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The Fertility Journey

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Disclaimer: The following is an actual transcript. We do our best to make sure the transcript is as accurate as possible, however, it may contain spelling or grammatical errors. Due to the unique language of acupuncture, there will be errors, so we suggest you watch the video while reading the transcript.

Hi, my name is Tsao-Lin Moy and I am a licensed acupuncturist, herbalist and massage therapy. With a brick and mortar office in Union Square in New York City. So I’d like to thank the American Acupuncture Council for sponsoring these events and presentations. And today I’m gonna be talking and sharing with you about the five top things to address when you’re working with fertility patients.

And so we’re going to go to the slides right now. Okay. . So these are the top five areas that we wanna address with our patients, especially when they’re struggling to conceive. Now I’ve been practicing for over 21 years, and I do have a very high success rate with treating patients, and this is because I always ha like address these areas aside from acupuncture and herbal formulations.

These are some key things that if you don’t address them, then you’re not gonna have the same success. Okay, and go the next slide. So you probably already know that fertility is, or infertility is a really big problem and it continues to grow, not only in the US but throughout the world. In most developing countries, at least 12% of the population is struggling with issues of infertility, and in particular in the us one in eight couples are experiencing infertility, and one third of them is also related to male issues, not just female issues.

Though what I do have to say is mostly you see female patients because they’re a little more proactive and they’re, they have hormonal fluctuations and stress really will affect their hormones. So the first and most important, which I find is mindset. Many of the patients that come to see me are super stressed out, and probably the same with you, that they’ve already gone through trying on their own getting frustrated, going to a fertility clinic.

And then being told that maybe they have low A m H, high F, SS, h that their cycles are all off, that they’re getting too old. And what that does is that creates a huge negative mindset. And so one of the issues is that, If the, your couples are already thinking that they’re not gonna be able to conceive, or they’re getting lots of information that is not good for them, like off the internet, then they’re gonna be approaching everything as a problem and it’s gonna be a lot harder for them to look for a solution.

So you might find that they come to you and say, oh, how can I fix my hormones? Or oh I don’t know, when I’m ovulating or I have polycystic ovary syndrome, which is something that’s, coming up as a polycystic ovary awareness month is coming up in September. . But what we do know is that research shows is that what you think really matters and having a positive outlook is gonna help to cope better with stressful situations, especially for couples that are trying to conceive.

And it also will reduce like negative health effects on the body. So what I would say is you have to listen to your patients really carefully about what they’re saying about their fertility and then . Keep an eye on that because if that is an ongoing theme with them and they’re focusing on that, then what happens is they’re not focusing on the bigger picture, which is overall health is gonna make a difference with fertility.

So what we look at is, and this is like the number one thing that I have my patients do not just only relating to fertility, but also to anything when someone has back pain and they’re like, oh, maybe I’m never gonna be able to go skiing, or, I’m ne maybe I’m not gonna be able to go running or play tennis anymore.

Those are . Worrisome. And so the focus is really, it’s not just only on the pain, it’s also gonna be on the stress that, what does that mean for an active life? A key thing which I would say is that many women’s self-worth is attached to their ability to getting pregnant. And they have these secret fears and limiting beliefs that are gonna leak into their thoughts, and that undermines their confidence. So even though they may be coming and doing all of those things that they actually might be working against themselves, right? So we’re creating this resistance or creating more internal stress.

So the beliefs and fears, they actually create an energetic, spiritual, and emotional block. And that actually affects the physical body. So what we’re offering them is an experience of themselves in a new way. So when they come for acupuncture, when they come and they get herbs and we speak to them Not so much in the Western medical, dialogue, but really talking about balancing their yin and yang increasing the blood flow, the flow of their tea improving sleep.

Those kinds of things are not the same language that will trigger them into worry. Okay. So this is one of the exercises that I give to my patients and it helps them to develop that fertility mindset. And it’s an exercise. So oftentimes, we don’t realize, and this applies to everything, that we speak negatively to ourselves, all a lot.

And that’s what causes a lot of that tension and stress. Can I do it? I can’t do it, or I’m not good enough. So what I have my patients do is think of two or three of these secret fears or limiting beliefs around conceiving a child or even being a parent. So things like I hear often, my eggs aren’t good, there must be something wrong.

It’s taking so long. I’m all alone or I’m too old. Instead, what they need to do is replace each one of these with something that’s gonna be empowering to them and help pull them forward. My eggs are in my body are strong. I’m completely functional and normal. I trust my partner will be a good parent.

My hormones are perfectly balanced and the time is now. So these are things to counter the negative beliefs. Oftentimes, you can’t stop ’em. What you can do is replace them. And another thing too is really that visualizing that it’s gonna happen. So oftentimes I have them create, I don’t have it in the slideshow, but create the a vision board really, whatever it is that you want.

Looking through a magazine, this beautiful car, this beautiful home, or what is that? That it’s really important that there is a positive image for them. So they keep moving in that direction versus looking at things or worrying about things that are, that haven’t happened and really aren’t true. So the second thing the second tip is to remove the causes of unnecessary strep.

Stress and to help your patients with the strategy. So one of the strategies is helping them with that mindset. This is also an exercise to encourage and support that. So one of the things that I would say is clear the cookies on your computer or your phone, all of the searches. Oftentimes, I’m sure you find that patients are searching their condition finding all of these like chat rooms that have problems and really the worst things that are there.

And then you get stuck in an algorithm that has a lot of clickbait and negative stories and tragedy, right? And so this is something that they need to stop doing. And really if they have a question to, to talk to you about it and you help them also, what I find is when my patients are going to fertility clinics that they’ll tend to filter for the negative stuff instead of the positive.

So they’ll . Tell me, oh, my doctor said I might have this, or this could be a problem. Or they’re testing for something and then they tend to focus on something that’s negative and not on what is actually positive. And then oftentimes in a medical office, there’s this kind of a, I don’t want to have, encourage too much positive expectations so you’re not disappointed.

So they like to manage disappointment which is . In my opinion, not their job, . And then the other thing is really what I call, French Way. If you’ve ever heard of that, people who are not helpful. Start to give you their opinion or talk about all the negative things. Oh, I know someone who had never happened and they spent, a hundred thousand dollars on I V F, or, then they had children, problem child or something like that.

And so these are really things that you teach your patients to create this container. For this thing that they want. And this not just applies with getting pregnant and having a family, but it also applies to everything else. If you wanna lose weight or get healthier, start to run a marathon.

Do things for your, develop a practice. It’s really you have to look at who are the people surrounding you and if your patients are coming to you. For help and assistance in this area, they’re already looking for something different, so we don’t wanna feed back to them the same kind of negativity and fears that they may have.

And a lot of that too is gonna have to do with, our dialogue. How do we talk to them? Do we use a lot of western dialogue or do we help to shift them into the language and metaphor of Chinese medicine? So the third tip that I suggest to my patients is to ditch those digital apps.

And those are because they cause a lot of stress. And the other thing, and then is to teach your patients how to monitor where their fertile window is, and using a low tech way to do it on paper. And the reason that I have my patients do it on paper is because the digital apps. Do they take into account like an average of a standard and really with, women individually, there might be variations in the cycle.

So oftentimes one of the problems that’ll show up is that my patients are saying like, oh, but my app says. That I should be ovulating at this time or that I should do this, or in some cases I’ve seen that an app will change their ovulation time, like go back and change the history of it to accommodate an algorithm.

And then what you have is someone trying to fit into . What a standard is, which is not necessarily for them, right? It’s like a general and we’re really looking individually. And so the other thing too is you might ask yourself, why would we use charts and thermometers and pee sticks when there are all these electronic monitors, right?

And fancy phone apps. And so here’s the thing. Electronics are a huge trigger for a stress response, and stress is one of the biggest barriers for conception, right? So this also relates to the previous exercises, like what else is, causing stress, which will disrupt hormones.

So no matter what, we know, we also need to address the diet. Now this can be a trigger for patients that might have eating disorders or previous eating disorders because it can trigger something. And also in our fast-paced, Daily life, we tend to have things delivered and it says it’s organic. But the other thing too is that all these organic drinks are in these plastic bottles.

And and also we’re trying to reduce sugar and artificial sweeteners are also become a problem with hormones and the microbiome. So cutting out processed foods, not only does it mean like fast food, I also consider things that are processed even though they’re quote unquote healthy.

So really the focus on whole and organic foods and really no alcohol is, not good for the immune system and also causes like a lot of other problems. So I don’t need to go into, for the and most . Patients are, especially the women are not drinking alcohol or even caffeine.

The thing is that their partner also needs to be like doing something as well. So a lot of the time the burden is on the female. Part of the couple and really both male and female need to participate. And even though it wasn’t in the other slide, that becomes a real issue when and I’m sure you see it, is the woman is focusing on her cycle, her chart, and when she’s fertile.

Totally stressing out. The partner may be like, whatever. And that creates a lot of distress because they’re not working on this together. So as much as you can include both of the couples or both, male and female or if it’s a, . Same sex couples in, in any way that you can have them participate as a couple, then it increases their support, especially at home, right?

’cause there’s only so much we can do. But really those are things to address. And in my practice I do ask like, how are things with your partner with it? Because when one partner gets super stressed out, That creates that can create a wedge in the relationship. And then we, I see that a lot, and sometimes the other partners, I don’t even recognize them.

They’re like so obsessed. They can become obsessed. So I put in with a star, an excellent prenatal vitamin. Now here’s the thing. A lot of patients that show up, they have done lots of research and I also find that they’re taking like way too many supplements. And this is gonna be something that’s more individual.

I would look at things that are gonna be basic in . For needs especially like B vitamins, some vitamin D like something like that. Some zinc definitely for men are gonna need to take something, some zinc, vitamin D, vitamin E, to improve the sperm. But also I just have a little star there because oftentimes, Taking lots of vitamins is equating to taking a pharmaceutical right?

Kind of not really looking oh, I don’t really need to eat well because I take vitamins. And really eating whole foods is also a practice, right? It’s something part of self-care, something you’re doing for yourself, something that you’re choosing every time instead of . Like robotically just, taking things.

And again, the partner needs to be taking supplements. It, I also added in here eliminating plastics as I mentioned. Like a lot of the drinks, even though they’re healthy, they’re in a lot of plastics and everything is in plastic. And also a lot of soaps and shampoos because those actually break down like cell membranes.

And they are hormonal disruptors. So those are our things to have your patient kind of Hey, maybe eliminate change some of these detergents and hand sanitizers. So the next is inflammation. So inflammation from . The chemicals were exposed to all around us. The pollutions the limp system is, something that helps to process metabolic waste and all hormones and nutrients and waste products actually go to and from the cells.

They pass through this intracellular matrix known as our lymph system, and we can’t remove. Toxins properly or hormonal imbalances and different kind of enzymes and stuff if our lymph system is not working properly. So all of the, that kind of inflammation and waste gets deposited in the tissues.

Now, if you’re working with patients that are undergoing fertility treatments and they’re taking a lot of hormones. One of the big complaints is that they start to gain weight around their middle. And so they get a lot of swelling, they get inflamed. And so really important is to have them do some lymphatic massage or you can show them some exercises, to move the lymph.

Exercise is one of the things that’ll help. But more like gentle exercise like yoga and tai chi, like all of those things that we prescribe our patients. But not just because it’s mindfulness, but really these are the movements that are gonna help to remove inflammation and metabolic waste and ultimately, that helps to balance the body.

And it’s also good to give them as an exercise so they’re being proactive. I. They’re on their fertility journey. I cannot emphasize more the importance of sleep. And this really ties back to what is the, our balance of yin and yang. And one of the things is like sleep deprivation is not only gonna interfere with your circadian rhythm, it’s the biological clock.

And that’s what actually . Tells the body when to release different hormones. Now, it’s not only important that you’re getting seven hours or uninterrupt like deep sleep. It’s also important that it’s at night, right? So we take advantage of the nighttime and that we’re producing enough. Melatonin, which is known as the hormone of darkness.

