“A plethora of evidence in recent years have highlighted the significant effect of acupuncture in assisting the treatment of infertility, especially regarding its low side effects in improving endometrial receptivity.”

“Firstly, acupuncture may improve ovulation by modulating the central and peripheral nervous systems, the neuroendocrine and endocrine systems, the ovarian blood flow, and metabolism. Secondly, acupuncture can improve the outcome of IVF-ET, and the mechanisms may be related to the increased uterine blood flow, inhibited uterine motility, and the anesis of depression, anxiety and stress. Finally, the studies suggest that acupuncture plays a positive role in male infertility, the mechanism of which is not yet clear.”

“TCM can be applied to improve endometrial blood flow so as to increase birth rates in IVF-ET. The combination of Chinese and Western medicines and acupuncture application will increase their combined effect, thereby obtaining greater clinical benefits”

“The pooled clinical pregnancy rate (CPR) from all of acupuncture groups was significantly greater than that of control groups (RR 1.21, 95% CI: 1.07-1.38), whereas the pooled live birth rate (LBR) was not.”

“The IVF outcomes from the Electro Acupuncture groups were all significantly higher than those from the control groups”

“The high-quality embryo rate of 51.9%, biochemical pregnancy rate of 51.0%, clinical pregnancy rate of 44.2% and endometrial thickness of (10.84 +/- 1.75) mm in the intervention group were all significantly higher than those in the control group [48.7%, 38.9%, 34.8%, and (10.52 +/- 1.50) mm, respectively; P < 0.05].”

“Our findings indicate that Chinese herbs increase endometrial thickness, improve the quality of fertility and embryo, and promote embryonic nidation, thus enhancing the success rate of in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection-embryo transplantation cycle.”

“Eight RCTs, 13 cohort studies, 3 case series and 6 case studies involving 1851 women with infertility were included in the systematic review. Meta-analysis of RCTs suggested a 3.5 greater likelihood of achieving a pregnancy with Chinese Herbal Medicine therapy over a 4-month period compared with WM drug therapy alone”

“Our review suggests that management of female infertility with Chinese Herbal Medicine can improve pregnancy rates 2-fold within a 4 month period compared with Western Medical fertility drug therapy or IVF.”

“The clinical pregnancy rate and implantation rate in the treated group were significant higher than those in the control group, 47.37% (36/76 cases) vs 32.14% (54/168 cases) and 22.38% (47/210 embryos) vs 16.09% (74/460 embryos), respectively (all P <0.05)”

“Acupuncture as a treatment for infertility shows great results both in man and women. Acupuncture can be considered as successful treatment in restoring fertility in the patients, by improving the sperm quality and ovaries function and balancing the endocrine system and hormones.”