Acupuncture is a time-honored medical treatment, dating back about 3,000 years in China. It is based on a theory that health depends upon the delicate balance and the normal flow of the Qi (pronounced "chi, or chee" meaning "energy" or "life force"). Thru the pathway of circulatory, nervouse system collectively called meridians (channels), they linkup with one or more organs thus control its physiological functions and its secreations. Too much activity (hyperfunctions) or too little activity (hypofunctions) in the organ can cause disturbance or blockage of the flow of the Qi along invisible pathways or meridians results in poor health, illness or pain. Think of the normal flow of qi as the normal traffic flow. Too much qi or qi excess means driving a car 100 mph on a freeway with 65mph speed limit which means accident. Too little qi or qi deficency means driving at 5mph on a freeway which results congestions. Congestion in our body can cause the delayed or reduced delivery of necessary oxygen, sugar, nutrients, hormones and delayed or reduced removal of bio-waste. By inserting a few hair-thin solid disposable pins into acupuncture points at various often seemingly unrelated locations, acupuncturist seeks to restored that balance by increasing or reducing the qi in the affected meridians and to remove the blockage, thereby restoring health.
Acupuncture has been safely practiced over thousands of years. Some concern has been raised about the transmission of disease by the needles. The best and the safest way is to ask if the acupuncturist uses only disposable needles and go to only the acupuncturist who does.
Most infertility people can benefit from acupuncture, particularly those who have tried on their own unsuccessfully for over a year or those who have tried failed one or two cycles intra-uterine-insemination (IUI) or in-vitro-fertilization (IVF). For these patients, there is frequently an underlining internal imbalance exists in the body that do not shown itself thru ultrasound or blood tests or laproscopy. An acupuncturist can detect such imbalance by looking tell tale signs such as cold hand or feet, color of the tongue, the strength of the pulse at different locations and many others factors such as digestions, stress, sleep, and the impact of the environment, cold, heat, dryness etc. on the patient. Once the imbalance is found, acupuncture for infertility treatments will be prescribed to restore healthy state of balance.
One benefit to acupuncture is that it is a drug-free way to minimize pain. With drugs, people often develop a tolerance, or the need for an increased dosage to achieve the same required effect. However, this does not happen with acupuncture. In addition, acupuncture allows the doctor to immediately examine a person's response to the treatment and adjust it if necessary.
Irregular periods can make getting pregnant more difficult, but they don't necessarily mean you won't be able to get pregnant on your own. The cause of your irregular periods, how irregular your periods are, and whether or not you can time sex for pregnancy accurately will all factor into the chances of your getting pregnant.
Chinese herbs are categorized as foods supplements and not as drugs in the U.S. In China, these herbal formulations were created as early as 220AD and through out the past 1800 years. Unlike new Western medications, it has a long history of safe use. Time of several hundreds years has filtered out most of unsafe herbs or foods. These herbs are used treat the root cause of an imbalance neither of an individual as determined by an experienced practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine and are never intended as an over the counter self-determined supplements nor as a symptoms oriented commercialized product. Such practice adds an additional layer of safety. The safe herbs can become unsafe when it is misconstrued and mis-promoted by herbal companies for the use by the general public. The herba ephedra is an example. While it is extremely safe when it is used in the traditional formula in small dose with other herbs such as MahungTang for Colds and Flu, it is never used as a single herb at large for weight loss. Such misuse has caused serious side effect for a few consumers. There are a few possible but very infrequent adverse reactions one may expect such as dry mouth, flatulence, or a temporary change in bowel movements. A change of dose or discontinuing the herb will resolve the problem.
Herbs are plants. Some raw plants contain plant trace amount of estrogen and some contains trace amount progesterone. The herbs are hormone-free. All herbs have been boiled at the manufacture to destroy its hormones. They can be taken before or even during (if needed) IUI and IVF cycles.
Yes. There are more than 2,000 licensed acupuncturist in Australia with AHPRA.