So that will actually then have restful sleep and have energy during the day. So studies actually show that. Sleep deprivation actually really affects men in a way. And it’s interesting because men are considered more young that it’ll affect their sperm production and really, and it’s important that they sleep at night in particular.

So there are studies around that. And really the sleep effects in relation to fertility because it is part of hormonal production, right? So this is something where we don’t have to prescribe hormones ’cause it’s not in our scope. To help to balance hormones and then also if your patients are undergoing fertility treatments to really not work against what they’re doing, right?

So you want your body to be in rhythm Alright, so just a review. I actually gave you six things mindset removing the stressors, ditching, digital addressing inflammation food and sleep. And that’s the end of the show.

Grief and Fertility Challenges: Part 2

So we’re going to continue with grief and fertility challenges, and let’s go to the slides. Then there are the women who are diagnosed with secondary infertility.

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Hi, this is Dr. Martha Lucas, and we are going to today continue with the presentation on grief and fertility challenges. So if you didn’t get to see the last presentation, the first part of this, make sure you go back and watch it. I want to thank the American Acupuncture Council for hosting this webinar and remind you that.

I have a private practice in Denver, Colorado, and Littleton, Colorado, and I am happy for you to contact me if you have any questions about this presentation. So we’re going to continue with grief and fertility challenges, and let’s go to the slides. Then there are the women who are diagnosed with secondary infertility.

Now, this is a little bit of a nebulous term, and it means these women have had a successful pregnancy. They’ve given birth, but they are struggling to get pregnant. I. The second time, and it’s interesting to them because they’re like shocked. What happened? I had a baby already. I, and statistics show that once you have a pregnancy, once you give, have a successful birth, that your chances of getting pregnant are higher.

The second time, but there is this thing called secondary infertility where women have a little bit of a hard time getting pregnant that second time. Now why? Did they get, have some scarring on the fallopian tubes? Did they have a previous C-section that led to some scarring? The causes can be varied.

And grief can also become a factor in grieving the idea that their child doesn’t have a sibling. Because again, I’ve worked with many women who only have one child. They, for some health reason or whatever, they couldn’t have another child, and so they have a layer of grief about I wanted to have more than one child.

My whole life, all I thought about was being a mother and having a . Whole slew of kids around. I want my child to have a playmate. Some people feel sorry for their only child. They feel like maybe they’re lonely. They don’t have anybody to walk to school with. They have to play by themselves, and all of that can increase their grief.

They can grieve who they used to. To be before their diagnosis. Now, it seems that everything is about appointments that you have to set up, you have to show up for, you have to infuse all your energy into all of these processes and procedures, and sometimes all of this. Grief, just even generalized grief, not even fertility.

Challenge grief can take away the comfort that we used to get in the little things like taking a walk or meeting a friend for lunch or reading, going to a coffee shop, or going to a park and reading. And then even the bigger things, not being happy at family gatherings in with grief sometimes, especially longstanding grief.

It. It just takes away the satisfaction or joy that you get in what used to be joyful experiences. Sometimes women who used to pursue hobbies or their passions are now too tired, too distracted, or too sad to do those things that used to bring them joy. They feel like they used to be a generally happy, optimistic, hopeful person, but now they feel like a shell over their formal.

Former selves, they say they watch those things in life happen. Like they’re watching them on a TV screen, they’re not really experiencing them. They’re in the room, they’re in the family event, but inside they are not experiencing the happiness of the event. They want to engage in life the way they used to before they had to start their infertility treatment, but they just can’t do it.

They just long for their pre. Diagnosis self, but the grief just takes over. Now what about the woman who suffers through recurrent pregnancy losses? This includes what is called a chemical pregnancy, which the pregnancy test results get lighter over time. I. Hormone levels go down and then, and sometimes unfortunately, that first promising ultrasound ends in a loss, losing a child and deciding to continue with pregnancy treatments can be the most excruciating emotional experience that a woman or a couple can have.

They for them. It seems like the losses go on and on. The things to grieve go on and on. So this is partly what we need to support people through when they’re going through this in their fertility treatment. And unfortunately, infertility is lonely. Even though you have a million appointments and you seem to have a support system, all of that does not take away that grief of trying to have or grow a family.

The wonderful support does not inherently change the circumstances of the woman plus the woman. You know it, we all want support, right? But. Part of the problem with the support is the person feeling like she’s constantly explaining what part of the process are you in right now? Or feel the myriad of responses of people saying, oh how did that go for you?

How did that last treatment turn out? Constant answering questions about what’s going on with your treatment. Where are you in the process? Are you going to do it again? There’s all of that, that even though support is good, having a support system is good. Part of a support system is having to talk about it.

And then of course the drugs, a lots of them cause powerful treatment effects, which is a good thing. But they also have strong side effects. For example, oral birth control pills. Can have very powerful side effects. And the rate of depression in women taking birth control pills is five to 50% being more common, most common in the progesterone dominant formulas.

So what does it mean in Chinese medicine? How are the organs involved? The liver is known to regulate the flow of chi and emotions. We all know that the commander of qi, it stores blood and regulates substances. Emotions cause physical disease. How? Through stagnation. Through stagnation, that causes deficiency through stagnation that causes excess.

Through the deficiency of blood. For example, the liver, blood, heart, blood, the heart governs blood and stores the she emotional stress can make heart, blood and yin deficients. See, thereby of course, there we find the shen is disturbed. The emotions are disturbed and important for fertility challenges.

Blood flow to the uterus becomes compromised. Spleen helps make digestion work well. We need the digestion to make good blood in order for us to have a successful pregnancy because digestion, that doesn’t work well and worry. Remember, in a previous , Presentation I was talking about how worry makes the digestive pulses go backwards.

All of that disrupts the flow of chi in the earth, in the center, in the spleen and stomach pulses, and that is again going to negatively affect blood flow to the uterus. Worries effect on the spleen also can lead to poor appetite, fatigue, sleeplessness, brain fog. And again, all of those are gonna be a negative effect on the woman who’s trying to get pregnant.

Grief gets stuck in the lungs so the immune system is affected and the flow of Q throughout the body can be compromised because that is part of the lungs. Job right now, you’ll recall that spleen and stomach, earth and metal lung, large intestine are the immune system. So that’s why if the lung pulse is stagnated or short because of grief, then the whole immune system can be compromised.

And again, if the lungs can’t manage the flow of Q and blood, then you’re gonna have a negative effect in the uterus. The lungs are about taping in the new and letting go of the old, but old grief and continuing grief can get stuck in the lung pulses. Some people lose the ability to connect their inside world with the outside world, and metal is about that communication.

The release of grief is essential to allowing the body to heal and get the communication with the inside and outside going again. Otherwise, the person is what we call armored. They become very heavy because of their heavy emotional burden. Grief can be separating, isolating, and it can be cutting them off from their

Relationships with the rest of the world and an important message for people who are experiencing grief is it’s okay to feel your grief. You don’t have to hold it in, as I said, and any one of you have taken a class from me, know that I tell people emotions have to be expressed. You must let them out.

You can’t leave them in ’cause they’re gonna mess up your chi. Mess up the flow of oxygen and blood in your body. And I tell them it’s okay to use your voice while you’re crying. The frontal lobe, our San Jou area will go round and round and round and round and round when you cry in silence with the same message over and over and over and over again.

But when you use your voice, when you’re grieving and crying, that . Cuts off that San Jal frontal lobe running around in a circle. So it is okay to feel your grief and it is okay to use your voice in your grief. So here’s in a, here’s a little bit of a picture of what the lung large intestine pulse might feel like.

You, it might feel like . The lung large intestine, pulse is short, it doesn’t flow. You’ll notice at the top of the picture there is the sine wave. That’s how the normal pulse would feel. Yang and yin yang and yin flowing through all of the positions. But the lung pulse in grief may feel like it’s a shorter pulse, or that little dot indicates like a naughtiness, almost like a little ball stuck in the pulse.

A spinning bean pulse, if you will. Plus the trauma of the fertility challenge and experience can leave the earth position empty. Remember, if the energy can’t flow through the lung large intestine, again, you can see it’s a flow yang and yin yang and yin all connected. But if one that’s the normal pulse on the top there.

But if the normal pulse that flow is. Stopped or stagnated by the lung pulse, then the spleen stomach isn’t going to be getting any . Energy either, and that’s the trauma pulse, that deep emptiness in the spleen stomach. And this person, believe me, if they’ve had past trauma, then this whole fertility challenge experience can key into that.

And then they’ve got a. A double problem. They’re not making good quality oxygen in blood. It’s not being floated around by the lung large intestine. And then of course, that leads to a negative effect on the flow of uterine blood. I. The patient’s experiences may also reignite, as I said, old patterns of trauma, grief from childhood, the feeling that your life is outta control.

Because believe me, as lots of women going through all of these challenges feel like their life is outta control and that their body is outta control. Their body just will not do what they want it to do, which is get pregnant and have a successful birth. So all of that can lead to that empty spleen pulse from old trauma.

Now this is what we want the normal pulse to look like. We want the left and the right to connect with each other, the kidneys, to connect with the left side and the right side. And again, if in that large intestine lung position there’s a knot or it’s short and it’s not flowing, then you’re not going to get the flow of energy through all of the organ systems.

And you’ll notice those are sign waves. The infinity symbol is a sine wave yang and yin, and then a sine wave yang and yin. So we need for the kidneys to be able to support all of the other systems. Gallbladder liver to small intestine, heart, and then back to the other side, a continuous flow of sine waves.

That is the goal of every acupuncture treatment. So that’s why if grief is negatively impacting , The one position or more than one position? It is impacting more than one position because it’s stagnated. So it’s not allowing the energy to flow over to the other side. So this is the importance of figuring out how we can release the grief in that position.

Now, one way to do it is to use. Low points, right? Maybe you open the lung and the large intestine low, or you open the spleen, stomach, low points, anything that’s going to allow you to start relieving that stagnation in the lungs. I love liver. 14 lung one, liver 14 lung one pointed out. That’s an entry, exit point, treatment, and it will take some of the pressure off of the lungs.

Plus for grief, lung two is a very important point for lifting the clouds releasing the clouds or . Releasing grief, so you know, us thinking about how can I open the lungs? Sometimes I’ll do liver 14 lung one, also kidney 27 pointed out just to really open, physically open the flow of.

The chest, allowing the person to feel more. Sometimes we need to use sky points because again, the person’s energy is stagnated. They’re not in touch with their spirit anymore. I enjoy the idea of using something like Pericardium three, heart five, heart seven. That way again, I am opening up the heart protector because

Longstanding grief can definitely start to affect the pericardium because its job is to protect the shen. So sometimes going straight for the heart pulses, going straight for the heart channel with people isn’t the best choice because their shen is tender. So approaching it from the pericardium and then moving into the heart sometimes is a better

Option but the main goal is getting the lung and large intestine channel open so that it will flow over to the other kidney side. So again, you might open kidney four, the low point on the kidneys to get that energy flowing, and the kidney is more likely to accept it and get consolidated and strong to help the woman through this fertility challenge.

As I said, we can use the low points kidney four. The, at this time the person and the kidneys might be in a . Protective mode. So opening up the kidney pulse is very good for that. I want to thank you for watching. I also want to thank the American Acupuncture Council again.

Also you can see my teaching website is lucas teachings.com and my private practice site, which as I said is my . Clinics are located in Denver and Littleton Colorado is acupuncture woman.com and feel free to contact me if you have any questions. .

Worry and Fertility – Dr. Lucas

Today’s topic is worry and fertility, because. One of the main emotions that are fertility challenged patients, or some people call them infertility patients have is worry.

Click here to download the transcript.

Hi, it’s Dr. Martha Lucas here to talk with you today about fertility. I am very happy to be here and want to thank the American Acupuncture Council for sponsoring this webinar. My offices are located in Denver and Littleton, Colorado, but I teach everywhere. And my teaching website is lucas teachings.com.

