Male Infertility Treatment: Acupuncture Found to be Helpful

Contrary to popular opinion that infertility is usually due to female (gynaecological) problems, in about one in five infertile couples, there are problems relating to the male. Usually, problems with the number or quality of sperm produced stop many couples from becoming pregnant.

Naturally, men are shocked to learn that difficulties in having a baby can be due to reproductive problems on their side. Men can experience stress and frustration and these emotions are not often shared with their partners. So men can find it difficult to cope with male infertility.

Today, various treatment options are available. For a few years now, acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine have been very helpful. Below are some studies showing that acupuncture can improve male fertility.

ACUPUNCTURE IMPROVES SPERM QUALITY

A study of the effect of acupuncture on sperm quality in men suffering infertility of unknown cause, found that after twice weekly treatment for five weeks, there were fewer structural sperm defects (acrosome position and shape, nuclear shape, axonemal pattern and shape, and accessory fibres of sperm organelles) and an increase in the number of normal sperm ejaculated. Other sperm abnormalities such as immature or dead sperm were not affected. (Fertility and Sterility, Volume 84, Issue 1 , July 2005, Pages 141-147).

Meanwhile there is evidence that infertility may now be affecting more men than women. Intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), in which a single sperm is injected straight into an egg and is normally used in cases where the sperm is of too poor quality to permit conventional fertilisation has become the most commonly used technique in Europe and now outnumbers conventional IVF. (European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology annual conference, Copenhagen, 2005).

And in the Merseyside and Cheshire health districts in Britain, the number of men seeking treatment for infertility has risen by nearly 70% in the past four years with ICSI now accounting for 60% of the ICSI/IVF treatments carried out at the Liverpool Women’s Hospital.

ACUPUNCTURE IMPROVES SPERM MOTILITY

The first prospective, randomised, single-blind, placebo-controlled study of the effect of acupuncture in infertile men with severe oligoasthenozoospermia has shown that acupuncture can improve sperm motility.

The German study, involving 29 men, compared TCM acupuncture with placebo acupuncture. A significantly higher percentage of motile sperm was found after real acupuncture. No effect of acupuncture on sperm concentration was observed. (A prospective randomized placebo-controlled study of the effect of acupuncture in infertile patients with severe oligoasthenozoospermia. Fertil Steril. 2009 Apr 24.)

Finally, as the number of infertility cases rise in Australia, acupuncture and Chinese medicine will play an important role in helping infertile men father healthy children. I look forward to being of assistance if you sufffer from male infertility.

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Dr Pier Tsui-Po Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine Clinic
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Suite 8 - Level 1, 50 Kangan Drive, Berwick 3806,
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Telephone: 9796 2388