It’s a personal life crisis. It’s Adam and Eve. It’s the driving force behind the desire to keep moving forward, enriching yourself, and dancing within the rhythm of life. Creation… reproduction…it’s having a baby. When you struggle with creating life your entire world is cold, harsh, barren, lonely and frightening. The future is terrifying when you have been labeled infertile.
What is life if not to feel God’s miracle growing inside your womb, swollen with hope of tickling toes for a lifetime? Why continue living if you cannot open your heart and body to push forth new, precious life? Dreams of suckling infants swim in and out of our consciousness our entire lives promising us joyous motherhood. Our nature is to attract, secure and procreate. Life is truly everlasting only with generations to follow us. Infertility ravishes these dreams challenging 7.3 million women and men in the U.S. every year to survive one of life’s greatest devastations-- about 12% of the reproductive-age population (Source: National Survey of Family Growth, CDC 2002).
I was told to get a hysterectomy by the time I was in my early 20’s with no official diagnosis as to why I suffered so tremendously every 28 days. Endometriosis suspected but never definitive. The pain, unimaginably ferocious inevitably tore through my body leaving me weak and infected with the fear I may never conceive. I was tossed hormones and pain killers chased by double strength pain killers with my invader never abating- not once. I was emotional, desperate, bloated, frustrated and limp with sadness. I wept tears upon tears fearing the future all the while praying and dreaming of holding a baby warm and gooey in my birthing arms.
I was 21 and at a cross-roads. Not married yet, as I was a babe myself. Every dream included children, lots of them and I was not prepared to live life childless as some of my doctors harshly projected. I was lost and abandoned by a system of medicine I had respected and depended upon my entire life.
With one gentle tap my life was about to change so dramatically one couldn’t have dreamt such a milky sweet story. Acupuncture was strange, elusive, foreign and a little scary. I was timid and skeptical of these wispy medicinal matchsticks. I lay there under my Acupuncturist’s tender care vulnerable, doubtful and a touch curious. I obediently slipped handfuls of herbs down my throat with the promise of health and of course a future baby. Three months was all it took. Ninety measly days was all it took to transform my reproductive health and stave off my suffering forever.
I was deeply, souly, impenetrably moved and inspired I followed that four year path of graduate school and became an Acupuncturist and Herbalist. My passion was to change the lives of women opening their conception vessels welcoming the children they desired and deserved.
But how does it work? How does this mysterious, ancient, powerful medicine work? Its history is rich and layered and brilliant. It takes some ability to let go out of our western minds and open ourselves to the timelessness of innate healing potential within our bodies. It is a stretch for most of us but it works and it’s rather simple. The goal is balance. We may have even heard the term frigid or barren for a woman who has yet to conceive. As harsh as the words sound they reveal quite a bit about a woman’s reproductive imbalance.
In Chinese Medicine we look for patterns to explain the devastating diagnosis of “infertility”. We look at temperature, color of skin, whites of the eyes, nail beds and tongue. We feel pulses, abdomens and temperatures. As awkward as this may be and reminiscent of a schoolyard tiff, a protruding tongue can be our guide and treatment principles for an infertile man or woman. The tongue is the only muscle we can see externally and it reflects the disharmony of the internal body. If a woman’s tongue is pale, her menstrual blood is thin and pink, she is fatigued with anxiety and insomnia her infertility is due to blood deficiency that fails to nourish her uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes preventing conception. We supplement her with blood building foods like meat, beef, dark leafy greens, and beets. We may even enhance her with an iron supplement if labs indicate such severe blood deficiency we know as anemia.
One third of our four years in graduate school is spent understanding the body and illness from a western perspective. We take anatomy, physiology, cadaver lab, physical exam, ortho-neuro evaluation- to name a few. We understand what it means when a woman has poly-cystic ovarian syndrome, hypo-thyroidism or endometriosis and when a man has poor sperm count, motility and morphology. This information only adds to our ability to treat infertility.
