Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that involves inserting thin needles into specific acupuncture sites. The acupuncturist chooses the sites based on a pattern of disharmony that is dependent on the patient’s symptoms and general characteristics.
A recent study looked at the acupuncture sites chosen for infertile and fertile females to determine similarities.
Two groups of 24 women who were either fertile or infertile received acupuncture from one of two acupuncturists.
The study found that acupuncture points K3, LI3 and SP6 were common to both groups.
However, the women receiving infertility treatments more frequently received acupuncture points CV4, CV3 and ST29.
Acupuncture point SP3 was chosen more often for fertile women.
These results suggest that some TCM patterns are associated with infertility. Interestingly, these patterns are not generally reported in TCM textbooks.
