Acupuncture for Infertility Treatment
Acupuncture is not recommended as a primary treatment for infertility based on current medical guidelines, as there is insufficient high-quality evidence to support its use for this purpose. 1
Current Evidence-Based Approaches to Infertility Treatment
Male Factor Infertility Management
- Male contributions to infertility are prevalent in approximately half of all infertile couples and should be properly evaluated and treated with evidence-based medical or surgical therapies 1
- For men with azoospermia due to obstruction, sperm may be extracted from either the testis or the epididymis 1
- For men with ejaculatory dysfunction, treatments may include penile vibratory stimulation, electroejaculation, surgical sperm retrieval, or sympathomimetic agents depending on the cause 1
- For men with infertility and low serum testosterone, treatments may include aromatase inhibitors, human chorionic gonadotropin, selective estrogen receptor modulators, or combinations thereof 1
- Testosterone monotherapy should not be prescribed for males interested in current or future fertility 1
Female Factor Infertility Management
- For women with infertility, established treatments include ovarian stimulation with gonadotropins, oocyte and embryo cryopreservation, and other assisted reproductive technologies (ART) 1
- For women with limited time before starting treatments like chemotherapy, ovarian tissue cryopreservation may be considered 1
- Ovarian stimulation protocols can be started at any time of the menstrual cycle ('random start stimulation') and can be completed rapidly before initiating treatments like chemotherapy 1
Limitations of Acupuncture for Infertility
- Current high-quality medical guidelines from the American Urological Association (AUA) and American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) do not recommend acupuncture as a primary treatment for infertility 1
- The 2017 WHO guidance analysis found insufficient high-quality data to recommend the use of acupuncture for treating men with abnormal semen parameters and/or male infertility 1
- The same guidance strongly recommended against herbal therapies for male infertility treatment based on very low quality of evidence 1
Research on Acupuncture for Infertility
- Some research suggests acupuncture might play a supportive role in specific contexts:
- Limited evidence suggests acupuncture might help reduce pain during intrauterine device placement, but this is not directly related to treating infertility 1
- Some studies suggest manual acupuncture may improve quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome, but evidence for its role in infertility is insufficient 1
- Systematic reviews on acupuncture for infertility have reported conflicting evidence and methodological quality of these reviews is generally low or very low 2
- While some case reports suggest positive outcomes with acupuncture for infertility 3, 4, these represent low-level evidence and cannot establish causality
Recommended Approach
- For infertility treatment, patients should be directed to evidence-based medical and surgical interventions as recommended by AUA/ASRM guidelines 1
- Assisted reproductive technologies (ART) including intrauterine insemination (IUI), in vitro fertilization (IVF), and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) remain the standard treatments for infertility when appropriate 1
- Treatment should be provided according to the needs and characteristics of the couple through a shared decision-making process 1
- If patients wish to explore complementary approaches like acupuncture, they should be informed that current medical evidence does not support its use as a primary treatment for infertility 1
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
- Delaying evidence-based treatments in favor of unproven alternative therapies may reduce chances of successful conception, especially for women of advanced maternal age 1
- Relying on case reports or low-quality studies rather than high-quality clinical guidelines can lead to ineffective treatment choices 2
- Using supplements or herbal remedies without medical supervision may interfere with conventional treatments or have unexpected side effects 1