Acupuncture for a Successful IUI
You’re ready to move forward with IUIs (aka Intrauterine Insemination) to help you get pregnant, but you want to know what you can do to get the best chance of a successful IUI. You are eating well and exercising moderately. You’re taking a daily prenatal vitamin. You have eliminated as much stress as humanly possible. What else is there?
If you have never had acupuncture before, it might sound odd that needles can help you relax and support your fertility. But these are among the many things acupuncture can do! It can help regulate your menstrual cycles, boost your hormones, support your egg quality, and prepare your body for pregnancy.
Does acupuncture work? Yes! There’s been research into combining acupuncture with IUI, and one study showed phenomenal results: 65% of those combining IUI with acupuncture became pregnant, where only 39% of the non-acupuncture control group did. Read more about this study here.
Since acupuncture shows great promise in helping people get pregnant with IUI, it should be a part of your treatment plan with each IUI cycle. In your first appointment, your acupuncturist will meet with you and come up with the best plan for you.
We recommend weekly acupuncture for IUI prep. If you’ll be taking fertility medication like Letrozole or Clomid, it might be best to increase your visits to twice weekly after you start the medication to help reduce side effects.
During your acupuncture treatments, your acupuncturist will focus on supporting healthy eggs, hormonal balance, and blood flow to the ovaries and uterus, as well as reducing stress hormones – all while decreasing common side effects of fertility meds, like headache, bloating, breast tenderness, and mood swings.
For best results, we suggest coming in as soon as you know you have an IUI cycle planned, preferably a cycle or two before. For a full treatment course, you’ll have acupuncture weekly during your cycle, including the week of the IUI, and then about a week afterward.
These treatments will focus on promoting healthy ovulation, supporting hormone levels, improving blood flow to the uterus, and decreasing uterine contractions.
Once you become pregnant, you may decide to continue acupuncture to help prevent miscarriage and alleviate any symptoms of pregnancy, like nausea, fatigue, and poor sleep. Acupuncture is very safe in pregnancy, and can help you and your baby stay healthy and relaxed.
Want to learn more about increasing your chances of a successful IUI? Contact us to find out how acupuncture can help your IUI cycle.
Established patients can schedule online, patients who haven’t seen us at Kwan Yin Healing Center call (503) 701-8766, or email us to schedule your appointment.
