Supporting your journey to motherhood naturally

If you're preparing for IVF, you've likely spent hours researching how to give yourself the best possible chance of success. Acupuncture is one of the most well-supported complementary therapies in reproductive medicine — and how you use it matters as much as whether you use it.

Why Acupuncture and IVF Work Well Together

Acupuncture supports IVF by increasing blood flow to the uterus and ovaries, regulating the hormones involved in follicle development and ovulation, reducing the stress and anxiety that can interfere with implantation, and improving the receptivity of the uterine lining. Studies published in journals including Fertility and Sterility have shown that acupuncture performed on the day of embryo transfer can improve implantation and pregnancy rates.

The Ideal Timeline: Starting 3 Months Before Retrieval

The eggs that will be retrieved in your IVF cycle take approximately 90 days to mature. This means that what you do three months before retrieval can directly influence egg quality. Starting acupuncture at least 3 months before your retrieval date gives Janice time to improve ovarian blood flow, support follicle development, regulate your cycle, and address any underlying imbalances in your TCM constitution.

During Your IVF Stimulation Phase

Weekly acupuncture sessions during your stimulation phase help manage the side effects of fertility medications — bloating, mood swings, headaches, and fatigue — while continuing to support healthy follicle development and uterine lining thickness.

The Day of Embryo Transfer

This is where the research is strongest. Acupuncture performed within 24 hours of embryo transfer — ideally before and after the procedure — has been shown to improve implantation rates. Janice offers flexible scheduling to accommodate transfer days, including short-notice appointments.

After Transfer: The Two-Week Wait

The two-week wait is one of the most emotionally challenging parts of IVF. Acupuncture during this period helps calm the nervous system, reduce anxiety, support progesterone levels, and improve uterine blood flow — creating the most favorable environment possible for implantation.

What to Discuss at Your First Visit

Bring your IVF protocol and timeline to your first appointment. Janice will coordinate your acupuncture schedule around your retrieval and transfer dates, and can communicate with your reproductive endocrinologist if needed. The goal is seamless, collaborative care.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) affects up to 10% of women of reproductive age and is the most common cause of female infertility. If you've been diagnosed with PCOS and are trying to conceive, you know how frustrating and uncertain the journey can feel. Traditional Chinese Medicine offers a powerful, drug-free approach to restoring the hormonal balance your body needs to ovulate regularly and conceive.

What PCOS Looks Like in TCM

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, PCOS is typically understood as a pattern involving kidney deficiency, liver qi stagnation, and phlegm-dampness accumulation. These patterns disrupt the smooth flow of energy and blood to the reproductive organs, leading to the hormonal irregularities — elevated androgens, insulin resistance, and anovulation — that characterize PCOS.

How Acupuncture Addresses PCOS

Research, including studies from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, has shown that acupuncture can reduce testosterone levels and improve ovulation frequency in women with PCOS. Specifically, acupuncture helps by stimulating the nervous system to regulate reproductive hormones, improving insulin sensitivity, promoting regular ovulation, reducing LH/FSH ratio imbalances, and decreasing ovarian cyst activity.

Chinese Herbs for PCOS

Herbal medicine is a powerful complement to acupuncture for PCOS. Janice may recommend formulas containing herbs like Dang Gui (angelica root) to regulate the cycle, Bai Shao (white peony) to reduce androgens, and Fu Ling (poria) to address phlegm-dampness. All herbal recommendations are personalized to your specific TCM pattern and diagnosis.

Lifestyle Recommendations

Alongside acupuncture and herbs, Janice will discuss dietary changes that support insulin sensitivity (such as reducing refined carbohydrates and sugar), appropriate exercise, and stress management — all of which significantly impact PCOS symptoms and fertility outcomes.

Realistic Expectations

Most women with PCOS begin to see improvements in their cycle regularity within 3-6 months of consistent treatment. For those pursuing IVF or IUI alongside acupuncture, results are often seen more quickly. Janice will track your progress and adjust your treatment plan at each session.

