Having IVF with poor egg quality? Acupuncture can help

Women’s follicles are stored in ovaries and whenever they are picked up to develop, they grow to a matured egg and are released from the ovary. If the egg is fertilized by a sperm, it becomes an embryo. . Follicle development is a long process requiring almost a year from being recruited to the ovulatory stage. Ovarian local blood circulation is the key factors for follicle and egg development and egg quality. Initially follicles don’t have their own blood vessels inside follicles. They have to rely on blood vessels nearby to get nutrients that are needed for growing. Those follicles closed to blood vessels were recruited first and they start to grow as soon as they are recruited. With the growth follicles build up their own blood vessels which bring nutrients and hormones to and waste from the follicles. At the late stage follicles development also rely on the hormones, such as FSH.

Signs of poor egg quality: The abnormal menstrual cycles are the signs of poor egg quality, such as irregular periods, spotting, short menstrual cycles or long menstrual cycles, short luteal phase, abnormal hormones, such as high FSH, low eostrogen, low progesterone, low AMH, low antral follicle count are also indicating poor egg quality; poor response to IVF stimulation is another sign of poor egg quality. IVF result has hown poor egg quality. Women’s age: Women over age 35 with difficulty to conceive or miscarriage would have good quality of eggs.

Healthy food can help to improve egg quality which many women have already known and had healthy diet.

As mentioned above the key step to improve egg quality is the blood supply to the follicles. Whatever nutrients you take, they need to reach the follicles via blood circulation. If the circulation is poor, the nutrients cannot reach the follicles.

Research data has shown that acupuncture can help to improve blood circulation to the follicles, as a result this improves egg quality. For example, there was a study involved 60 patients with infertility with poor ovarian response and poor ovarian reserve undergoing IVF-ET. After treatment, in acupuncture group, egg maturation rate, fertilization rate and good quality embryo rate and implantation rate were higher than control group. Most importantly the pregnancy rate was increased. In another study there were 66 patients with PCOS and infertility and undergoing IVF-ET. All fertilization rate and high quality embryos were higher in acupuncture group than that for control group.