So let’s go to the slides.

Today’s topic is worry and fertility, because. One of the main emotions that are fertility challenged patients, or some people call them infertility patients have is worry. And as you know from the history of Chinese medicine, emotional conditions can cause physical disease or physical symptoms, and we are the.

When we’re in utero, we are the vibration of our parents, especially of our mother. So there is a reason for an additional reason for the mother to try to get rid of that worry pulse, that worry, that anxious energy. At least when she’s pregnant. But as I will say later, most of the time it doesn’t go away.

Which is why we need to treat her throughout her pregnancy. Because even when the end is having a healthy baby, right? That’s the end goal. Healthy baby. Healthy mother. A long struggle to conceive can take a brutal toll on the couple, the both people involved, women and men who have lived with things like anxiety, worry, sadness, depression, and other emotions that are associated with fertility challenges, they c may even have those patterns.

After the healthy birth. So even seeing the couple or the mother after the birth is important. There is a quotation by Van Golf that says there may be a great fire in our soul, but no one ever comes to warm himself by it. All that pastors by can see is a little smoke. Now we know about the fire within, right?

How many people do we pass by every day that we just see the outside? We have no idea about the raging fire, the raging worry that’s inside of them. They may have a passion or a pain inside that is so great. They feel like they can barely contain it, but we don’t see it on the outside. Now, we as practitioners, Who specialize in treating fertility, know about that raging fire.

All of us know that cousin or aunt who loves kids or a friend of ours, and we see the sadness in her eyes at baby showers, but we don’t really know the depth of that person’s pain. We can see how coworkers light up whenever people talk about their children, but we don’t really know why.

He or she didn’t have any children. In fact, it becomes a little bit of a topic that you’re not really certain how to address or begin talking with people about it. We read something once in a while about. Recurrent miscarriages and we feel sorry for the person, or we felt sorry for the person, but we couldn’t picture anyone who we knew who had lost multiple consecutive pregnancies until, as I said, we are treating fertility challenges and then we know all of these people.

And the fire inside their passion, their desire fire can leave serious damage behind. And it’s hard unless you’re treating it to fully grasp what fertility challenges involved, unless you are dealing with it personally. As I said, the worry we’re gonna talk about doesn’t go away lots of the times when you get pregnant.

One of my fertility patients, Finally, got pregnant, had a healthy live birth, then she got pregnant again. In fact, she came to see me and she said, oh, I was coming to see you because we wanna get pregnant again, but guess what? I’m pregnant already, but I’m worried. And I said, are you worried about having a miscarriage?

Because she had miscarriages already. And she said yes. And again, I still had to deal with that worry, even though. She’d already had a baby, which does not necessarily mean you’re gonna get pregnant again or easily get pregnant or pregnant at all. And I needed to explain to her, are you having symptoms of a miscarriage?

No. Okay, then let’s work on that. Worry. Like I said, many people believe that the end game is have a baby, and if they can just get that prize, all their worries about infertility will go away. But that is not how it is in real life. It’s much, much bigger than that. It the. Experience they’re going through really affects their physical and mental health in insidious and sometimes long lasting ways.

Because struggling to have a biological child is a complicated emotional process and. , it’s an invisible loss, right? There aren’t any rituals for miscarriages. There aren’t any rituals for somebody who gets pregnant and at six weeks they realize, oh, there’s no heartbeat. Or genetically speaking, where this is not gonna be a viable pregnancy.

There aren’t any rituals for that. So these people are experiencing these losses without being able to go through. Hey, I’ve had this loss and I need to grieve, and I need people to grieve with me. Now we can grieve with them, right? And we get them through it. However, There aren’t any formal rituals for it.

And then they start to feel like there’s something wrong with them. I’ve had, and I’m sure you have to, women who had previously had an abortion who feel like, oh, that’s my punishment now my punishment is I’m never gonna get pregnant. That’s of course not true, but because of their.

Feelings about it because of this constant try and lose. Try and lose. Try and lose. What happens is they start to take it internally. They start to think of themselves as a bad person or lose some of their self-esteem. They may also experience shame. And part of shame is why can’t I be happy at my girlfriends?

Baby shower. Because you’re disappointed, because you’re sad, because you’re grieving your own loss, or the potential loss, or the idea that maybe you’re never going to have a biological child, but lots of people envy makes them feel shameful. So there’s that underlay of I can’t be happy for anybody else because I can’t be happy for myself.

And then that goes into worry that they’re going to lose friends. If I can’t show my happiness at my girlfriend’s baby shower, maybe she’s not gonna wanna be my friend anymore. So you can see that their worry about it, their constant thinking about it about. Whether or not they can get pregnant, how are they gonna have to go to a baby shower?

I think we have all heard the stories of, wow, I’m trying to get pregnant, and everybody around me is pregnant. It’s amazing how many patients tell us that, that, yep, am I Another coworker came in today. They weren’t even trying, and they’re pregnant. So it’s just all consuming sometimes. And they also have the worry that their relationship will suffer and relationships have been damaged by reproductive issues because there’s so much pressure to have that biological child.

And that affects intimacy. And this is partly why I always treat the man and the woman. That’s my protocol. I do not only treat the woman. I started doing that years and years ago, because we all know it takes young and it takes yin. And if the young part of the picture is. Over here and out of it.

Then how are we going to succeed? And remember, 40% of the time, reproductive challenges are on the male side. That’s a huge. Piece of percent you can. It would theoretically suggest that your success rate could go up. Success rate, helping people get pregnant by 40% if you treat the male. So find out about and treat the male.

And partly I can tell you in terms of the pressure I’ve had men be very grateful that I’m seeing them because they say they’re a nervous wreck. They’re on call all the time. Their wife is always checking her temperature and her phone app on when she’s gonna ovulate. And it’s just a lot of.

Tension for them. Plus remember the hormones that are involved in if a woman’s gonna get I V F or some fertility clinic treatment and getting hormones, boy oh boy, those can really intensify her emotions so everything can get worse. Anger, worry, depression, all of those can be escalated and. And sometimes your easiest target or your most available target is your partner who is really trying to help you, but can feel a little helpless.

So I’ve even ex, guided couples in how often to have intercourse. Studies show that if you have intercourse every three days, you are going to within three months, hit ovulation at the right time. I’ve had men. Thank me for giving their wife that information because again, they feel pressured to have intercourse.

Too often they are happy. It’s a pleasant experience, but it starts to become unpleasant when they’re on call, when it’s pressure, when it has to happen right now. So then even their intimacy gets in this negative cycle because of the woman’s worry. And men worry about it too, about being able to have that biological child.

And remember about their experience of loss too. Fathers to be, experience a loss of a miscarriage or having to end a pregnancy because of genetic problems and unsuccessful I V F treatment cycles. Remember, they are affected too. They would like to have a biological child. They get this thing done, they, it looks good.

The wife is. Pregnant, every, the woman is pregnant, everything’s looking good, and then it doesn’t work out that way. Remember, they are a part of it too. It is an emotional loss experience for the male of the partner also of the partnership also. So again, it’s, it can be very complex. Then there’s what is called unexplained secondary infertility.

Very nebulous term, right? It starts with the word unexplained, and this is when women have successfully given birth already. , but for some reason they are not able to easily get pregnant a second time. And there are timelines on this, it’s a shock, right? They feel like wait a minute. I got pregnant so easily the first time.

Why isn’t it happening now? Why shouldn’t I be able to have another baby? Why is this happening? Why won’t my body do what it’s supposed to do? So there’s not only the first time trying to get pregnant, but also. Future times can be affected by fertility challenges and you need to obviously look at everything, health conditions, surgeries what did they have, a previous C-section, and maybe there’s some scar tissue there.

Looking at all of that for the second time around. and research has also shown that women dealing with fertility challenges have depression and anxiety levels similar to those who are suffering with cancer, H I V and heart disease. And through our work, we can help resolve that worry. And also I consider it a trauma.

I consider these losses, this journey a part of trauma. The fertility struggle has. Traumatic. Traumatic impact. Now, some people don’t think it deserves the label trauma because it isn’t life threatening, but it is fulfilling, life threatening. It is having a happy life, living a life threatening. So I feel like there is no problem with.

Treating fertility challenges, especially when there are a lot of losses as though the person has been traumatized. In fact, there are research scientists and psychologists who feel like the word trauma or the idea of trauma should be expanded to include psychological and emotional responses, not only physical.

Threats or the physical threat of life. So these people are experiencing a Ma major shift in their life. They are planning a major shift in their life that sometimes isn’t working out for them. They are exposed to constant reminders of their condition or of the fact that they can’t seem to get pregnant from everyone, from family members, coworkers, friends, medical, the people that they go to for their medical treatments and other, and pregnant women.

I think that. We can truly believe that fertility challenges affect how you see yourself and the world along the way. A lot of women have so much worry and so much doubt that they just feel like they can’t even trust themselves, that this kind of doubt and experience is just a part of who they are.

They’re just always gonna leave live in a. State of worry, a constant state of worry. And as I said, this does not turn off when they become pregnant. It does not turn off when they hear that heartbeat. It’s a pattern in their body and they, we are gonna help them get past it. using acupuncture and sometimes herbs they’re always bracing themselves, right?

They’ve gone through fertility treatments that didn’t work. Some have failed adoption attempts. That’s also a traumatic experience for women. They’re bracing themselves all the way through their ivf, sometimes through a C-section, so they, you might think they’re invincible and a lot of people do. I think.

Feel like these women are invincible cuz look what they’ve been through. But that’s not true. They are extremely delicate inside and they are always thinking the other shoe is gonna drop. They are pregnant, but they are always waiting for something bad to happen with that pregnancy.

And even women who have a child after the child is born still feel like. Guilt over, oh, I have this baby finally. Or is something gonna happen to this baby because of that worry that they went through sometimes the years of their fertility treatments. So it’s that constant rollercoaster and unfortunately sometimes it’s off the rollercoaster and you’re still in defeat.

Plus, of course, these women, these worried women very often and something to pay attention to with your fertility patients, they very often deal with postpartum depression because again, even though it seems like the golden ring is that live healthy birth, It doesn’t take away the patterns of worry that they had while they were going through all of their treatments.

We need to be aware of that, a after our patient has their babies. So what has all this got to do with worry? In this picture of the right pulse side, so the right positions, you can see that worry earth is in that middle position there. And worry makes the energy go backward toward the kidneys.

Now, as you know for if you’ve heard me talk about pulse diagnosis, my system before the kidneys, and we know this, the kidneys fund everything, so we really don’t need a perverse movement going back toward the kidneys, but that’s what worry does to your digestion. So that’s one of the problems with worry is that it wrecks the Earth’s spleen stomach position and sends it back toward the kidneys.

The part that I talked about with trauma, the trauma can empty that earth sector. That’s what a trauma pulse feels like. These are, this is where unresolved, that continuous cascade of worry and other. Emotions that come with the experience. Leave the pulse, the earth, spleen, stomach, our digestive, our nurturing center can become empty.

In fact, it can be so empty that under your finger, it feels almost like that arrow, like it’s sucking down. This person is so needy and empty that their, literally, their earth is sinking. And then you’ll notice in the lung, large intestine position, I put a little arrow just to remind you that the positions flow through each other like those little sine waves on top of the line.

If earth is empty, Then there is no energy going to the large intestine in the lung. So you’re gonna have an out of balance lung, large intestine pulse. And as earth and metal make the immune system so that whole, those two whole sectors are liable to be empty and out way outta balance.

Now, as you can imagine from me showing you those, Pulse when Earth is not working, when earth is empty, when Earth is going back toward the kidneys, when digestion isn’t working, this person is not making good quality energy. They cannot make good quality blood, which. We’re trying to create a warm, fertile environment, a blood filled environment in the uterus, but they’re not making good quality blood.

