Abdominal Therapy Helps with Premature Ovarian Failure and Infertility

First, what is premature ovarian failure (POF)?

If it is a reason why you may not be able to become pregnant you may know something about it.

POF is described as early menopause occurring before age 40. Average age onset is 27. Either the loss of eggs is accelerated, or the follicles are less responsive to hormonal stimulation.

The good news is that research indicates acupuncture-needling is effective in the regulation of hormone levels, reduction of anxiety and other forms of mental stress, and the ability of acupuncture to alleviate menopausal related symptoms. Importantly, the research demonstrates that acupuncture is effective in restoring endogenous estrogen production! It helps restore ovarian function.

Symptoms:

• stopped menstruating all together (amenorrhea), or

• short menstrual cycles with early or no ovulation.

• Hot flashes, vaginal dryness may appear suddenly over one to two months or gradually over several years.

• As ovulation occurs early in the cycle the FSH levels are high indicating ovaries are not responding to clues from brain.

• Now hypothalamus tries harder to send message by stimulating more FSH to stimulate the ovaries.

• But the number of receptors on the ovarian walls are reduced and less responsive.

• Estrogen is reduced, uterine lining too thin and follicles haven’t had time for eggs to fully mature, which equals no conception.

• Low libido

• Foggy brain, difficulty concentrating.

Causes: possible auto-immune disorder. Often may have conditions of autoimmune thyroiditis, Grave’s disease, Addison’s Disease.

1. Ovarian blood flow is 5 times less as we age than it is at our reproductive prime.

2. The follicular fluid contains rising levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (same chemical found in a damaged heart). It signals the body that the follicle is being starved of blood flow. Better circulation to any organ or tissue improves its function-so true for ovaries and eggs as well.

3. HPO axis imbalance: Fluctuating hormone levels = lack of communication between brain-hypothalamus, pituitary gland, ovaries make the follicles resistant to FSH---because they are undernourished by lack of blood flow.

Too difficult to try and trigger undernourished follicles to develop into eggs.

ART treatments (Assisted Reproductive Technology) don’t produce any better response than a women’s own FSH.

Cycle of follicular and egg development within the ovary

• A women’s eggs do not have an “expiration date”.

• They respond to surroundings just as the rest of our bodily systems do. They need good nutritional resources, blood flow, and Qi-energy.

• They respond negatively just as our other bodily systems do, to poor diet, drugs, toxins, stress hormones, lack of exercise and mental stimulation.

• What makes eggs less responsive is not age but hormonal fluctuations.

• hormonal fluctuations begin in the hypothalamus, which controls levels of GnRH (gonadotropin releasing hormone), which in turn triggers anterior pituitary to release FSH (follicular stimulating hormone), which than stimulates ovaries to develop follicles, ripen the eggs, release the eggs, produce progesterone, etc.

• The HPO axis becomes less stable as we age—the ovaries starve->they become less responsive to FSH. More eggs cycle through and go into a “resting state” or atresia.

• But the ovaries still have follicles!

The cycle from egg development in the ovary, its release, travel to the uterus, fertilization or sloughed off during menstruation is 25-31 days cycle.

• To grow from its resting state in follicle into a full-blown egg ready to be released is actually 150 days.

• one year prior, follicles are selected from a pool of resting follicles.

• 5 months before ovulation, the 0.03mm follicle is chosen to double in size to about 0.06mm and become a primary follicle.

• 120 days before ovulation it doubles in size again. It continues to go through many stages quadrupling in size.

• during this period, the follicle responds to hormone-regulating factors within the ovary itself and not yet to FSH from the pituitary. Factors important during this time period are a pre-cursor to human growth hormone (hGH) insulin like growth factor, which is a youth hormone secreted by the thymus gland.

• other factors important in determining eventual fertility potential of the egg: insulinlike growth factor binding protein, interleukin, tumor necrosis factor, inhibin, vascular endothelial growth factor, activin.

• During the last 2-3 weeks of its cycle through the ovary the follicle becomes dominant.

• This selection phase lasts about 10 days, where the follicle activates mechanisms to make itself responsive to FSH.

• Now the follicle grows and doubles in size, rises to the surface of the ovary, and becomes an estrogen producing follicle

• Then the follicle releases its egg into the abdomen, travels down the fallopian tube, hoping to become fertilized.

• The follicle becomes the corpus luteum, secreting progesterone to maintain a pregnancy should the egg be fertilized.

This gives you a good picture of the timeline needed to improve blood circulation, release abdominal restrictions, and improve response to hormones. We are looking at a treatment plan of anywhere between 4 months to 1 year of commitment to see positive results.

How can Abdominal Therapy with Tui-Na (manual massage), trigger point needling, and sound tuning forks help?

It takes a minimum of 4 months to maximize the health of the developing follicle and its residing egg.

