometrium forms. This is a crucial time for optimizing blood flow to the uterus and reducing inflammation to increase the chances of a healthy implantation.
Many patients also express great relief to know acupuncture is there for them in the luteal phase and the waiting window, to help manage stress and anxiety around the fertility journey.
IVF Patients
Already have your IVF transfer schedule? There may still be time for acupuncture to benefit the process. One famous clinical research trial by Paulus1, on the impact of acupuncture on IVF outcomes, used a treatment protocol immediately before and after implantation. This resulted in a significant increase in the rate of clinical pregnancy in the acupuncture group compared to the control.
If you want to explore more about how we’d approach your specific case, you can book a courtesy 10-minute phone consultation, or schedule your first appointment here.
References
1“Paulus WE, Zhang M, Strehler E, El-Danasouri I, Sterzik K. Influence of acupuncture on the pregnancy rate in patients who undergo assisted reproduction therapy. Fertil Steril. 2002 Apr;77(4):721-4. doi: 10.1016/s0015-0282(01)03273-3. PMID: 11937123.”
