Brooklyn Wants To Know: The Truth About "Day-of Transfer" Acupuncture

Acupuncture made the list BUT... The Truth about Day-of Transfer Acupuncture: While single acupuncture... http://t.co/vIpZDC1I0W

— Garden Acupuncture (@GardenAcu) July 22, 2015

We believe it is essential to prepare the body for conception and pregnancy regardless of the method you choose. This preparation of the body and mind takes time.

At Garden Acupuncture, we specialize in nurturing fertility and addressing fertility issues for men and women. We work with individuals that wish to pursue naturally enhancing fertility as well as work with those participating in any Assisted Reproductive Technology. .

Through the application of  Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture, we work for those seeking to become parents not only in our community of Park Slope but all of Brooklyn and New York City.

We believe that it is important to educate our community and to make sure acupuncture and TCM are accurately portrayed in the media. We frequently give our comments on news articles and invite you to follow along on our Facebook page and our Twitter account.

Acupuncture made the list BUT... The Truth about Day-of Transfer Acupuncture:

While single acupuncture treatments, pre and post embryo transfer, provide stress relief on the day of procedure (and we absolutely do recommend this as part of a greater, comprehensive fertility protocol) it is important to note that it doesn't provide the true benefits and outcomes that whole system TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) has on preparing the body for pregnancy AND THROUGH live birth.

Studies actually show that that elevated stress levels persist in women who only receive a single acupuncture treatment prior to embryo transfer, but compared to other women who receive multiple acupuncture treatments (for a period of greater than 1 month), their stress levels have greatly reduced prior to their IVF transfers.

EVEN RATS GOT ACUPUNCTURE FOR 11 DAYS in a stress study. The most recently released study about stress reduction in rats and proving the pathway acupuncture works on the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis if you're interested: http://ti.me/1SCzfKu

But I digress. The doctor's statements in this article paired with a "DAY-Of Transfer" heading can be super misleading! We are excited that acupuncture is becoming more recognized by MD's and the media but we want to keep patients planning to become parents properly informed!

He states, "It’s thought that acupuncture may improve blood flow to the uterus and ovaries and stimulate the release of neurotransmitters, which travel in the blood and may also improve outcomes.” and continues, “Overall, there is little downside to acupuncture as far as we can tell. Patients who are interested in it should feel comfortable adding it to their IVF care.”

While these statements about acupuncture are true, it is not advised to think that a single acupuncture treatment or a single day of acupuncture will accomplish all that we know TCM can do for fertility. We recommend beginning a TCM program (*with someone licensed and specialized in fertility) as soon as you are planning to become pregnant.

Already start IVF? Don't worry, you haven't missed the boat, but you will want to get started right away!

For anyone interested in how TCM and Acupuncture helps with fertility, because it goes way beyond stress reduction, we encourage you to use our website as a resource and feel free to ask questions! TCM and Assisted Reproductive Technologies work really well together for both MEN & WOMEN and this is an area in which we specialize.

"The only thing that I did differently while trying to get pregnant, at 42, was get acupuncture at Garden Acupuncture and it worked. Two failed IVF cycles and multiple fertility treatments did nothing for me but the acupuncture helped to conceive naturally and without any drug or fertility treatments. Dr. Alex prepared me for pregnancy, assisted me in keeping the pregnancy and helped to maintain a healthy hormonal level. I delivered a healthy baby boy after believing that I was done. I wasn't. And I have Garden Acupuncture to thank for that. I cannot recommend them more highly." -DD