Anna was given the wrong fertility advice for her situation. All the medical tests showed that everything was working normally. Yet the doctors advised her to have IVF. Two failed rounds of IVF later she came to my clinic. She was visible traumatised by the experience. Physically and emotionally drained.
After a few sessions of acupuncture her energy started to return and her mood stabilised. After three months of acupuncture she was pregnant naturally. I identified that there was blockage in her energy that was stopping her from getting pregnant.
This is all too common a story. IVF was never intended for use for unexplained infertility. It was meant for couples who had no other options because the fallopian tubes are blocked. Yet these days IVF is routinely used as a first line of treatment for couples where natural methods are often more effective.
For IVF the national average success rate for women aged 35 - 37 is 27.7%. If you have unexplained infertility and you’re under 40 our success rate with acupuncture is 67% within six months. Your GP or your fertility doctor simply won’t know this. As far as they are concerned they are giving you the best advice available to them.
If the only solution you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a nail.
Except using IVF for unexplained infertility is more like taking a sledgehammer to crack a walnut. You're likely to miss and end up hurting yourself.
Many times couples tell me how they were pressured into having IVF “even though they couldn’t find anything wrong”.
“I wouldn’t hang around, you’re age isn’t on your side”
Is usually what the doctor will tell them.
Again this advice is well meaning. The doctor is trying to help you in the only way they know how. But when you’re already worried about your fertility declining with age, scaring you into making a rushed decision is not helpful.
What’s more, even if you do decide to go down the IVF route there are things you can do to prepare your body that can significantly increase your chances of success. Acupuncture is one of those, optimum nutrition is another.
A patient summed up the western medical approach well recently when she said.
“In the western medical fertility model, the woman opens her legs and has things done to her.”
Not a very empowering position to be in.
But there is another way. You can take your fertility into your own hands as Anna did. You can get your sanity back and you can allow your body to heal itself naturally. Your body is an amazing thing. It’s evolved over millions of years to be able to heal itself, long before there were any drugs or medications. It just needs some help sometimes.
People have been using acupuncture for thousands of years to return balance and health to the body and mind. Science is only just beginning to catch up. We now know that when you insert a fine needle in certain places in the body, this sends signals to the brain which changes the hormonal balance in the body.
With Five Element Acupuncture we find the “Causative Factor” for that individual. This is is the weak area or “Achilles heel” that’s holding you back. You see, we can only be as strong as the weakest link in the chain. When you find and strengthen the weak area for that person, that’s when things really start to change.
“Acupuncture helped me keep calm and less frustrated. I stopped taking Clomid as it was having too many negative effects on my health, and let the acupuncture take its course. I consider myself very lucky to have conceived after 3 months of acupuncture! I have a wonderful son who is now 3 years old, a truly amazing gift!”
- Amrit Kaur, Personal Trainer
If you’d like to find out if this way of working might be right for you, you can try it out without risking anything financially. Have five sessions of acupuncture and if you’re not feeing significantly more relaxed and energised you can stop treatment and claim a full refund. This means we only take on people we really believe we can help. The first step is to come for a free consultation so we can make a full assessment of your situation.
I am currently booked up until the middle of May but I’m delighted to be able offer more spaces now with the newest member of our team, Gabriella. Gabriella is a very experience practitioner of 12 years and also teaches at my acupuncture school. She practices from Maida Vale in West London. You can read more about her here:
www.feat.uk.com/gabriella-doran
You can also see her prices and details of how to book a free consultation with her here:
www.feat.uk.com/free-consultation
To an empowered fertility journey,
Michael Arnold
BSc (Neurosci. LicAc. MBAcC)