Yin and yang are the basis of our body. They are separate, and yet interchangeable. Throughout the day there is a waxing and waning of active yang and quiet yin. Normally, a person’s yang is higher during the day while yin is more prevalent at night. At night yang should return to yin, so his mind won’t be disturbed. However, if there is disharmony between yin and yang, and yang is still active when it shouldn’t be, insomnia occurs. In other word, our human body is designed to live in harmony with the nature.

Shen (spirit) also plays an important part in sleep. Shen refers to state of consciousness and mental functions that keep our mind sharp and alert. Shen hides in organs during night recharging, and comes out during daytime to exert its duties. When shen becomes over-excited due to some reasons, sleeplessness occurs.

Insomnia can be described as: having difficulties falling asleep, waking up often during night, restless sleep, waking up early and can’t go back to sleep, dream-disturbed sleep, or can’t sleep at all.

Before we treat insomnia, we need find out if there is any underlying reason of insomnia. If it is caused by pain, itching, asthma etc, deal with it.

Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine aim to treat insomnia by restoring yin-yang harmony and a balanced state of mind. Normally benefit should be expected after several weekly acupuncture treatments with many reporting an immediate improvement after the second session. Having said this, Chinese herbal medicine is often recommended to those who have suffered long time (months, even years, or more than ten years). With tailored (individually prescribed) herbal medicine taken daily, patients usually find their sleep improved quicker and stayed longer.

Do not scare of your bed (as I often hear patients say so). With some help, you can have a restful night’s sleep.

Before IVF

Ideally, preparation for IVF should start at least 3-4 months prior to the IVF cycle, although even one month can make a difference. It aims to bring the body to the optimal pre-conception condition to maximize the chance of success. Normally a combination of acupuncture and herbs is used during stage. Both male and female should be involved at this stage.

During IVF

Weekly acupuncture is advised to women from the first day of medication through to embryo transfer. Acupuncture helps 1) reduce the side effects of the drugs; 2) produce more follicles and maximize egg quality; 3) optimize the thickness of the endometrium to prepare for the transfer of embryos.

Where there is no male factor infertility, recommends a single acupuncture treatment is recommended prior to egg collection to relieve anxiety. Where there is male factor infertility, acupuncture treatments should have already started from the preparation stage.

Embryo Transfer

An acupuncture treatment is recommended before and after embryo transfer to improve pregnancy rate. Ideally, this is on the same day as close to your embryo transfer appointment. Choosing points that relax uterus optimizes endometrial receptivity, thus helping embryo implantation.

After Embryo Transfer

One or two acupuncture treatments are recommended during the two-week waiting period before a pregnancy test is taken. This is primarily to support emotionally, to ease anxiety and promote relaxation.

Once pregnant

Acupuncture is recommended weekly through the first trimester, up to week 12/13 as there is a higher risk of miscarriage in IVF induced pregnancies. The treatment aims to support implantation and help promote a healthy pregnancy. 

In the context of menstrual cycle, yin plays an important role during post-menstrual phase (follicular phase), it relates to hormonal triggers that stimulate follicles to develop, and the factors that support follicle’s growth and maturation. Yang performs a very important part after ovulation (luteal phase), when dynamic transformations happen (ovulation itself, the journey of the egg down the tube, fertilisation).

Everything in universe has yin and yang aspects. They are inseparable, interchangeable, mutually creating and transforming. There are two transforming phases during each menstrual cycle – period and ovulation. The start of cycle is right the time when yang is at its zenith and yin is at the beginning of growth. Ovulation heralds that yin, at its zenith, transforms into yang. Although short, transformations do happen at those stages. Therefore, qi and blood activities should be regulated to make sure transformations happen undisturbed.

Above-mentioned is the basic theory used in practice when we see patients come for fertility problems. We always say that we need to regulate period first. This is the reason. Only when yin and yang at its optimum level can pregnancy happen. This theory also applies to most women’s problems.

The relationship between perceived stress, acupuncture, and pregnancy rates among IVF patients: a pilot study

Balk J, Catov J, Horn B, Gecsi K, Wakim A.

University of Pittsburgh, Magee-Womens Hospital, 300 Halket Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.

Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2010 Aug; 16(3):154-7. Epub 2009 Dec 24.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper was to determine the effect of acupuncture on perceived stress levels in women on the day of embryo transfer (ET), and to determine if perceived stress levels at embryo transfer correlated with pregnancy rates. The study was an observational, prospective, cohort study based at the University IVF center.

PATIENT(S): 57 infertile patients undergoing IVF or IVF/ICSI.

INTERVENTIONS(S): Patients were undergoing Embryo Transfer with or without acupuncture as part of their standard clinical care.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Perceive Stress Scale scores, pregnancy rates.

RESULT(S): women who received this acupuncture regimen achieved pregnancy 64.7%, whereas those without acupuncture achieved pregnancy 42.5%. When stratified by donor recipient status, only non-donor recipients potentially had an improvement with acupuncture (35.5% without acupuncture vs. 55.6% with acupuncture). Those who received this acupuncture regimen had lower stress scores both pre-ET and post-ET compared to those who did not. Those with decreased their perceived stress scores compared to baseline had higher pregnancy rates than those who did not demonstrate this decrease, regardless of acupuncture status.

CONCLUSIONS(S): The acupuncture regimen was associated with less stress both before and after embryo transfer, and it possibly improved pregnancy rates. Lower perceived stress at the time of embryo transfer may play a role in an improved pregnancy rate.

Source: PubMed

Those are only four researches among many more. If you would like more, google it, you will find more, both positive and negative, which is normally. In the end of the day, the choice is yours. If you would like some help, look here, find out what we can do with IVF. 

Acupuncture on the day of embryo transfer significantly improves the reproductive outcome in infertile women: a prospective, randomized trial

Westergaard LG, Mao Q, Krogslund M, Sandrini S, Lenz S, Grinsted J.

Fertility Clinic Trianglen, Hellerup, Denmark.

Fertil Steril. 2006 May; 85(5):1341-6. Epub 2006 Apr 5.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of acupuncture on reproductive outcome in patients treated with IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). One group of patients received acupuncture on the day of ET, another group on ET day and again 2 days later (i.e., closer to implantation day), and both groups were compared with a control group that did not receive acupuncture.

DESIGN: Prospective, randomized trial.

SETTING: Private fertility center.

PATIENT(S): During the study period all patients receiving IVF or ICSI treatment were offered participation in the study. On the day of oocyte retrieval, patients were randomly allocated (with sealed envelopes) to receive acupuncture on the day of ET (ACU 1 group, n = 95), on that day and again 2 days later (ACU 2 group, n = 91), or no acupuncture (control group, n = 87).

INTERVENTION(S): Acupuncture was performed immediately before and after ET (ACU 1 and 2 groups), with each session lasting 25 minutes; and one 25-minute session was performed 2 days later in the ACU 2 group.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Clinical pregnancy and ongoing pregnancy rates in the three groups.

RESULT(S): Clinical and ongoing pregnancy rates were significantly higher in the ACU 1 group as compared with controls (37 of 95 [39%] vs. 21 of 87 [26%] and 34 of 95 [36%] vs. 19 of 87 [22%]). The clinical and ongoing pregnancy rates in the ACU 2 group (36% and 26%) were higher than in controls, but the difference did not reach statistical difference.

CONCLUSION(S): Acupuncture on the day of ET significantly improves the reproductive outcome of IVF/ICSI, compared with no acupuncture. Repeating acupuncture on ET day +2 provided no additional beneficial effect.

Source: PubMed