Through Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine we can take women and men who are considered from an allopathic medical perspective to be infertile and make them fertile. The labs prove it and a blessed baby dismisses the diagnosis altogether. The cure for infertility is in fact, a baby. We have had hundreds of patients in our practice all like me: skeptical, nervous, depressed and terrified. We understand who you are and where you have been. You have choices.
Another common problem arising in infertility and habitual miscarriage patients is blood stagnation. In men it often presents as a hernia or varicocele with a propensity towards anger, irritability and high blood pressure. Women too will suffer from similar emotional outbursts yet she will notice large purple clots with her menstrual blood and she always has stabbing pain the day before her period begins. We treat these patients with acupuncture points and herbal medicine that move blood stasis to enable their reproductive organs to function appropriately.
For the woman suffering from cold in the uterus we will see a pattern where the woman detests winter months, is cold all of the time, finds some relief from a heating pad during cramping and often has loose stool or low sex drive. This woman literally has too much cold in her body. We refer to a baby as a bun in the oven and to grow any plant or animal we need adequate warmth. Just as plants and animals go into hibernation during cold temperatures so does our fertility until the warmth creates a fertile, prosperous womb. We will infuse her diet with warming foods and herbs including: cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and lamb. We even have her put a hot water bottle on her lower abdomen for 30 minutes for the two weeks prior to ovulation.
The simplicity of the medicine is mind boggling. The results: life changing. Our two boys (and millions of babies throughout the world) are loving, joyous, miraculous, proof of its brilliance and effectiveness. One of the reasons we are so effective in treating infertility is because China has a very long history of taking reproduction seriously. If you as the woman or as the physician could not bare a child or create fertility within a barren woman you risked your life. Some believe the severity of that punishment was the catalyst behind successful fertility treatments using Acupuncture and Herbal medicine.
Acupuncturists and Herbalists who specialize in infertility will treat: anovular cycles (no ovulation), PCOS (poly-cystic ovarian syndrome), endometriosis, unexplained infertility, amenorrhea (no period), irregular menstruation, short and long luteal phases, hypo-thyroidism, premature eggs, and male infertility including: poor sperm count, motility and morphology. We work synergistically with western trained Reproductive Endocrinologists and OBGYN’s. We also work solely on patients who have gone the western route, even as far as IVF (in-vitro fertilization) and failed. We are often referred patients who are fearful of aggressive treatments and prefer a natural, non-invasive approach that improves their overall health and produces a successful pregnancy. We have co-treated patients during embryo transfers and intra-uterine inseminations for over 10 years at the most prestigious fertility centers in the nation. For the skeptics, in the medical journal Fertility and Sterility (2002 and 2006) studies have proven that adding acupuncture to assisted reproductive technologies increases successful pregnancy by over 65%. Yes, over 65%- that is a miracle and a blessing in and of itself. It is imperative that you seek treatment from an Acupuncturist and Herbalist who expertise is infertility. This is complex but it is treatable.
You have choices. You are not a victim. You do not have to be afraid. You can dream.
To find an experienced Acupuncturist and Herbalist near you: http://www.acufinder.com/.
www.AmericanAcu.com Kristen N. Burris, L.Ac., M.S.T.O.M. is a nationally recognized Acupuncturist and Herbalist who has been featured in Parenting Magazine, Natural Health Magazine, National Public Radio (NPR) and KUSI TV News. Ms. Burris' expertise includes: women’s health, fertility, pregnancy, habitual miscarriage, difficult menstrual cycles, menopausal symptoms, digestive problems, and pain. Ms. Burris has also taught acupuncture to graduate students at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine. She and her husband Tony Burris, L.Ac., M.S.T.O.M treat patients with acupuncture, herbal medicine and nutrition as natural medicine in their family-owned, private practice, American Acupuncture Center in Eagle, Idaho. Ms. Burris has treated patients at Top Fertility Centers Nationwide, San Diego Hospice, University of California in San Diego (UCSD) Integrative Clinic, and for UCSD Dental Study. Ms. Burris served on the board of Resolve, the non-profit organization that supports people struggling with infertility. Kristen developed comprehensive retreats for infertility patients resulting in 75% success rate for all couples and individuals who attended.
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