Their ability to nurture themselves decreases because Earth is how we nurture ourselves. Digestion, working well is how we make our energy, make our blood, nurture ourselves, keep ourselves alive, and then their immune system can also suffer well. We don’t really need them catching frequent colds or that sort of thing.

Having bad allergies, having skin problems. We don’t need to add immune system problems onto their fertility challenge. And as I said, their skin might suffer. They might start to have hair loss. That is because partly that spleen, stomach sector, that earth sector is not moving into the lung large intestine.

So the immune system is suffering. The skin is suffering, the hair is suffering. And they basically just are losing their core, right? The where would be under my middle finger, the core, nothing is flowing from the kidneys into the earth, into the long, large intestine. So again, we, that’s a major part of treating fertility.

That’s why I always tell my students, treat digestion on every fertility patient because, They have to make good quality energy, make good quality blood, have enough blood to flow to the uterus, have a good solid immune system, and the only way they’re gonna do that is if we can keep their earth, their spleen, stomach, sector of the pulse strong.

Now the second pulse picture I showed you, which was the earth sector going down, that, as I said, is related to old trauma patterns. Now this could be. Worry from childhood sometimes I treat an awful lot of trauma. I treat an awful lot of people who today’s issues are because of what happened way back.

Because your pulses remember everything. They’re your Rosetta stone. So all that stuff is in there. Even if your conscious mind has blocked it out, your subconscious mind and your energetic body has those patterns in there. So I will ask them, do you feel like you worried as a child? and then you can say other things like, did you feel like your life was outta control?

Now, as kids, almost all of our lives are outta control. Let’s face it, we don’t have any control. Our parents control everything. But that’s different than worrying that your parents are gonna get a divorce or worrying that your dad who’s an alcoholic is gonna make it home alive without having an accident.

Worry like that, is going to. Create some sort of old trauma and it can lead these people to feel like their body’s outta control. So that again, would show up as a very deep, empty earth, spleen, stomach pulse, old trauma that is unresolved. Now the beauty of acupuncture is we can recycle that old trauma pattern into.

back into the digestion, back into nurturing the spirit, back into flowing through the kidneys. So like the infinity symbol here, that is the beauty of acupuncture for treating trauma. We can make that. Infinity symbol happened. The pulses from both sides connected to each other. That’s what good health is, that infinity symbol, all of the organ systems communicating with each other, flowing from side to side, everyone getting a continuous flow of energy rather than what I showed you with the spleen, stomach sector going back and forth, or just frankly being empty.

Now one way to accomplish getting the organ systems connected is using the low points. Now I know, I don’t do what I call prescription Chinese medicine. I follow the pulses and I do what the pulses tell me to do with the patient. However, sometimes you do need to connect things like the kidney low, if the, we use that kidney low.

If we s. We think the person is seeing an emotional vent as the worst possible thing that could ever happen to them, thereby leading to fear and sometimes paralyzing fear. All right, these women are afraid they’re never gonna have a baby. That’s their worry. Their worry is, this month is not gonna work.

Next month is not gonna work. I’m never going to have a biological child. So there is. A total acceptance in opening up kidney four to get the kidneys flowing into the other organ systems. Get them supporting the other organ systems.

Some other things are if the patient reacts quickly to everything, they’re, they’ve lost their ability to handle and manipulate their world. Then the stomach is associated with pensiveness and worry. So you can see you can do stomach 40. It’ll help regulate digestion. Spleen four also will help the gut and will help the blood, and it’s the master point of the chok, which is my.

Favorite. Favorite, I think extraordinary, or we’ll say one of my big favorite, extraordinary, I love, love, love the Chong Ma because as it starts in the fire, in the belly, comes up the body, and then encircles the spirit like a lollipop. That’s the vision I give my patients, and then recycles back down a perfect fertility channel.

So spleen four is a great low for you to try heart five. Remember? This person is having a hard time evaluating and articulating their feelings because their main feeling is worry and grief, worry and depression, worry, and anxiety. So this helps them the energetically to help them reevaluate the situation, help them speak to others about the situation.

Remember I said there aren’t any rituals for the losses that happen every month when you don’t get pregnant, however, We can help them with heart. Five. The small intestine low represents redefining. Emotional processes and getting feedback from others and being more accepting of that feedback. So it’s about reprocessing and integrating our emotions.

And the pericardium or heart protector, low, right? P six, PC six, that represents our defense mechanisms and. It can help us get out of those holding patterns and frankly, we might be tempted to go to heart seven when someone is suffering a lot from worry and pensiveness and we wanna nourish their spirit.

But remember, the pericardium might be protecting the heart. So we need to go through the pericardium some sometimes re, as I said, really tempted to go right to the heart, but honestly, sometimes we need to go through the pericardium to the heart, and PC six will help them with their coping mechanisms during these, what are very trying times for them.

Then there’s gallbladder 37 chance to let go of the stagnation of our feelings, illuminating brightness. Nice option for people going through this. And then the liver low. Remember, it’s gonna help when we’re feel like we’re controlled by something else than other ourselves. And they are. If they’re in an IVF clinic who’s controlling them, they feel totally outta control of their own body.

They’re, they might be having negative side effects. They have to do this on this day and this on this day, and this on this day. You can’t create good chi and blood when you’re stuck like that. So that combination is also very nice. Liver five. Gall bladder 37, they’re, they need blood for creation and that’s a part of liver five.

Blood moving for creation and them able to experience their passion, their desire in a positive way. So I wanna thank you very much for watching this. I wanna, again, thank the American Acupuncture Council. I am available to help you with any questions you have. You can go to lucasteachings.com and see course selections.

There’s a contact Dr. Lucas button there. Acupuncture woman is my. Private practice site. There’s a contact Dr. Martha button there, and my email address is dr. M Lucas acupuncture woman.com. Drmlucas@acupuncturewoman.com. If you need, have any questions or would like to talk with me about just anything, Chinese medicine, and next time we’re gonna talk about depression and fertility challenges.

Thank you.

Fear and Fertility – Dr. Martha Lucas

The diagnosis of infertility or being infertile is very damning for people. It’s scary. It’s like the doctor says, you’re infertile so well, what do I, what am I even trying for?

Click here to download the transcript.

Hi, this is Dr. Martha Lucas here with you today. I am a research psychologist and practitioner of Chinese medicine in Denver and Littleton Colorado. In Littleton, I work in a western medicine clinic so that’s a cool way for Chinese medicine to be integrated with Western medicine. Also, in my private practice, I treat mainly internal medicine. My specialty is the diagnosis but I also teach Chinese medicine topics including Mei Zen cosmetic acupuncture, pulse diagnosis and balancing, and a number of other practice building topics.

Let’s go to the slides. You may notice that I say fertility, I don’t say infertility. I call it a fertility challenge. It means that you as the patient have some issues with fertility, with conceiving. The diagnosis of infertility or being infertile is very damning for people. It’s scary; when a doctor says you’re infertile, you’re never going to have a baby, why would you even keep trying. When we call it a fertility challenge, we know that we are working on a goal that may actually happen, rather than just saying you are infertile.

Parenthood is one of the most desired and valued goals of adulthood. Issues with fertility is a very common diagnosis. That’s why we have so many fertility clinics or I guess some call them infertility clinics. Parenthood is a very much desired goal for women and men.

Fear, is an expectation of negative outcomes right? And fear can be constructed from a very complex interplay of different factors – cultural, psychological, social, physical – and this fear actually has a name. It is called Fear of Infertility. It impacts us globally, it is not something that is just in the United States. Basically, it is the fear of inability to achieve pregnancy or father a child.

Some Fear of Infertility is born out of misinformation. And as you can guess, there is a lot of misinformation out there. Years ago, a book called Everything you need to know when you are pregnant came out and I told my patients not to read it. I told them that it’s a natural process to be pregnant, just go with it. For one thing, you are coming for treatment. We will keep good track of it. I actually had a pregnant young lady come in once, who told me that she was a nervous wreck all night because she had slept on her left side for a while and she had read in some book that if you sleep on your left side when you’re pregnant, the fetus is not going to get any blood flow. Naturally, I told her to stop reading that book. Pregnancy is a natural process. You are coming to see me, you are getting medical care, everything is fine.

Some of this misinformation includes things like that though. Some say that the oral contraceptive pills stay in the womb and accumulate. Some of the information is very crazy sounding but it is something that women hear and sometimes believe. Some people believe that birth control blocked their ability to get pregnant and makes them infertile. There is the idea that the HPV vaccine is something that will make you infertile. Or just the idea that if you use any kind of contraception, your womb is going to get weak.

So all of these fears and misinformation can impact behavior. For example, people may not do family planning anymore. They might just try going for getting pregnant without any help or advice. One of my patients was having intercourse every day and not getting pregnant. I told her to stop that, you don’t need to have intercourse that frequently because the sperm needs to regenerate and all the energies need to rebuild in between intercourse. Studies show that if you have intercourse once every three days, eventually you are going to hit ovulation. Within a three month period, you are likely going to hit the best time to conceive. And sure enough, after they stopped having intercourse every day, she was pregnant the next month. So again, misinformation keeps women from going to the doctor and trying some other crazy stuff rather than getting information that is bona fide and true. The idea that the male is harmed if you have an IUD is another piece of misinformation.

What all of that does is construct fear. It constructs expectations of negative outcomes. And there is the famous misinformation that you cannot get pregnant after you are 35 years old. That is one of my favorites, and believe me, I have had plenty of women and probably so have you, say I’m over 35 and I can’t get pregnant now. That is a distortion of the truth. So is if you try for a year and don’t get pregnant you will never get pregnant – another one. Some women tell me their periods have been so irregular that they must be infertile. All that is misinformation and they also get interesting advice like you just have to try harder. It really does not work that way.

And there is the big issue that fertility is a female problem. That is absolutely not true. 40% of the time it’s the male’s issue. So this is why in my practice, I see both the man and the woman. I am happy to see the woman and get her periods in order before we move to my fertility protocol, but I insist on seeing the male part of the conception team because if his Dai Mai is blocked, his reproduction is not getting appropriate energy – the kind of energy it should be getting. So I really do work hard on making sure that the male comes in for treatment because for another thing, he is suffering from fear of infertility and dealing with the female’s emotions; they’re both lumped into this big worry thing, in a fear experience. Therefore I strongly recommend that you also treat the male, that you treat couples with fertility challenges, not just the woman. The male has an impact on conception.

In traditional Chinese medicine, the kidney system is a powerhouse right? The fire in the belly is one of our most important energetics systems. It is the root of pre-heaven and post heaven qi and kidney essence is a combination of those. It is very important for growth and development and sexual maturation after puberty. It more focuses on reproductive function and fertility in adulthood. And, as it declines with age, we get things like loss of teeth, hair loss, the symptoms of menopause. We do eventually become unable to conceive and then of course we have impairment of cognitive functions. So maintaining good quality kidney qi is important for us and as practitioners, understanding the relationship of fear, kidneys, and fertility is important.

It is the kidneys that fund all of the pulse positions. So if kidney qi is scattered, if it is not well formed and weak and scattered, then how is it going to support all of the other systems? So if it looks like this, all those little scattered points, then it is going to be hard to fund all the rest of the organ systems. In addition to regulating the body fluids and growth, the kidneys also keep yin and yang in balance. That is partly why it is so important to balance, to make sure that the kidney pulses are balanced and strong, because as I just said, they fund all of the other organ systems and keep yin and yang balanced. They also govern body fluids so tears, saliva, perspiration, and fluids that lubricate all of our joints are regulated by the kidneys. They store the life force and are associated with the healthy transitions through life stages.

So from childhood, early adulthood, all the way through the aging process and then separating as we get closer to death is how they work. It makes sense that we need kidney energy to live so it also makes sense that we need it to procreate. But that energy, kidney energy can become lost and scattered as a result of fear that men and women have about the possibility that they cannot conceive. I know you see more women and they are the ones who almost always make the phone call/appointment about being infertile or having fertility challenges. But I can tell you from experience that when the male of the partnership is involved and treated, everyone is a little more calm. They understand the situation a little better instead of it all being a woman’s problem, just a woman’s problem.