My analogy is usually that a life cycle of a red blood cell is 120 days. That is roughly 4 months. It takes on average a minimum of 4 months for tissue repair and healing.

It is often used when patients are using ART.

1. A scientific study confirms that returning the body to hormonal balance and blood flow encourages the ovaries to produce and release eggs in the same manner as when they were younger. Ovaries of older rats that had stopped ovulating were transplanted into hormonally youthful rat’s bodies. The older ovaries inside the youthful bodies began ovulating again. 1, 2.

2. Unfortunately, rejuvenating the body takes time, but it can be done!

3. Our therapy helps direct the bodies attention to the hypothalamus-midbrain, pituitary, ovaries, uterus

4. It creates a balance between spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical health.

5. A women’s reproductive age span relies heavily on her kidney essence, which equates to congenital source Qi/genetics, which should be supplemented throughout her life.

6. kidney essence naturally declines around age 49, menses ceases, and she becomes incapable of bearing children.

7. Certain environmental and internal factors can help stave off or accelerate the decline of fertility.

8. Growth, reproduction, and aging should be a smooth transition over years from puberty & menarche-fertility to menopause-non-fertile state. This transition is physiological, psychological, and spiritual.

9. Two specific energies related to aging are the kidney and spleen. Treat these with acupuncture, herbs, diet, and the clock can be turned back and restore higher levels of fertility.

10. When kidney essence is depleted, a woman goes into menopause. The signs and symptoms parallel a decline in hormone levels. There will be kidney yin, Kidney yang vacuity or both.

Treatment is based on your Meridian Pattern Diagnosis and the disease diagnosis of POF.

Treatment is based on your individual pattern diagnosis along with the complaint of POF. POF is often caused by a combination of excess and deficiency patterns, including kidney yin deficiency, spleen qi and liver blood deficiency, and liver qi stagnation with deficiency heat. The disease name of POF is associated with hormonal imbalances.

Enhancement of results

*With the Addition of Manual Therapy Tui-Na, Sound Healing tuning forks, and Essential Oil recipes (optional-some people are sensitive to smells).

Many problems of the Musculo-skeletal system, abdominal organs, or pelvic area are from adhesions and fibrotic tissue. There is also a reduction in blood circulation in the tissues.

Adhesions are bands of scar tissue that form in response to imbalanced hormones, neurogenic inflammatory chemicals, infection, radiation, surgery, or trauma.

Scar tissue may form again after surgery meant to remove it.

Adhesive sticky fluids create narrowing of spaces, blockages, causing structures, and tissues to stick together.

Tui-Na manual therapy is massage and techniques over the abdominal, hips, lower back, and lower legs that helps to increase blood flow, improve fluid metabolism, helps rid of sticky inflammatory fluids, calms and improves balance of the nervous system.

What the research says

Chen et al. (Tianjin University and Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing)4 conducted a study to investigate the effects of acupuncture on POF. A total of 31 women were selected for the study and were given acupuncture treatments once every other day, three times per week, for 3 months. To measure the effect of acupuncture treatments, researchers used serum levels for FSH, E2 (estradiol, a type of active estrogen), and LH (luteinizing hormone), and self-rated anxiety scale (SAS) and Kupperman scores prior and post-acupuncture treatments. Additionally, menstrual cycles were self-recorded by the patients during the one-month follow-up visits. Out of the 31 participants, 6 patients resumed menstrual cycles from the treatment. The researchers conclude that acupuncture treatment decreases patients’ serum FSH and LH levels, raises serum E2 levels, reduces anxiety and mental stress, and alleviates menopausal symptoms.

For hormonal imbalance, infertility, POF, or menopause Abdominal Therapy can help!

Learn more about Abdominal Therapy

Schedule your appointment today.

Dr. Michele Arnold, D.A.C.M., L.Ac.

Doctor of Acupuncture

References

1. Sharma, D., Bhartiya, D. Aged mice ovaries harbor stem cells and germ cell nests but fail to form follicles. J Ovarian Res 15, 37 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13048-022-00968-4

2. Niikura Y, Niikura T, Tilly JL. Aged mouse ovaries possess rare premeiotic germ cells that can generate oocytes following transplantation into a young host environment. Aging (Albany NY). 2009 Dec 12; 1:971-978 . https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.100105

3. https://www.healthcmi.com/Acupuncture-Continuing-Education-News/1794-acupuncture-premature-ovarian-failure-finding

4. Chen Y, Fang Y, et al. (2014). Effect of acupuncture on premature ovarian failure: a pilot study. Evid Based Complement Alternate Medicine. 2014:718675.

5. Li Qin Zhao (2011). The Treatment of premature ovarian failure using TCM. Chinese Medicine Times. Vol 6 Issue 2.

6. Sha Gui E., Zhao Wenmin, Ma Renhai (1999). Acupuncture Treatment of premature ovarian failure using 76 clinical cases. Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion. Vol 4, 199-201.