Natural Fertility Secrets Series, Tip #1–Manage Your Stress!

This post is part of our series–Secrets to Naturally Maximize Your Fertility.  Our first recommendation to you is to manage your stress.  As you have likely heard, stress can negatively impact fertility and going through infertility treatments such as IVF or IUI often adds to couples’ preexisting stress.

How can stress affect fertility?

 
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Stress can inhibit proper blood flow to the reproductive organs.  When we’re stressed, your body thinks, “Danger! Danger!” and enters a “fight or flight” mode.  To protect itself, your body redirects blood flow away from the reproductive systems to the brain, the eyes and the musculoskeletal system so that you’re ready to handle whatever threat comes your way.  Think about it.  If your body is worried about immediate survival, it’s going to place a lower priority on being able to have a baby.  This survival mechanism may have been fantastic when we were cavemen, but in modern times where we are constantly bombarded by stress from all aspects of our lives, it can be a major roadblock to fertility.

Stress also creates an imbalance of reproductive hormones and throws off menstrual cycles.  One study focusing on women undergoing fertility treatments found that stress can impact egg production, result in fewer eggs being retrieved and fertilized, and impact the number of embryos transferred.

What are ways of managing stress and improving your fertility?*

• Meditation–I strongly recommend frequent practice of meditation to calm your mind.  We play guided imagery CDs by Circle and Bloom, HealthJourneys.com and Anji Inc. for our fertility patients to help them relax as they undergo their treatments.

• Qi Gong and Yoga–Qi gong or yoga can also assist with calming you down, as well as improving your blood flow, increasing your energy and detoxifying your body.*  With regard to yoga, you want to find movements that will open, rather than tighten, your core.  I recommend finding a practitioner who specializes in fertility yoga.

• Acupuncture—Acupuncture is well known for reducing stress, something that is now being substantiated by scientific research finding that acupuncture can help block stress hormone elevation.*  Who couldn’t use a little of that in their lives, right?

For fertility patients, the benefits of stress management include:

• increased circulation to the reproductive organs;*

• reducing the release of stress hormones which will can negatively impact the delicate balance of reproductive hormones;* and

• promoting the release of endorphins that will help you feel better and help regulate your menstrual cycle.*

Stay tuned for additional tips to our series, Secrets to Naturally Maximize Your Fertility.  In the meantime, if you’d like to learn more about how acupuncture can assist in treating infertility, visit https://www.readingacupuncture.com/infertility.

Click here to see Natural Fertility Secret #2

*Disclaimer:  Specific results are not guaranteed.  Results may vary from person to person.

Family Acupuncture & Herbs of Reading serves many communities in Massachusetts (MA) and New Hampshire (NH), including: Wakefield; Reading; Lynnfield; Winchester; Lexington; Stoneham; Wilmington; Melrose; Saugus; Medford; Somerville; Woburn; Andover; Peabody; Danvers; Boston; North Reading; North Andover; Concord; Cambridge; Acton; Bedford; Billerica; Burlington; Wayland; Weston; Newton; Arlington; Nahant; Gloucester; Manchester; Manchester-by-the-Sea;Sudbury; Lincoln; Waltham; Watertown; Revere; Malden; Everett; Chelsea; Salem; Beverly; Swampscott; Marblehead;Middleton; Wenham; Ipswich; Tewksbury; Lowell; Belmont; Boxford; Rockport; Topsfield; Rowley; Brookline; Winthrop; Carlisle; Chelmsford;Dracut;Methuen; Haverhill; Lawrence; Georgetown; Newburyport; Salisbury; Groveland; Amesbury; Seabrook; Hampton