We know that stress can negatively affect the ability to conceive as well. So does fear. The fear that people have that they are not going to be able to get pregnant and carry a healthy pregnancy through a healthy birth, can and does negatively affect fertility. Just like we know that stress can make irregular periods it can also cause lack of ovulation. Fear also can negatively affect sperm quality and motility. So there again, we have information about fear and stress. We also need to treat the male partner to manage hormonal imbalances. Stress can wreck the hormones which can also have a negative effect on someone’s ability to conceive.

Besides the usual and customary pulse positions, we all know what they are, my system also includes on the left kidney side the uterus and the prostate. So the left kidney side is where you are looking for uterus and prostate. And it is on the left side where you are going to follow the pregnancy. In the beginning it feels like a little blip, a little knot upward hitting your finger. But as the pregnancy goes on, that knottiness gets bigger and feels stronger in the pulse.

So let’s go on to what does a scattered kidney pulse feel like. First of all, you feel the kidneys with deep pressure. So there’s a lot of pressure with your fingers down on the pulses, and you should be able to find the kidneys there. But when there is fear in the system, the kidney pulse feels what I called diffused or scattered. That means that it is scattering under your fingers instead of feeling like a flow. A flow between the organ systems is what we want to feel. We want to feel a flow like a river. But fear makes it feel more scattered. I describe it as – you know how fireworks start out strong right? There’s a boom, they go up in the air, and then they fall down in the air like this – like little points of light. I like to say that’s how the kidney pulse feels when fear is involved. It feels like little points of information on your finger, like little fragments of the pulse. If it’s that scattered, there is no ability for it to move forward and fund the rest of the pulse positions. That is the main problem with fear.

We need to get the kidneys open and flowing in order to make the rest of the positions work correctly. One of the things we need to remember is that fear is going on and that it is damaging the source qi. It does not allow the kidneys to have regular pulse form. In other words, the sine wave, yang and yin, yang and yin – it doesn’t allow the flow to the rest of the meridians systems.

So here’s a picture of it. As you can see, this is the left side, kidneys, gallbladder, liver, small intestine, heart, and then those little dots in the kidney position. That is how the kidney pulse feels under your fingertips when it is scattered. When you are feeling the pulse and the person has fear, it is scattered. You might not say the words to them, do you have any fear in your life? Sometimes you need to just ask about stress or ask about the period, ask about their digestion, the things that are funded by the kidneys and you can then move onto a more specific question about fear.

I have a case study of a woman who I felt fear in her pulses. She was only 34 years old, no reason for her to be infertile, but of course the fertility clinic told her when do you want your IVF? She said she knew an acupuncturist who helped her daughter, who happens to have lupus, get pregnant and have a successful pregnancy so she was going to do that first. Of course, they told her we will see you in three months, we’ll go over your blood work and your hormones again, and then we will schedule your IVF. But she was determined that she was going to get pregnant naturally. So I was feeling her pulses, and could feel some fear but from the outside her life looked wonderful. She did not have any health problems, both of the couple had good jobs, they were happy for all intents and purposes. So I asked her about her childhood. She said it was perfect but then as we talked about it more and I told her about the fear I felt, she remembered that she grew up in a small European country during war time. I asked her if any of her brothers or her father were involved in the war. Did they get hurt? She said no, it was just normal life but there was a war going on and when that sort of history is with the patient, we need to study the pulse is the kidney pulse is a little bit more.

As I said earlier there are a number of big issues when the kidney qi is scattered because all of the organ systems are funded by that. When I show my patients their pulse picture, I always show them that, that these kidneys, the section right here in the middle, is what’s funding everything else. It is funding all of the other organ systems. So it’s really important that the kidney qi be secure and have a flow, have a movement instead of there just being little pieces of it.

As you can see, because the person probably has some anxiety along with their fear, the liver energy is using up the little bit of the scattered kidney qi and attacking the heart small intestine position, and making the person even more anxious and more fearful. So this is the importance of knowing how to feel the scattered kidney pulse so that you can consolidate it and it can work with the other systems.

That is a perverse movement in the liver right? We want all of the organ systems to be nice, smooth, sine waves. So that is for me probably the biggest issue of the kidney qi being scattered, it cannot fund the rest of the positions for good health. So all of the positions are going to suffer. And when you get a perverse movement like that here in the middle jiao, the problem with that is that it’s using whatever kidney energy is in there to fund that perverse movement rather than fund healthy movements.

As I said, the arrow at the top is where the liver is attacking the heart and small intestine. Now you will notice it goes into kind of a block. Because our systems are all made to protect the spirit. We are not going to let any perverse energy into the spirit. That’s what our body is always trying to do. So this is why we need to resolve issues like that, in the liver, that frustration, because when the heart is blocked, when the spirit part is blocked, not only does the person not feel any sadness but they don’t feel any joy either.

And as you can see, the scattered kidney pulse can lead to the other organ systems getting out of balance. Also remember, heart blood goes to the uterus. That means the heart manages blood. So if it’s blocked like in this picture, then it’s not helping the uterus at all. So again, putting together all of the functions of all of the organs, letting the kidneys fund everything is the key. They need to be in order, if they are not, then they are going to let the other organ systems get out of balance.

If the liver is attacking the heart and small intestine position, it is unable to do the blood flow to the uterus. The patient is even more anxious and sad. And it is partly because the fear is in the scattered kidney qi.

If you look at the right side where it is kidneys, stomach, spleen, lung, large intestine, you would see perhaps a dip in the digestion, a dip in the Earth spleen stomach sector, because again, the kidney qi on that side is scattered and cannot fund digestion. And we know that digestion is involved in blood flow also. So if the person’s digestion is not working well, then they are not making good quality qi or good quality blood either. And that’s what we need for the uterus. We need a nice, warm, blood-filled organ in order to be able to conceive and carry through a pregnancy, a good strong pregnancy. Because remember, the completely healthy childbirth – everybody is healthy – is still a small percentage of what happens. Many times there is some sort of complication like preeclampsia, high blood pressure, something going on so the healthy live birth and healthy pregnancy is still not 100% of the time. So this is why it is important to see your patients during their pregnancy, not only to help them get pregnant. They come to see us, they get pregnant and they think, OK, I’m good. My treatment is over. No, not really. For one thing the Dai Mai is probably blocked during the whole pregnancy. This means come for treatment, let me open the Dai Mai, let me get all the blood and oxygen flowing again instead of being stuck.

In the beginning when we help them get pregnant, they always want to say hey Dr. Martha I’m pregnant. But your treatment isn’t over. Don’t let things get to having headaches every day, or back pain every day, or morning sickness every day. Don’t let it go there before the person comes in and gets treated during their pregnancy. Keeping everything open and flowing is important. We will keep their digestion moving. If they wake up tired in the morning, it’s not because they’re pregnant, it’s because the digestion isn’t working well.

So realizing and remembering how important it is for all of the organ systems to work well, even during pregnancy or especially during pregnancy, is an important thing.

Now what treatment can you do for somebody who has fertility challenges that are related to fear? As I said, you need to get healthy kidney qi going. You need to get it bound together with the other organ systems. I say here, remember, a blocked Dai Mai is going to prevent that. So even if you don’t know how to feel a blocked Dai Mai in the pulses, open it anyway. There’s nothing wrong with using that extraordinary channel. You see a pregnant woman, you open it, then you know that it’s going to keep flowing through that area. In fact, a blocked Dai Mai may be part of the problem because it is affecting ovulation, menstruation, and in men affecting men’s ability to be a conception partner. So it is always important to remember about the Dai Mai.

And the Ren and the Chong, they help reinvigorate kidney qi and also the Chong helps with emotions and digestion. The Ren Mai of course, helps with any kind of fertility or menstruation issue even libido. For example, some women get dryer. They get symptoms of dry vagina and they say that they lose their libido and really do not want to have intercourse. They want to because they want to get pregnant, but it doesn’t feel very good. So knowing all of that and the ways that we can help that with acupuncture and herbs, will help the person.

I sometimes just do channel work also, I don’t do particular points. I just want to make sure that the meridians are all flowing. So needling the channels like kidney, bladder which is water, so moisture, get the kidney qi flowing, get it built up through the bladder channel. So it doesn’t necessarily mean certain acupuncture points or that I have a specific protocol or scattered kidney qi point formula because everyone’s pulse is different every time you see them and so it’s important to deal with what is in front of you at that moment.

And then there is lifestyle advice for people. We know that the kidneys are traditionally sensitive to cold, so we would like the person maybe to put a hot water pack on their back just to help warm up the kidneys. Eat warm foods, your water – drink it at room temperature instead of from the refrigerator. Some people say keep alcohol and things like coffee to a minimum. It depends on what their lifestyle is. If you are yin deficient, obviously you don’t want to be drinking three pots of coffee a day. So it is all about being aware of the patient’s lifestyle. We know that a little salt is beneficial to the kidneys. It is why when you crave salt, you know that our kidneys are a little out of balance. The color is traditionally black or blue so black or blue foods to strengthen and nourish the kidneys. Things like eggplant, black sesame seeds, and other foods that can nourish the kidneys including walnuts, figs, brown rice and other grains. Asking your patients to change their lifestyle is completely acceptable. One of the ways you can help them is by giving them food ideas that are going to help the kidneys.

And then there are other ways – meditation or at home Qigong. Try to control their emotions that are leading to the fear response in the kidneys. You can show them Qigong circles on their belly to help their digestion, do them clockwise. It’s a little Qigong massage; it doesn’t have to be a hard massage. It can be barely touching the belly. Meditation is just focus. Studies on meditation don’t even like to call it meditation, they call it focus. So find five minutes a day to focus. Focus on a bird singing, focus on a candle, focus on a chant. Five minutes of that a day will change your brain to be more calm. It literally changes your brain to reduce fear and anxiety. Have them do some sort of at homework to work along with your treatments to help them boost up their fertility chances.

With all that, I want to thank you very much for attending and I want to again thank the American Acupuncture Council for sponsoring this webinar.

Next time we are going to talk about worry and fertility, so I hope you’ll be able to tune in for that. This is Dr. Martha Lucas, my website for teaching is lucasteachings.com and my private practice one is acupuncturewoman.com; feel free to contact me.

Fertility Challenges and the Blocked Dai Mai – Dr. Martha Lucas

Hi, I’m Dr. Martha Lucas, and I want to thank the AAC for this great opportunity to talk with you today about ways to treat fertility challenges and the importance of the Dai Mai.

Click here to download the transcript. Click here for the slides.

Hi, I’m Dr. Martha Lucas, and I want to thank the AAC for this great opportunity to talk with you today about ways to treat fertility challenges and the importance of the Dai Mai. I’m Dr. Martha Lucas. As I said, I have practices in Denver, Colorado, and Littleton, Colorado in Littleton. I work in. Western Medicine Clinic.

I’m a research psychologist who started out my medical career in Western medicine doing research in hospitals, and then I started to think about what else is operating besides the person just had surgery and I ended up loving doing Chinese medicine for more than 20 years. My specialty is the diagnosis.

I also specialize in cosmetic acupuncture, but generally my biggest practice is internal medicine because of my specialty in making an effective diagnosis. So if we wanna go to the slides, Our today we are going to talk about the Dai Mai its functions, reasons to unblock it. I’m gonna show you what it feels like in the pulses and talk to you a little bit about how you can open it up and make your treatments, your fertility treatments more effective.

Now, you’ll notice that I say fertility. And that’s how I talk about treating fertility. I talk about treating fertility challenges because. Infertility is what I call a damning diagnosis. You go to the doctor, and I think for a long time we’ve talked about the word diagnosis and how when you get a diagnosis for something, suddenly it becomes who you are.

