Most women never suspect that they may have blocked fallopian tubes.  This happens mainly because women don’t experience any obvious symptoms that would lead them to believe that they have such a condition.  Infertility is what usually leads women to discover the state of their fallopian tubes.  If you have been trying to conceive for longer than a year and you are over 35 years old, you definitely want to consider checking the state of your fallopian tubes.
Diagnosis
Fallopian tube obstruction can be diagnosed in a number of ways.  Laparsocopy is …

So, you have decided you want to try acupuncture for your fertility concerns.  If you don’t know anybody who is seeing an acupuncturist or if your doctor does not have any referral sources, what do you do?  Do you start searching the Internet first or do you get your phone book out and call the first person that you randomly selected by sticking a pencil into the page with your eyes closed?  How do you find an acupuncturist that you can trust who can address your needs?
Searching for the right …

Yes!  Ibuprofen and other drugs that belong to non steroidal anti inflammatory drug class like aspirin, excedrin, motrin, advil, aleve etc. can interfere with ovulation.  A study published in Journal of Clinical Pharmacology  (Bata MS, Al-Ramahi M, Salhab AS, Gharaibeh MN, Schwartz J. Delay of ovulation by meloxicam in healthy cycling volunteers: A placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover study. J Clin Pharmacol. 2006 Aug;46(8):925-32) showed that women who took NSAID medication had delayed ovulation by approximately 5 days, decreased levels of serum progesterone in the second part of the cycle and increased …

Debra Betts, a renowned author, an acupuncturist and a midwife, writes about acupuncture as a prebirth treatment in her book The Essential Guide to Acupuncture in Pregnancy and Childbirth:
“Prebirth acupuncture refers to a series of treatments in the final weeks of pregnancy to prepare women for childbirth.  Research has demonstrated that the mean duration of labor in a group of women giving birth for  the first time was reduced from eight hours and two minutes in the control group (7o women) to six hours and 36 minutes in the group …

The presence of the cervical mucous (some women may know it as vaginal discharge) is closely interconnected with the hormonal fluctuations in the female body and can be used as a helpful tool in determining fertile times of the cycle.
The hormone responsible for the production of fertile cervical mucous is estrogen and its production peaks at about 6 days before the actual ovulation starts.  However, not all mucous is created equal!  There are four types of fertile mucous and while some types facilitate the movement of sperm others tend to …

Femoral massage is a simple technique that can help increase the blood flow to the uterus and ovaries and therefore increase your chances of conception.  Anytime you increase blood flow to a particular organ you increase its function.
Directions
It’s easier to perform femoral massage if somebody else does it for you.  However, it is possible to do it alone as well.  If you are planning to do it alone, I recommend that you use a tennis ball instead of using your hands and lay on your abdomen instead of laying face …

For many couples who experience major fertility impediments e.g. blocked fallopian tubes or very low sperm counts IVF (in vitro fertilization) may be the most viable option.  If you are trying to make a decision whether IVF is a right treatment approach for you, you should take into account several factors which include your physical, emotional as well as financial health.  If a couple decides to utilize IVF treatment in order to get pregnant, acupuncture should be used as an adjunct therapy that can not only increase your odds of …

As a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine who focuses on fertility treatment, I have noticed that the majority of my patients seek treatment with Chinese medicine after they have gone through the treatments with assisted reproductive technology.  Many times, the reason for their treatment choices is simply lack of good quality and consolidated information about natural treatment options that are available to them.  The initial treatments that most of my patients are exposed to are invasive, emotionally and financially draining and with significant side effects.  Needles to say, Western medical …