Acupuncture, Acupressure, and Massage All Help Infertility

No discussion of natural ways to treat infertility would be complete without talking about acupuncture, acupressure, or massage therapy. All three are considered "alternative therapies" in the United States, and yet they've been used for many, many years in certain parts of the world. If you're covering all the bases and want to try non-invasive ways to get pregnant, give these methods a try.

Acupuncture

You may be thinking, "Acupuncture? There's no way I'm letting anyone come near me those long needles!" But before you dismiss it, consider the research on acupuncture in helping women who are trying to conceive.

Acupuncture can help as much as 80% of patients who seek treatment for fertility issues. In this form of Chinese medicine, channels of energy, called meridians, run throughout the body. If a meridian is blocked, energy cannot travel, and so sections of the body suffer, much like the theory behind Chiropractic medicine. The way to unblock the obstructions? Needles. Scientific theories about how acupuncture works include the idea that needles stimulate the nervous system and force the body to release various chemicals that help the body to heal itself.

To find a practitioner near you, go to the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture's website at http://www.medicalacupuncture.org/acu_info/generalinfo.html

Acupressure

If you've heard the term "shiatsu", as in shiatsu massage, you've heard of acupressure; the terms are synonymous. According to the theory behind acupressure, pushing very deep into certain points on the body helps to increase blood flow to those areas, but also to stimulate the nervous system, improve circulation body-wide, and help clean out the lymph glands.

Reflexology is another form of acupressure. Reflexology tends to focus on the foot, pinpointing various parts of the foot that are connected to other parts of the body, specific organs, and nerve systems. There are no needles involved, and no negative side effects known from acupressure techniques. To learn more, visit http://www.holisticmed.com/www/acupuncture.html for an extensive list of Acupressure resources online.

Massage

Aside from feeling good, helping to reduce muscular pain, and helping you relax, massage may hold promising new treatments for infertility as well. A massage therapist and physical therapist have created a relatively new pelvic massage program that has a 50% success rate in women they treat. While 50% may not sound like much, most of the women Larry and Belinda Wurn treated with The Wurn Technique had tried everything else first. Massage was a last resort, and 1 in 2 odds were promising to these women. Learn more about this technique at: http://my.webmd.com/content/article/52/50351.htm and http://www.clearpassage.com/

You can find massage therapy practitioners at the American Massage Therapy Association's website at http://www.amtamassage.org/

All three of these techniques-acupuncture, acupressure, and massage-are also helpful in reducing stress.