I had a woman years ago who was so attached to her fibromyalgia. She said, my fibromyalgia, she kept saying my fibromyalgia, and finally I said to her, , can we say my experience with fibromyalgia or the diagnosis of fibromyalgia? So it’s, I don’t want to be saying infertility. Oh, you have infertility and you’re coming to see me.

I like to say you have a fertility challenge. You and your partner are having some fertility challenges or sometime it’s just the individual woman. I recently had a patient who had the whole embryo transfer. Procedure because she doesn’t have a partner. So I like to say fertility challenge because I don’t wanna set up that psychological problem of I’m infertile and I, it just happened to a current patient of mine who’s 45 years old, granted.

Getting a little up there for that. However, she went to a fertility clinic and they basically told her, you’re never gonna get pregnant. You’re pretty much in menopause. Almost like two months away because she hasn’t had a period in quite a long time. And they said they won’t even take her on as a patient.

She went to see a different fertility doctor who said to her, yeah, there’s still a chance we can still try. So again, they women, when they come in, they’re, they have been to other. Practitioners, they’ve been to fertility clinics. They already have a quote unquote diagnosis. I recently got an email from a woman who said, Yeah.

I just was diagnosed with infertility at 35 and she put a question mark because within infer with fertility clinics, infertility clinics, that’s the age. That’s the age 35, where they feel like, okay, that’s it. You’re infertile. I remember my own oldest daughter who doesn’t have any children, but I remember her saying to me at 35, oh mom, did you know, I’m infertile now?

And of course I just roll my eyes and say, you’re not infertile. So I like to say, Phrase it as we are having a fertility challenge. So the Dai Mai is so important overall for almost anything you’re treating, but certainly for fertility issues because I think that’s where schools make a big mistake. If they tell you to just keep tonifying, the lower gel tonifying, reproduction tonifying the kidneys, because if the Dai Mai is block.

What’s gonna happen with all that tonification? You could actually create toxic heat in the lower gel if you just tonify, because you don’t know whether the Dai Mai is blocked or not. Now I tell people, if you don’t know how to find the block, Dai Mai in the pulses, just open it. It’s not gonna hurt anyone. Just do your gallbladder 41, San Jo five, and just open it.

because it’s going to be good for the patient, even if it’s open. Okay. Then theoretically opening it didn’t do anything because it’s already open, but it’s all good. If you don’t know how to feel it in the pulses, which I am gonna show you today, then just open it for your fertility patients and. One of the first times, very early in my Chinese medicine career that I recognized the power of the block Dai Mai and opening it for fertility.

Challenges were, I was seeing a couple icy couples. I know it’s going to be the woman who calls you or emails you or texts you and says, I’m, I am having a problem getting pregnant. I need to come see you. I treat the couple because it takes the young part. So I tell them, regardless of whether the male feels like he’s veil and there’s nothing wrong with him and nobody said there’s anything wrong with him, I always say that according to the theory of Chinese medicine, it takes both of us.

It takes the young part and the in part, and if you’re an active gentleman and you fall skiing or fall mountain biking, or have been rear-ended, then there’s a chance your Dai Mai is blocked and it doesn’t make you a very good reproductive partner. According to the theory of Chinese medicine, so I insist on seeing both.

I do generally see the woman more and longer than the male, but I insist that I at least see the male and so I can make a, take his pulses, make a diagnosis about what’s going on with him in terms of reproduction. But it was a couple who were seeing me and they said at their first visit we wanna get pregnant next spring.

It was maybe September. We kind of wanna get pregnant in the spring. We think that would be a good time for us. But we are starting now cuz we kind of wanna get, just like everything, all our ducks in a row. , I saw them both. I opened both their Dai Mais and they were pregnant the next month.

And of course they were like, oh, I thought we told you we wanted to get pregnant in the spring . And I said hey, your husband’s Dai Mai is blocked. We open it up, things are flowing, and boom, you get pregnant. So it’s very important. So let’s talk a little more generally. About the dynamite. So first of all, it is called the be.

It’s one of the extraordinary vessels, one of the eight extras, one of the specials some people call them. It is also known as the Belt Channel or the Girdle channel. And it goes around the body horizontally and we can see that the pathway of it is literally around the belly and the hypochondriacal, one of its main functions is to connect the vertical channels.

Okay, so the belt channel, the, we know that the Dai Mai connects the upper and lower bodies, and it’s it’s very important for the functioning of all of the vertical channels, the longitudinal channel.

Right here is our core energy. That’s where all the, this is the part of the pulses that fund everything. This is what funds all the rest of the pulse diagnosis movements.

That’s how important the Dai Mai is to stay open a block. Dai Mai can lead to poor digestion. Now we know digestion is how we make our energy. Digestion is partly how we make our blood. We need those. Items in order to be able to reproduce. So if the Dai Mai is blocked, we can also have problems with our digestion.

It can be implicated in a whole bunch of health issues, migraines, reproduction issues, psoriasis, low back pain, knee pain. It’s always good to be able to figure out whether the Dai Mai is blocked or not, because then we can see. , oh, that might be related to the condition that this person is suffering from or their quote unquote diagnosis.

And then even if they feel uncentered, it can be because of a blocked Dai Mai losing the connection. This makes total sense. Losing the connection between the upper part of the body and the lower part of the body can make the person feel uncentered. It can make them feel like they have lost their energetic center.

And, that’s why it’s important to know about the blocked Dai Mai. Now, how does it get blocked? It can get blocked from a fall, and I have to tell you that. A large percentage. A large percentage of people have a black Dai Mai no matter what they’re coming to see you for. It’s always good to check for the black Dai Mai, and I think I said before, with your reproductive patients, even if you can’t figure out how to feel a black Dai Mai in the pulse, just open it.

Just do the gallbladder 41, SAN five and open it. It’s gonna help them no matter. Whether it’s open or not, and you need to recheck after you open it, because sometimes that doesn’t work. Sometimes it’s so blocked, like for example, by repressed emotions that opening it with the master and the couple point does not open it.

So sometimes. What the books tell us is going to happen doesn’t happen. Which is another reason why it’s so important to keep taking the pulses during the treatment so that the person, you can tell whether your acupuncture prescription worked or not. So let’s say you take it again, it doesn’t work, then you need to do gallbladder 26.

And we’ll talk about that a little bit more, but at any rate, a fall, even a sports fall. And that’s interesting because especially men will say, no, I’ve never had a fall, because they’re thinking, old person fall. They’re thinking like, oh I, yeah, I need the walker cuz I fall or I, yeah, I fall and I’m gonna break my hip.

No, it means, , I’m skiing, I fall. Guess what’s gonna happen in your body? Your Dai Mai is going to block because it’s trying to protect your internal organs from that trauma. Now you get up, you walk away, nothing’s broken, you’re good. So we don’t think, oh wow, that was a fall, perhaps. I injured myself. And when I was playing soccer, I did the same exact thing.

I would get knocked over, I’d fall, I’d roll back up. No, no blood or broken bones, but the Dai Mai gets blocked. So if a person is active, , chances are they have a block Dai Mai getting rear-ended because of that, that jerkiness that happens to you when you get rear-ended will block the Dai Mai pregnancy blocks the Dai Mai.

I open the Dai Mai, I treat my patients, my fertility patients before they’re pregnant, during their pregnant, and then after they’re. Pregnant and during the pregnancy, their Dai Mai is blocked because for heaven’s sakes, there’s a huge blockage in there. Now they have another human being in there, so they have a big group of cells that is creating a block.

So I open it every time. You can just feel the energy and they feel like, oh, I’m so much more open now. I feel so much more free flowing. If you have an abdominal surgery, it can block the Dai Mai storage of emotions, so repressed emotions. Sometimes when I feel the Dai Mai is blocked and I’m asking the person, oh, is your Dai Mai blocked or not?

Is your dite? Did you have you had a fall? Oh no nothing. But I know it’s blocked. I can feel it in the pulses. I might ask them, do you express your emotions? And some people say yes, and some people say not so much. All right. Holding it. Remember, it’s gonna block the spirit, right?

We all know about liberty cheese stagnation. It blocks that angry energy from getting up to the spirit, but also repressed emotions that we stuff down get. Below the spirit below liver 14 and can actually lead to a block Dai Mai. So a block Dai Mai is actually a fairly common condition for you to see in your practice.

So the major organ systems involved in fertility healthy kidney G, I already mentioned that the block Dai Mai prevents the healthy flow of G down into the reproductive area and into the kidneys. That good flow of energy is necessary for ovulation and healthy menstruation. We all know that, so we know for the lower gel energy to be flowing correctly for fertility purposes, we need to have the open dynamite.

For those of you who don’t know me, I am a total techno boob, so I really appreciate Alan’s support and you guys being patient. At any rate, healthy kidney G, we need it for fertility, healthy liver energy, right?

We need healthy liver energy. We all know that for reproduction, for having a good period for being emotionally stable and the block, Dai Mai is not going to allow us to have healthy liver energy. We need healthy heart energy. Heart is partly how we make our blood and flow our blood. It’s, it sends blood to the uterus.

And remember, your fertility patients have a lot of emotions going on, so we need them to have healthy heart energy. So two of the extraordinary vessels that are involved in fertility besides the black dynami are the remi and the chmi. Now the Ren links and regulates yin channels, essence, and fluid.

Regulates menstruation nourishes the fetus. In men, it affects libido and impotence. It affects our endocrine system and affects digestion. And this is why we also very often during fertility treatments, open up the Ren and the Chong, or treat the Ren and the Chong. The Chong affects reproduction.

Effects digestion, respiration, it’s a reservoir of chi and blood. For example, the woman is not having very good periods, what I call a tiny pink period, meaning not very much blood. It’s the root of postnatal chi, so post heaven chi, and it basically is known to treat all menstrual reproductive. Heart issues, spiritual issues, digestion, depression, anxiety.

The CHMI is another one of my favorite extraordinary vessels to use. So I’m going to show you a little picture here of the pulses and we’ll review the positions so you can see that we have a left side and a right side, and the positions are what we all know the kidneys are. The Cor Chi. Then we have Earth and all of the regular positions.

So we have Imperial fire wood, and then the kidneys.

And it’s just the same my system uses the same as we’ve No. Although I do need to tell you that on the left kidney, in the left kidney position is where you also find uterus and prostate. So it’s in this position that you will find things like uterine fibroids or if the male’s prostate is getting enlarged.

So it’s, this is an important position to be paying attention to. Oh, it’s also where you’ll feel pregnancy, that position, the left kidney pulse is where you will feel the actual pregnancy grow.

Where do you find the block, Dai Mai?

It is in the kidney, in the pulses. You will feel a block right here. The kidney energy will not be going into the liver sector. So what happens is between your fingers here, it’ll feel like it’s hitting. That’s where you feel the blocked Dai Mai. Now, sometimes it’s so blocked that you will also feel it on the right side.

This kidney pulse will be hitting. Instead of flowing through, because as I, you can see these energies are supposed to be flowing and when they’re not flowing, because there’s a block here, then again the kidneys aren’t supporting the other organ systems and neither can the other organ systems flow back over into the kidney.

This is like the infinity symbol between the pulses moving, they’re all supporting each other, so that is where you find it at a deep level. So deep, deep down in the. Pulse positions very deep over there on the left side. You cannot feel the kidneys moving through into the liver gallbladder, and as I said, sometimes it’s so strongly blocked that you don’t see it.

You can also see it blocked on the right side. So what do you do? As I said, you do gallbladder 41 san five. That is traditionally what opens the Dai Mai. It’s what the books tell us, however, the next little square says, but it’s still not open, which means I did gallbladder 41, san five, and instead of assuming.

That worked. I rechecked the pulse and I see that, oh, their Dai Mai is still blocked. What point can I do to open up the Dai Mai again? Gallbladder 26 regulates or modulates the Dai Mai. Put that point in. Recheck it. See if it’s still, if it’s still op, not open. If it’s still not open, then sometimes I palpate the diaphragm.

