Male infertility is the most common reason for couples in the UK to have IVF treatment, according to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s (HFEA) report for 2014-2016. Their data showed that 37 % of all couples having IVF were due to male infertility problems.
In the West, there has been a decline in the average male sperm count by 40 to 50% over the last 40 years.
Some of the factors that can affect sperm quality are:
- Smoking
- Alcohol
- Paternal age
- Stress and tiredness
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Being overweight
- Nutritional deficiencies and poor diet
- Environmental pollutants (Bioaccumulation of oestrogenic compounds)
- Low level infections
- Sporting injuries
Regular acupuncture treatments, nutritional advice and addressing issues of work-life balance, can help to greatly improve male health and in consequence improve sperm quality.
Research studies carried out by Dieterle (2009), Siterman (2009) and Pei (2005) have shown that acupuncture treatments can help to improve sperm mobility, sperm count and sperm quality, respectively.
Acupuncture can help to increase male fertility by:
- Helping to improve sperm count, morphology, and motility
- Improves energy levels
- Increases libido
- Balances the hormones and regulates testosterone levels.
- Helps reduce stress and anxiety levels
Lastly, improving your well-being will help to support both you and your partner through the IVF process.
I have specialised in acupuncture for fertility, IVF, ART and pregnancy for many years. In 1997 and 1998 I interned with Zita West at her acupuncture antenatal clinic at Warwick Hospital and again with Sarah Budd in 2000 at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, where Sarah was the first midwife to set up an acupuncture service for pregnant women in the NHS. During 1999-2002 I ran a multi-bed fertility and pregnancy clinic at the College of Traditional Acupuncture, Leamington Spa.
Whilst running my clinics, I have lectured at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, on acupuncture during pregnancy and ran workshops for trainee midwives at Oxford Brookes University, on the use of moxibustion for helping to turn breech babies and on acupuncture for antenatal and postnatal conditions.
As a certified Tui Na practitioner (Chinese therapeutic massage based on the acupuncture points and meridian channels), I have found it very effective to combine both acupuncture and Tui Na techniques to assist my fertility clients.
I have been a contributor to Pregnancy and Birth magazine and to the National Childbirth Trust publications (NCT) and was a member of the Acupuncture forChildbirth Team (ACT) Oxfordshire.
For all appointments or enquiries, please call me on 07485 042302
or email: enquiries@sarahbrownacupuncture.co.uk
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