If you've been told your egg quality is a concern — whether because of age, diminished ovarian reserve, or poor IVF outcomes — you're not alone, and you're not without options. While egg quality is influenced by genetics and age, emerging research suggests that the environment in which eggs mature can be meaningfully improved. Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine are among the most promising natural approaches available.

What Determines Egg Quality?

Egg quality refers to the chromosomal integrity and mitochondrial health of an egg — factors that determine whether it can be successfully fertilized and develop into a healthy embryo. Key influences include ovarian blood flow (poor circulation means less oxygen and nutrients reaching developing follicles), oxidative stress (free radical damage to egg DNA), hormonal environment during the 90-day maturation window, and mitochondrial energy production within the egg itself.

How Acupuncture Supports Egg Quality

Acupuncture directly addresses several of the factors that compromise egg quality. By increasing blood flow to the ovaries, it delivers more oxygen, nutrients, and hormones to maturing follicles. By regulating the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis, it creates a more balanced hormonal environment. And by reducing cortisol and activating the parasympathetic nervous system, it lowers the oxidative stress that damages developing eggs.

Chinese Herbs for Egg Quality

Several Chinese herbs have been studied for their effects on ovarian function and egg quality. Janice may recommend formulas containing Shu Di Huang (rehmannia) to nourish kidney yin and blood, Tu Si Zi (cuscuta seed) to tonify kidney yang and support follicle development, and He Shou Wu (polygonum) for its antioxidant properties. CoQ10 and other supplements may also be recommended alongside herbal therapy.

The 90-Day Window

Because eggs take approximately 90 days to mature, the most impactful time to begin treatment is 3 months before your intended conception attempt or IVF retrieval. This gives Janice the full maturation window to improve the environment in which your eggs are developing. Starting earlier is always better, but even 4-6 weeks of treatment can make a meaningful difference.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the postpartum period is considered one of the most important and vulnerable times in a woman's life. After the extraordinary physical effort of pregnancy and birth, your body needs deep nourishment, warmth, and rest to recover fully. Acupuncture offers gentle, targeted support for the many challenges new mothers face — from physical healing to emotional well-being.

Postpartum Depression and Anxiety

Up to 1 in 5 new mothers experience postpartum depression or anxiety. In TCM, this is understood as blood deficiency and heart spirit disturbance following the significant blood loss of childbirth. Acupuncture helps by regulating serotonin and dopamine levels, calming the nervous system, nourishing blood, and supporting the emotional transition into motherhood. Many mothers notice a meaningful lift in mood and energy after just a few sessions.

Fatigue and Energy Recovery

The exhaustion of new parenthood is real — and in TCM, it's understood as qi and blood deficiency that needs active replenishment. Acupuncture combined with warming herbal formulas helps restore your vital energy, supports adrenal function, and rebuilds the reserves depleted during pregnancy and birth.

Breastfeeding Support

Acupuncture can help stimulate milk production in mothers with low supply, and reduce engorgement and mastitis in those with oversupply. Specific points along the stomach and liver meridians are used to regulate prolactin and support healthy lactation.

Physical Recovery

Whether you had a vaginal birth or cesarean, acupuncture supports physical healing by increasing circulation to healing tissues, reducing scar tissue formation, relieving back and pelvic pain, and addressing diastasis recti recovery. It can also help with night sweats, hair loss, and the hormonal fluctuations common in the weeks and months after birth.

When to Start

Acupuncture can safely begin as soon as 1-2 weeks after a vaginal birth, or 4-6 weeks after a cesarean. The first few months postpartum are the most important window for recovery — the care you receive now will affect your health for years to come. You deserve support too.

Receiving a diagnosis of "unexplained infertility" can feel like hitting a wall. You've done all the tests, everything looks normal on paper, and yet conception isn't happening. It's one of the most frustrating and emotionally draining experiences a couple can face. But here's something important to understand: unexplained doesn't mean untreatable. It simply means that the current tools of Western medicine haven't identified the cause — not that a cause doesn't exist.