Maybe I palpate the diaphragm with my right hand while my hands are on the left pulse. So I’m trying to see is the energy flowing from the kidneys to the liver yet to see if maybe I have to actually do some diaphragm points or a little diaphragm. Massage or acupressure because the Dai Mai is still so blocked.

So I work at it until I know that the Dai Mai is open in the pulses. And then after the Dai Mai is opened, you can start finding other blocks if there are any, or start more or less a treatment that you would use for fertility because as I said earlier, If you just tried tonify, the kidneys or the lower G, but the Dai Mai is blocked, so that energy you’re putting in can’t flow, then it’s liable to actually create something like toxic heat.

The best case scenario is. Your treatment just isn’t effective. You’re not creating any toxic heat, but you’re wondering why? Why isn’t this person getting pregnant because everything looks like it should be wonderful. If their Dai Mai is blocked, then your treatment may not be as effective as you would like it to be.

So that’s the importance of opening the Dai Mai in your fertility patients, both male and female.

I wanna thank the AAC for this opportunity. If you would like more information, you can reach me at either lucasteachings.com or acupuncture women.com. At lucasteachings.com, we have events, we have courses both online and in person that offer CEUs and my books are available there, and good treating. I hope that this helped, you have really effective treatments.

Integrating East and Western Medicine in Fertility

Hello and welcome to another edition of, to the point a show, very generously produced by the American Acupuncture Council, um, Virginia Doran of luminous beauty. And today my guest is, uh, a longtime colleague and friend is Tsao-lin Moy, and, uh, she’s been practicing for 18 years in New York city. Uh, she founded the Integrative Healing Arts Center and she has many accomplishments and has just been a publicity magnet. Uh, and also she published a book called will I ever get pregnant?

Click here to download the transcript.

The smart woman’s guide to getting pregnant naturally over 40. So, because she has many areas of specialty, but because she has this on fertility, she’s our guest today. And she’s going to talk about integrating Eastern and Western medicine in fertility. So, uh, without further ado Tsao, um, please love to hear, you know, your approach because I know you’re very adept at combining the two, which I think is important for this kind of condition, Virginia, and yes, thank you to the American acupuncture council for producing these Facebook live shows.

Um, so I’ll, let’s, uh, we’ll start. Um, so I’m going to talk about integrating Eastern Western medicine and in particular with fertility, but as practitioners of East Asian medicine, um, we all are now really integrating what we do with Western medicine. And, uh, so what I’m going to use is this presentation that is from fertility, uh, summit, and I’ll be kind of adding a little bit and changing up as we go through the different slides. Okay. Um, so it’s really, you know, more and more, uh, we’re starting look at, uh, patients that want are looking for natural, uh, remedies and, and to be able to do both. And so one of these things is, you know, looking at what is Eastern medicine’s approach compared to Western medicine. And, um, so these are, how would, uh, change Chinese medicine relate to improving fertility, but this also relates to how can it improve our health outcomes.

And, uh, and especially right now in the time of COVID, right, there’s a lot of, uh, post, uh, COVID viral fatigue, a lot of, uh, inflammation and Chinese medicine acupuncture is fantastic for that. A lot of questions that come up with fertility are age factors. Uh, and of course we’ve been listening in the news that, uh, there are like 55 year olds that are able to actually, uh, you know, bear children or carry, right. Um, and, and really is looking at what is the best approach. And if I was speaking to a, uh, you know, patient population, what’s the best approach for them. And, uh, you as, uh, practitioners, you know, looking at what is the best approach you can offer to your patients, um, that you feel comfortable with and they feel comfortable with, um, and this would be with acupuncture and herbs. And if you also have other, uh, you know, types of healing methods, uh, that you can also offer, of course you would add those in, uh, accordingly.

And so we remember the Chinese medicine is really, um, something that is personalized medicine, and that is what makes a big difference. Uh, Virginia already kind of went over my, um, a little bit of my bio. Um, I know Virginia, we both graduated from tri-state college of acupuncture. Uh, so, um, we’re kind of, we’re in this family tree of learning and, and, uh, and also helping more people to heal themselves. So I’m gonna, I’m going to just speak, uh, we don’t need to know more about me, let me go move forward here. Um, so really the, um, when you’re working with, uh, infertility and especially women, um, really it’s that, you know, patient and practitioner, uh, relationship, uh, that we have empathy, you know, for what they’re going through, and then we can also help them to solve their problem. And that would be, they want to have a baby, they wanna have a healthy baby.

Right. And, uh, um, so why is Eastern medicine? It’s a better model and can serve better serve women better that are experiencing infertility. This also applies to really overall health. So looking at, you know, how we as East Asian medicine practitioners really kind of fit into this big umbrella of a health model. Um, uh, now with regard to infertility, statistics are one in eight couples are experiencing infertility in the U S and, um, this is not just the us, but also overseas. And we’re looking at as a global health problem, it’s estimated 12 to 15% of all couples are experiencing infertility, meaning they are not able to get pregnant, uh, on their own or within, uh, the time, you know, that would, that would, uh, it should, let’s say, quote should take. Um, and, and really we’re looking at infertility is also more of it is coming from the male aspect.

Uh, one of the side effects of COVID-19 is they’re looking at a can cause sterility in men. And so a lot of the focus has been on, you know, female fertility, egg, quality, um, ABI, elation, uh, uh, hormone imbalances, and a lot of not, uh, not a lot of attention until recently. Um, has there been attention more on the male aspect of it and really it’s, uh, you know, important that this is a collaboration, right. Um, so one in a third couples, uh, the problem can’t really be identified, it’s considered kind of, uh, you know, unexplained or in fertility. Uh, and, and, and in that case, it could, it could be, you know, a little bit of, of both, uh, or there’s some underlying, um, issue that has not been addressed, which we address very well in, in Chinese medicine. Um, so I wanted to just highlight a little bit that, you know, the Western medicine model is one we call like broken and fix.

And so it’s treating the symptoms, right? You, you like, you’re, you’re better if you don’t have a cough, but the underlying aspect of it is like, why did you get the cough? You’re run down, maybe there’s something else. And this is what applies with, uh, couples that are experiencing infertility and also in general, our overall health, why aren’t we recovering? And, um, so a lot of it can be, you know, the, the, the model in Western medicine is going to be vaccinate antibiotics, antivirals, right. And that’ll help to get rid of something, but there is damage in its wake. And then also, you know, the recovery, uh, so things like, uh, infertility treatments, when you go to a fertility clinic, it isn’t without risk, right? Because the, um, the hormones have side effects. And also a lot of the procedures are pretty invasive and, uh, they don’t necessarily work.

And they’re also very expensive. Um, but this is not to say you don’t do that. You, you know, you tell your patients don’t go and see a, um, a fertility specialist. It’s really like how, if, if they’re at that point, how can you help them on their journey? Right. And so coming from the aspect of, you know, Chinese medicine, East Asian medicine, is really, we’re looking at there’s more than the physical that’s there. I mean, as a Chinese medicine practitioner, we really practice, this is energy, right. We work with cheap, we work with energy and, and that is in our language. Right. Um, so the, you know, there is also this aspect of what I wanted to also, uh, kind of highlight in the Western model. They really separate out that spirituality, um, the mind-body connection. And, uh, one of the, the, the strengths of Chinese medicine is really where we’re cultivating that connection.

How do we help our patients? Um, so this is a, another, just a bride that explained, you know, infertility is on the rise and there’s also an infertility industry. It’s actually a growing industry, right. Because there’s a lot of money to be made. And, um, here’s a picture, this is what a couples are looking for. This is the end, what they’re looking for. Right. Um, so where does industry, there’s going to be a lot of, uh, pressure for, uh, your patients to do hormones, et cetera, et cetera. And you’re, you probably are. If they have decided they’re going to do that, it’s not that you’re not gonna be able to change their mind. Um, but what you need to do is look at a collaboration, um, with your patient and also, uh, with the, um, the fertility or the, uh, assisted reproductive therapist. And really, um, what does the Chinese medicine ma is what’s different than let’s say a Western model is really that we are looking at that the healing is taking place in the individual. We’re not curing them or facilitators. Right. And I think it’s really important, um, that we, we remember this point is like,

We are treating the who, not the what.

Right. Um, it’s very easy. And, and I, and I do see it in a lot of our profession to start to talk about treating the symptom and forgetting, or not forgetting, but maybe not so much the focus on who that, you know, who is the person that is experiencing that. And, um, this is something to remember as a practitioner and especially with infertility because, um, a lot of statistics are gonna show over 35, um, hormone imbalances, and then, you know, what are your chances of getting pregnant? And while there are statistics that are useful, what’s important is, is that your patient or the patients that are coming to see you, that is not them in the statistic. It may have relevance, but always to remember that, um, this connection that you’re going to help them with is physical, emotional, energetic, and spiritual. And this is this looking at this whole health perspective.

And so Virginia, if you have any questions or you want to interrupt me, please feel free, um, how you’re kind of differentiating the whole health model from Western medicine, but you’ve, you’ve answered it. Okay. All right. I just want to like, but the, so the, the, the, the topic is really integrating. So even, um, so there, it is possible that if, uh, if you have patients that are using, let’s say Western remedies, that you can still come at, uh, the, uh, you know, helping them from an Eastern model from that whole health model. Right. Um, one of the things I’m going to move on with this, about the, the, the rates, because we know that, you know, with the, the limited or, or very narrow, uh, research that has been done with acupuncture, it’s very, um, successful or at the same time, the way that some of these, uh, studies have been designed are really kind of like, wow, you know, some, you know, uh, can you cure for stage four cancer?

Well, it’s kind of like, almost nothing is able to help. And then you’re asking, you know, like, Oh, let’s, let’s throw something this way and see if it really works. And then we’ll write a study that says, Oh yeah, this doesn’t work for stage four cancer. Okay. So we always have to look at, you know, like the studies and their relevance and, and not let, um, I would say, uh, the scientific model define the kind of medicine that we do, and also influence us in a way that we start to, um, look at, Oh, this treats that, that treats that we really want to remember, you know, the, the person that we’re keeping that we’re treating. And so, as a reminder, you know, Chinese medicine, East Asian medicine has a, the aspect is about balance. And these are the Dallas principles of dynamic balance of yin and yang.

So this is, uh, going back to, you know, foundations of Chinese medicine, one Oh one. Um, and I don’t know about you, Virginia, what I’ve found is, is that they’re simple and they explain everything and, and, and very, uh, you know, the more that you’re practicing, you’re the more you’re understanding that dynamic balance. Right. Um, so in terms of a, let’s say a strategy when we’re looking at what is within our S in the body, let’s say for, let’s say a woman’s body, um, or a man’s, we’re looking at what is the union young that’s out of balance. And so, uh, this could be like hormones, it could be sleep. It could be their relationship with their partner, uh, where they’re living, where they’re working. Um, and then of course, how that manifests for them in terms of maybe they have irregular cycles, nonambulatory cycles, uh, fibroids, uh, other, uh, let’s say, uh, symptoms of another, I would say, are symptoms of something being out of balance, right?

So even if a woman gets surgery for fibroids, whatever was kind of causing it, the mechanism still needs to be addressed, right? And so this is something that we do really well, uh, important, uh, is to that relationship with your patient is also educating them and empowering them to know more about their body, right. And this is again, uh, we’re facilitating, you know, helping them to create a stronger mind, body connection. Uh, it’s also known as interoception where they, where you develop that sense of understanding what is happening inside your body. Uh, this is also important for us as practitioners, that we develop a practice, a mind-body practice, so that we also can share that energy with our patients. Um, and in terms of, let’s say a treatment strategy, uh, when we’re looking at, uh, fertility, but also with whomever is going to come into your practice.

