There are now a lot of data supporting the idea that acupuncture of all things can be very beneficial for improving both female and male fertility . And should a woman get pregnant for improving the quality of outcomes ?
Because as we learned earlier , temperature regulation of the scrotum and testicles is so vital for getting healthy sperm and increasing sperm quality . In addition , there are good data to support the idea that acupuncture can increase levels of testosterone free testosterone and the sorts of hormones that are going to support healthy hormone production and sperm production in males . And this is distinct from applying testosterone from an exogenous source , right .
It can act at the mechanical level , impacting the different tissues through which the egg has to pass and so on and so forth . Likewise , on the male side , acupuncture has been shown to improve semen volume quality of sperm , sperm motility , et cetera . And in large part , through changes in the neural pathways that innervate the very tissues and vascular input to the scrotum and testicles .
However , probably thinking acupuncture that seems kind of like fringe science . But what I can assure you is that there are now quite a few clinical trials funded by government agencies like the National Institutes of Health showing that acupuncture is a very effective treatment for a number of different things including fertility and pregnancy . But for hormone status , for stress relief , but even for chronic illnesses of different kinds , including autoimmune illnesses .
And so the issue of whether or not acupuncture can assist in getting pregnant and in carrying a child to term and for that child to be healthy , uh are really starting to emerge uh in a major way . And uh rather than go into all those data in detail , what I can tell you is that there are clinical trials and data supporting the fact that female fertility itself can be supported by acupuncture through several mechanisms . One of which is the balancing and I realize that's a somewhat tricky term and I'll define it better in a moment , the balancing of hormones across the ovulatory slash menstrual cycle , including regulating levels of FSH , so that they're not too high , nor too low and restricting the FSH to the follicular phase of the , of the menstrual cycle , as well as using acupuncture to improve things like blood flow and the health of the ovary itself and other aspects of the female reproductive axis .
