Fertility

Studies reviewed by Weill Cornell Medical Center found that acupuncture helps to increase blood flow to the uterus, which can improve the chances of implantation, to reduce the stress and anxiety that may decrease fertility, and to regulate the menstrual cycle and the hormones that govern ovulation, including in polycystic ovarian syndrome. Chinese herbal medicine and nutrition are used to address the same imbalance from the inside.

No. Many patients come while trying naturally, before they have seen a fertility specialist, or to prepare the body for a cycle they are planning. Others come after a diagnosis or a failed cycle. Some have been told their infertility is unexplained: the standard workup came back normal and conception still has not happened. Chinese medicine still reads a pattern there, from your cycle, sleep, digestion, stress, tongue and pulse, and treats that pattern alongside your reproductive endocrinologist's plan, as our page on trouble conceiving explains. The first visit is the same either way: understanding your pattern and building a plan around it.

Points are chosen from your pattern, not from a fixed fertility recipe. A treatment usually uses 8 to 20 hair-thin, single-use needles on the legs, arms, abdomen, back or ears, left in for 20 to 30 minutes, and the selection changes after ovulation and again once you are pregnant. Two patients with the same diagnosis can be needled quite differently. Our guide on how acupuncture supports fertility explains what the needling does in the body.

Often, but not always, and never a single herb for fertility. When herbs suit your pattern, Dr. Schiff prescribes a formula built for you, taken daily between visits and adjusted as the cycle moves from before ovulation to after it. Bring a list of every medication and supplement you take so the formula is chosen with them in mind. During IVF stimulation and after embryo transfer, many reproductive endocrinologists prefer that their patients take no herbs, and we follow your doctor's preference: the herbs pause and the acupuncture continues.

Regular treatment is what produces results, and plans are individual. Patients preparing for IVF often begin three months before their procedure, and preparation can start anywhere from one week to three months before a cycle. Your plan is tailored to you and adjusted as your body responds.

Yes. Many of our fertility patients come to us while working with a reproductive endocrinologist. During a cycle, acupuncture is typically performed once or twice a week to manage side effects and support the body. An early trial reported higher pregnancy rates with acupuncture on the day of embryo transfer, but later and larger trials did not confirm it, and patients mainly use it for stress and side effects; does acupuncture improve IVF success rates walks through that evidence. We work closely with reproductive endocrinologists in South Florida and are fluent in the protocols their patients follow, and the cycle-by-cycle plan is on our acupuncture for IVF page.

A long conversation. We go through your health history, your cycle, your sleep, digestion, energy, and stress, and use the diagnostic methods of Chinese medicine, such as reading the tongue and pulse, to look at the person as a whole. From that we identify your fertility type and put together a plan of acupuncture, herbal medicine, and nutrition.

Fertility care happens at our office, 12773 Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 1215, Wellington, FL 33414, by appointment only. Dr. Schiff sees you at every visit, from the first conversation to the last treatment, with no handoffs. On transfer day she can treat you on site at your fertility clinic, and if you live too far for weekly visits, video consultations cover the herbal and nutritional side of your plan.

Yes. Coverage for acupuncture varies by plan, so we can verify your benefits before you arrive. Complete the online form on our New Patient Forms page and we will contact you as soon as your benefits are established.