We want to regulate what’s the yin and yang, right. And, um, the, the approach, I would say, no matter what, you’re going to be looking at, regulating the nervous system, right. Helping with sleep digestion, and that in turn is going to help to balance their hormones. So different methods of treatment that we use, um, acupuncture for sure. Um, if there are herbs that are appropriate and you have the training, that’s something, uh, bodywork, uh, we can use essential oils, meditation exercise, and also, um, you know, when we’re speaking with our patients, we actually do a lot of mindset work, right. We’re actually helping them to navigate through their difficult and to reframe for them, or help them to reframe the, uh, you know, the challenge that they are experiencing. And, uh, one thing that we know, and also using food and herbs and, and maybe changing their environment.

One thing that we know with, um, acupuncture in the research is, is that it does shift brain chemistry and affect neuropeptides in the brain that actually, uh, stimulate that self-healing aspect, uh, as well, like as well as, um, immune response. And so this is great for what we do. Recent studies have shown that acupuncture is helpful in reducing the inflammation from the cytokine storms that a lot of people have experienced from COVID-19 and continue in a post viral syndrome. So with women’s health, um, according to Chinese medicine, and this year, this is a review, um, it’s really her menstrual health. Her, the health of her uterus is a really good indication of the overall health of her body. Um, in a Western model, this is something known as the endocrine system, or that regulates the functions of the entire body. So when we’re looking at a woman’s health, and in terms of, you know, is she, it as she, her fertility health, we really want to also look at her overall health, right?

Cause overall health, if you’re overall healthy, then you’re going to have healthy reproduction. And, uh, this is a good clue for, for all of us that we have to kind of like look at overall health, uh, and constitution, no matter what someone is coming with. Right. And, um, I know, uh, you know, acupuncture is fantastic for treating pain conditions, right? Sprained ankles, uh, uh, low back pain sleep problems. Uh, but those are also symptoms of something bigger what’s happening in their nervous system, uh, with an injury. Why aren’t they healing after a certain period of time? Um, so someone who’s really healthy, it doesn’t mean they won’t get injured. Um, what will happen is, is that after a certain period of time, they should reach full recovery. Uh, mostly, uh, what I see in my practice and definitely in the, I believe in the Western world is that, uh, the amount of time for recovery is not a given or, uh, that, uh, people go back to activities, uh, much soon, uh, you know, too soon and have not fully healed. And then what happens is that they end up having long-term, uh, lingering problems that they can’t quite figure out. Right. Um, so, you know, one of the things, again, is that, you know, with Chinese medicine, East Asian medicine, is that it’s very personalized. Um, we’re not a one size fits all. Um, we really need to look at the whole person. And as a reminder, a lot of times there are things that, um, maybe we’re not going to CA we won’t catch if we become too. Micro-focus.

Let’s see. Do you agree?

I’m wondering, um, just curiosity, about what percentage would you estimate, uh, women come for fertility from a deficiency based cause versus like a, you know, obstruction of cheat?

Well, I mean, that’s an interesting, because you can have obstruction of chief from deficiency, right. Um, I would say that there’s much more deficiency, not necessarily blood deficiency, but exhaustion. So a lot of efficiency, a lot of stress. And again, looking at, uh, you know, constitutionally here, we’re con we’re on the go, we, you know, we need to do more, a lot of the women that come to see me, they are like, Oh, maybe I should like start exercising, or let me start this, you know, let me add something in versus, you know, take something away. So having these, uh, very, uh, intense workouts that it’s, it’s not too, that you don’t want to exercise. It’s really like exercising more is not helpful if you’re tired and you’re not getting enough rest. So I think, you know, that’s, um, you know, yin tends towards deficiency.

Young tends towards excess, very famous words from our, uh, the founder, right. Um, that, uh, the it’s, it really becomes there’s this imbalance that starts to happen, right. Uh, uh, women, uh, you know, they have, uh, I would say that they, as they get aged, they’re definitely moving towards a deficiency. You know, there’s the, the, the bleeding, um, if they carry children, lot of their, uh, their DJing, their essence is being used, their blood is being used. Um, and this is, you know, compared to who men women’s bodies are, the ones that undergo a, a trip, like a change every month, a transformation through the menstrual cycle. Does that make sense? Would it,

No. Okay. So

The health and healing using East Asian medicine is really, if we look at a whole health model, right, uh, what’s happening, uh, in their life, you know, women, especially for women, women, very social, they’re usually doing a lot more, they’re searching, uh, to, you know, find out what’s wrong. Uh, they’re the caregivers. Um, what we’re seeing is, um, so then to kind of answer your question even more, uh, women tend towards getting much more depleted, definitely energetically and emotionally. Uh, and, and this is really being exemplified right now with the, um, the COVID-19 situation. Like so many women, suddenly, even if we’re working from home, they, um, have taken on the additional burdens of, uh, taking care of the kids, managing the school, uh, really, you know, organizing. And, uh, I think there was one study that showed, you know, when they asked the, the, the men, like, well, how many hours of how many productive hours do you have? Uh, it was like, Oh, I’ve got like 35, 40 hours a week productive. And for women, there were like 11, you know, because they had, uh, so much more to, um, take care of. Right. And so this is something to also take into account when we’re looking at overall health in particular with, uh, you know, women who are trying to get pregnant. Okay. So this is actually, um, at the end of the slide, so I’m going to stop the share. Right. Okay. Um,

Let’s see what else there is. I mean, obviously there’s an app for this, but what inspired you to write your book? Well, you know, Virginia, so many women that, um, come to me or just suffering, they had a lot of failure from, uh, trying to get pregnant. They had, oftentimes we’re not the first, uh, you know, the first stop they go through, uh, several cycles of IUI or IVF. They’ve tried many different things. Um, I’ve noticed that a lot of my patients, when they come to see me, they’ve already done a few cycles and they’re really at this, uh, point of frustration and struggle. And, you know, I looked at the statistics is actually very interesting where they came from. Um, I had to, to track it down because everywhere it was like the same statistic almost verbatim. And then I found a journalist who had done the research, and apparently those numbers come from, uh, churches in France from like 1682, eight 30, where they looked at baptism records and the, the maternal age.

Right. So we’re looking at, you know, 17th century birth records, and then they, they did an analysis and they were like, Oh, only a certain percentage of the, the women were over a particular age. And so they use that as a guidance and, and it, and it is a statistic, it’s an accurate statistic for that aspect. So this is where we start to get into a lot of the studies and the research. And, but what isn’t taken into consideration is, you know, did they have children before, um, you know, how about, uh, other illnesses, you know, there wasn’t any hygiene, right? A lot of, uh, there were a lot of women that were dying in childbirth, or there were a lot of infections, there was child mortality. Um, there was the living conditions were horrific, right. So kind of using that model or using that, and then applying it to right now where we have, you know, good nutrition, we have education, we have housing, we have a lot of things that, uh, the women and the families didn’t have then.

And so, uh, and also nutrition wise, right. So this is something that, you know, looking at, you know, where is the information coming from? You know, how accurate is it? How can you, how does that really apply to your circumstances? Right. So I say, yes, there’s truth in those numbers, but is it your truth? Right. So that’s a, that’s a whole other discussion. And then, you know, because we do very personalized medicine that, you know, we, you know, the, the, the chances of getting pregnant, the odds it’s much higher. Right. And especially even if, you know, a woman decides that she’s going to do IVF or IUI, as soon as they add in the acupuncture increases like tremendously the success rate.

Hmm. Yeah. So what, what are the general statistics, acupuncture helping for infertility? Well, you know, that’s actually a very tricky question. Um, the one statistic that we ha that was really done is a pretty old, I think it was from 2003 and was the German study that had done just very limited, like a certain protocol of numbers. And they had increased the, um, the success rate by like 42%. It was a very high percentage. Um, and the women were all, like, it was really like women that got acupuncture versus women that did not get acupuncture and really to bring those numbers to, let’s say 42%. That’s huge. Right. So aside from have there been other studies done, um, recently, uh, bad. I don’t know, uh, statistically, we also look at, um, and this is what I tell my patients, you know, when you go to a fertility clinic, the fertility clinic is really seeing people who are struggling.

And so those numbers, there are many women, many, uh, you know, couples that have children later, but since they don’t have a problem, they’re not going to show up as a, in the statistics. Right. So it’s like, Oh, you know, when somebody works in the emergency room, they see the worst things that happen. Um, but there’s like a whole other population that don’t get sick or don’t have heart disease, or don’t have, uh, those things. And so when we start to look at data, we have to really look at, you know, much more individually, what is going on for that person. I mean, we do all have, you know, commonality, the biology, et cetera, et cetera. Um, but you know, our destiny, our health destiny is really something that we can make a difference and make changes, you know, for the better, it’s not set in stone.

Right. Right. And of course, you know, it, the results are only increased when it’s combined with herbs and lifestyle and whatever that patient needs. So, absolutely. I mean, this, this is really a collaboration. And again, like to kind of re to reiterate, um, you know, this integration of East and West, it’s not an either, or it actually works much better when, um, you know, wherever your patient is on their journey. You know, they don’t necessarily all need hormones, but if they do, they’re there, right. And we want to look at, you know, how can we support that person for the best outcome. Right. And no matter what, what I look at it is that with the Chinese medicine model East Asian medicine model, is that we are supporting that whole person and helping them in the end, the result is that they can have a family.

Right. And so we had to look at like, how do we work really together for the best outcome? Right. And yeah, herbs. I mean, if, uh, I have a patient that is going through fertility treatments, of course, I always say, check with your doctor. Are they okay with you taking herbs? Like we really need to have that dialogue open, not like it’s a separate thing. And also I want to know, um, if somebody is taking different medications, um, so that we, we need to really be able to do what’s best. I would not recommend herbs for somebody if they’re already doing something pharmaceutically, uh, that, uh, well, we could have a discussion about is really, um, you know, maybe there’s a way to, uh, you know, lessen them or, you know, talk with your doctor about, you know, alternatives, or can we try something, um, always the patient’s safety, right. And, and, and, and the trust. Right. So, um, that’s what I we’re, you know, that’s how we’re going to work so much better and help a lot more people.

Yeah. So, well, you know, I’m so glad you were able to come today on such short notice and the timing was crazy, but, uh, it worked out and, uh, of course, you know, always, you know, give a hundred percent everything you do. So, you know, um, it’s just great to have you, uh, is there anything else you’d like to say before we wrap up? Well, um, what I would say is, is that right now is really the time for us, as, you know, Chinese medicine, practitioners, acupuncturists, alternative medicine, to really, you know, step up and real and be heard important to, you know, educate the public about, you know, what it is that we do. There is a lot more information that is coming out about acupuncture, herbs, you know, for health. Uh, and, uh, I know a lot of times practitioners tend to not want to post or write articles or, you know, get out there.

Um, but it’s important that, um, that we, as practitioners are visible, right. And that, uh, the public knows that we can help them. And we have a lot of other solutions, including, you know, pain instead of being on opioids. This is a huge issue, you know, that we are expert at helping people with pain. We are expert at helping people recover from surgery, uh, from nausea, uh, you know, helping immune system and more recently definitely for, you know, reducing inflammation, uh, you know, from this, you know, the inflammations from COVID-19 right. And so when, you know, everyone’s looking for the, the, the magic bullet of, uh, of a vaccine of a antibiotic of immunity that w you know, we, as practitioners can actually really help people have healthier lives. Right. All of the comorbidities that are out there, uh, we’re looking at a whole health model, and this is something that, you know, is going to make a big difference in terms of the quality of life for, uh, you know, the, the public.

And especially in America, we need a lot of help here. Uh, and, uh, but the important thing is, is that, uh, that as practitioners that we’re able to be found, and a lot of times practitioners, they just kind of like hide, you know, they’re they hide. Uh, so that’s what, um, that’s what I’d like to, to say to all my colleagues out there get visible. Well, you haven’t been hidden and that’s for sure. Um, well, thank you again, and thank you for the American Acupuncture Council for producing this. And, uh, I’m Virginia Doran, luminousbeauty.com. Uh, you can reach me there, uh, and, uh, on Facebook and Instagram. And, um, we’ll see you next time. Okay. Thanks for tuning in. Thanks.

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