What Western Medicine May Miss

Conventional fertility testing is excellent at identifying structural problems, hormone levels, and sperm parameters — but it doesn't assess subclinical issues like subtle immune responses affecting implantation, mitochondrial health of eggs and sperm, micro-circulation to the uterus and ovaries, nervous system dysregulation affecting reproductive hormones, or the impact of chronic stress on the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis.

The TCM Perspective on Unexplained Infertility

Traditional Chinese Medicine approaches the body as an integrated system. Where Western medicine sees normal test results, TCM practitioners often identify patterns of imbalance that can affect fertility — kidney yin or yang deficiency reducing the vitality of reproductive essence, liver qi stagnation disrupting smooth hormone flow, blood stasis reducing circulation to the uterus, or spleen deficiency affecting the body's ability to nourish and sustain a pregnancy.

How Acupuncture Helps

For couples with unexplained infertility, acupuncture works on multiple levels simultaneously. It improves uterine and ovarian blood flow, regulates the hormonal cascade involved in ovulation and implantation, modulates immune function to create a more receptive uterine environment, reduces cortisol and nervous system activation that can suppress reproductive function, and addresses the emotional toll of the fertility journey itself.

A Collaborative Approach

Janice works alongside your fertility specialist to provide complementary care that fills the gaps Western medicine may leave. Many reproductive endocrinologists in Los Angeles actively recommend acupuncture for their unexplained infertility patients — and the combination of both approaches often achieves what neither could accomplish alone.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, food has been considered medicine for thousands of years. What you eat directly influences the quality of your blood, the warmth of your uterus, the vitality of your reproductive essence, and your body's ability to conceive and sustain a pregnancy. Here's a practical guide to nourishing your fertility from the inside out.

Foods That Support Fertility in TCM

Blood-nourishing foods: Dark leafy greens, beets, black beans, dates, eggs, grass-fed beef, chicken, and bone broth are considered essential for building the blood that nourishes the uterine lining and supports egg development. In TCM, blood deficiency is one of the most common patterns underlying fertility challenges.

Kidney-tonifying foods: The kidneys govern reproductive essence in TCM. Foods like black sesame seeds, walnuts, kidney beans, seaweed, and wild-caught fish nourish kidney energy and support both egg and sperm quality.

Warming foods: A cold uterus is a TCM concept that refers to insufficient circulation and yang energy in the reproductive organs. Warming foods like ginger, cinnamon, lamb, and cooked root vegetables help maintain the warmth needed for implantation.

Foods to Minimize

Cold and raw foods (which can reduce digestive fire and uterine warmth), excessive sugar and refined carbohydrates (which worsen insulin resistance and inflammation), alcohol and caffeine (which can disrupt hormonal balance), and highly processed foods (which contribute to oxidative stress) are all worth reducing during your fertility journey.

Chinese Herbs for Fertility

Dang Gui (Angelica Root): Often called the "female ginseng," Dang Gui nourishes blood, regulates the menstrual cycle, and improves uterine circulation. It is one of the most commonly prescribed herbs for fertility in TCM.

Tu Si Zi (Cuscuta Seed): A powerful kidney tonic that supports both egg quality and sperm motility. Frequently used in formulas for diminished ovarian reserve and male factor infertility.

Bai Shao (White Peony Root): Nourishes liver blood, regulates hormones, and has been shown in research to reduce elevated androgens in women with PCOS.

He Shou Wu (Polygonum): A renowned longevity herb that tonifies kidney essence and has antioxidant properties that may protect egg quality.

An Important Note on Herbal Safety

Chinese herbal formulas should always be prescribed by a qualified TCM practitioner. Self-prescribing herbs during fertility treatment or pregnancy can be unsafe. Janice provides personalized herbal consultations to ensure your formula is appropriate for your specific constitution, diagnosis, and any medications or fertility treatments you may be undergoing.