The Fertility Pod | Acupuncture & Nutrition

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Acupuncture during IVF treatment

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Acupuncture during IVF treatment and can be used to help minimize and/or eliminate the side effects.  During an IVF cycle fertility drugs are prescribed to stimulate the growth and development of eggs in the ovaries and then to induce ovulation to release a woman’s eggs for collection for IVF (in vitro fertilization).  Acupuncture involves stimulating specific points on the body with small, thin needles that penetrate the skin. 

During ovarian stimulation and ovulation induction acupuncture has been used effectively to treat the common side effects caused by the rapid changes in hormone levels. These include hot flushes, night sweats, dizziness, headaches, tiredness, abdominal tenderness and swelling, breast tenderness, mood swings, nausea and dizziness.   IVF drug stimulation protocols are highly individualized. They can vary significantly between women, fertility specialists and can vary from cycle to cycle.  The extent of side effects experienced will also vary between women, and often from one cycle to another cycle.

Acupuncture is recommended after egg collection to help recovery from anesthetic, local tissue trauma, and the prevention of OHSS. The timing and number of acupuncture treatments will vary between women and their individual circumstances to best aid their recovery in readiness for embryo transfer.

Egg collection is the next step after ovarian stimulation and ovulation induction. It is an IVF surgical procedure and can cause bloating, tenderness from enlarged ovaries and general discomfort following the procedure. It’s normal to have abdominal cramping and bloating for up to a week after egg collection. The severity of symptoms can vary greatly between women. It can take a couple weeks for your ovaries to return to normal size. Pain should generally subside within 48 hours. Bloating can continue for a week or so. The WHO recognizes that acupuncture can help ease the stress on the body caused by surgery and anesthetic by helping with pain, nausea/vomiting, urinary retention, decreased gut motility and anxiety. Research has shown that stimulation of points that innervate the vagus nerve activates mechanisms in the body that reduce inflammation. The use of electro-acupuncture during IVF treatment has also shown to be effective at reducing inflammation by activating cytokines, the molecules that help reduce inflammation.

There is a small risk of hyper-stimulation (OHSS), which generally happens when a large number of follicles are emptied at egg collection and fill up with water (cysts). Symptoms can include vomiting, diarrhea, breathlessness, excessive abdominal pain and swelling above the belly button. If you start to experience any of the symptoms of OHSS you should contact your nurse immediately. If OHSS is identified at the very early onset acupuncture can be used successfully to treat mild to moderate cases to relieve discomfort to prevent it developing into more serious symptoms. In severe cases acupuncture can be used with western medical treatment.

Sharmaine Nicholson
The Fertility Pod acupuncturist

Acupuncture for Pregnancy Nausea

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Nausea during early pregnancy? Try Acupuncture

Are you pregnant ? You suffering from nausea ?

Smith et al. published two articles from their research on acupuncture for nausea and vomiting in pregnancy which is the largest study to date. The first looked at its effectiveness of and the second at the safety of its treatment in early pregnancy.

Summary and conclusion

The objective was to compare: traditional treatment, at one point only, a sham treatment and none at all for nausea and vomiting. This study involved 593 women who were less than 14 weeks pregnant and were suffering pregnancy related nausea and vomiting. They were randomized into four groups and received treatment weekly. The acupuncture group, in which points were chosen according to a traditional diagnosis, received two 20 minute treatments in the first week followed by one weekly treatment for the next four weeks. The sham acupuncture group was needled at points close to but not on standard points and both the sham and one acupuncture point groups were treated with the same frequency as the traditional acupuncture group.

While all three groups reported improvement with nausea and dry retching, it was the traditional group that had the fastest response.  Patients receiving traditional treatments also reported improvement in five aspects of general health status (vitality, social function, physical function, mental health and emotional role function) compared to improvement in two aspects with both the one acupuncture point group and sham acupuncture groups. In the no treatment group there was improvement in only one aspect.

Although there were no differences in vomiting found in any of the treatment groups the authors speculated that more frequent treatments might have produced greater benefits. In assessing the safety of acupuncture in early pregnancy data was collected on perinatal outcome, congenital abnormalities, pregnancy complications and problems of the newborn.

No differences were found between study groups in the incidence of these outcomes suggesting that there are no serious adverse effects from the use of acupuncture treatment in early pregnancy. The authors concluded that acupuncture is a safe and effective treatment for women who experience nausea and dry retching in early pregnancy.

Visit us at The Fertility Pod for more information.

Welcome to The Fertility Pod

IVF Support and Natural Fertility – Melbourne & Sydney

At The Fertility Pod (formerly Bump Acupuncture & Nutrition), our focus is on the physical and emotional state of the person as a whole.  This means looking at being in optimum health to maximize the chances of fertility and the ability to bounce back after the pregnancy.  Whether you are trying to get pregnant naturally, or are needing that extra bit of IVF support, we are there with you.  For this reason we have created the Fertility Lifestyle Program to help guide you through the journey of becoming pregnant.

All treatments are designed specifically for your particular needs through a combination of IVF acupuncture, nutritional advice, herbal medicine and massage. Our clinic provides a place to relax between appointments both before and after your embryo transfer.  We want to fill the voids we have experienced throughout the IVF process. Pre/Post embryo transfer acupuncture is done at our Monash IVF locations in Richmond and Hawthorn as well as our Carlton and Clayton clinics.

We are now treating patients in Sydney at Monash IVF Parramatta.

We collaborate with Monash IVF

About The Fertility Pod Acupuncture & Nutrition
The Fertility Pod
23a/255 Drummond St
Carlton, Vic 3053
Also seeing patients in Richmond, Hawthorn and Clayton
(03) 9348 2867
0433 784 843