Fertility treatment is a deeply personal experience—one that can bring up hope, uncertainty, resilience, and everything in between. At Āurum Acupuncture in Memphis, we offer evidence-based, whole-person care to support patients through every phase of the fertility process. Whether you’re just beginning, prepping for retrieval, or navigating the emotional intensity of transfer day, acupuncture can play a powerful role in both physiological outcomes and emotional well-being.

🥚 Before and During Egg Retrieval

In the weeks leading up to retrieval, acupuncture supports the body in preparing for ovarian stimulation. It helps optimize blood flow to the ovaries, which may improve follicular development and oocyte quality. By regulating the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian (HPO) axis, acupuncture helps stabilize hormone signaling and may reduce side effects of fertility medications.

📚 A study published in Gynecological Endocrinology (2011) found that acupuncture during ovarian stimulation improved the number of retrieved oocytes and embryo quality in women undergoing IVF (PubMed).

🤍 Embryo Transfer & Implantation Support

Transfer day can feel like everything is riding on one moment. Acupuncture around this time can help relax the uterus, increase endometrial receptivity, and modulate the immune response to support implantation. It also helps calm the nervous system, lowering cortisol levels and promoting parasympathetic activity—key for allowing the body to move into a receptive state.

📚 In one of the most cited studies on the subject, Paulus et al. (2002) found that IVF patients who received acupuncture before and after embryo transfer had significantly higher pregnancy rates compared to those who did not (PubMed).

🌀 Emotional Support & Cycle Monitoring

Between appointments, blood draws, and two-week waits, fertility treatment can feel like a full-time job. Regular acupuncture sessions provide a rhythmic point of grounding, where patients can process what’s happening, ask questions, and receive care that’s as much for the nervous system as it is for the reproductive system.

We’ve been there. One of the most valuable things you’ll find at Āurum Acupuncture is someone who understands this process intimately—someone you can ask about cervical mucus, transfer timing, lining thickness, or how to breathe when the wait feels unbearable. You don’t have to go through it alone.

🌱 Ongoing Cycle Support & Beyond

We continue to support patients during the luteal phase, the early weeks of pregnancy (if achieved), or in preparing for the next cycle with a sense of resilience. Acupuncture has also been shown to support progesterone levels, reduce inflammation, and regulate the immune system—all important factors in sustaining pregnancy.

📚 A meta-analysis in Complementary Therapies in Medicine (2019) concluded that acupuncture can enhance IVF outcomes and also reduce anxiety and depression in patients undergoing fertility treatment (PubMed).

At Aurum, You’re More Than Just a Protocol

We take an integrative, trauma-informed approach to care—combining the wisdom of Chinese medicine with the practical knowledge of modern fertility protocols. Whether you’re trying naturally or navigating advanced reproductive technology, we meet you where you are.

We’re here to help your body feel safer, stronger, and more supported—no matter where you are on your path to parenthood.

Ready to start? Let’s build a care plan that supports your fertility, your health, and your peace of mind. 🖋️ Book your fertility consultation today

Every so often, I find there is a shift in the collective subconscious and suddenly everyone is talking about the same thing. With the global Coronavirus pandemic front and center in everyone’s minds these days, it seems that all anyone has been talking about is their health and immunity and what can be done to improve it. Questions like “How can I improve my health overall?” or “Are there any supplements I can take to help boost my immunity?”, have been cropping up again and again in my Telehealth sessions. Of course, the answer is different for everyone and will depend on if there are any underlying conditions and where your health and immunity are at today.

That being said, let’s first understand what immunity is with some definitions:

Immune System: a system of cells and organs designed to protect you against “foreign” invaders or “bad” bacteria
Immune Response: the chain reaction of events that occur when your immune system detects those foreign invaders
Immunity: the body’s overall ability to create immune responses to the appropriate things

Why is that important to know? Your general health and wellbeing relies on how well your immune system works in initiating the proper immune response. When we talk about immunity, we're typically referring to the response and how it may be affecting how you feel. Some people find that their immunity is poor because they either have over or under active immune responses. The reasons for this are plentiful (and too long to get into here!), but it should be noted that this atypical response can be the reason for a myriad of health issues ranging from allergic reactions and allergies to gut and intestinal problems.

Two big factors that play a part in our immunity are lifestyle and diet. Getting some regular exercise, establishing healthy sleep habits, and maintaining a “clean” diet with few inflammatory foods and the right balance of macronutrients are all ways in which you can boost your immunity naturally by creating the right environments for our body to produce the correct response. In addition to those changes, things like reducing stress, consuming immune-supporting herbs, and spending quality time outdoors to soak up sun are also some manageable and simple ways to pump up your immunity this spring.

While it’s impossible for us to predict everything, we can certainly help with the stress reduction through acupuncture and immune-supporting herbs and supplements. Acupuncture has been proven to decrease leukocyte (white blood cell) values (Kou et al., 2005). What this tells us is that through the use of acupuncture, we can support a healthy and well-circulating immune system which supports appropriate immune responses. The research shows: acupuncture really works!

The other benefit of acupuncture in the immune response is that it reduces stress, which has a huge effect on health. When you are stressed, your body enacts its most innate fight or flight response, which introduces cortisol and all sorts of stress response hormones into your body. Over time this will damage your body and put you in a chronic state of “flight” where secondary functions - such as digestion or reproduction - are thrown out of whack since they are not considered essential.

Herbs are the pharmaceutical arm to Traditional Chinese Medicine (or TCM), and they allow us to accelerate the acupuncture response through careful selection of herbs and supplements. Some people are curious about what single herbs will help alleviate fatigue or ease allergies, but to that I say there is no “one size fits all” approach in TCM. It’s a matter of working with your body to create the proper formula. For most who need an immunity boost, that usually involves herbs like ginseng and astragalus which are good for reducing fatigue and increasing immunity.

Supplements differ from Chinese Herbs in that they are single ingredient vital nutrients you should already be getting through nutrition, but may not be getting enough of in order to receive a therapeutic effect. The supplements I suggest to everyone looking for a little bit of an immunity boost are: A high quality multivitamin with minerals, 1000mg liposomal Vitamin C, 20mg Zinc, 500IU Vitamin D, Elderberry, and a probiotic to encourage optimal gut health.

The key to using acupuncture for immunity is the knowledge that good health requires maintenance and upkeep, just like staying in shape. Using a three prong approach of diet, lifestyle, and stress reduction via acupuncture is an excellent course of treatment that has been proven to work.

References:

Kou, W., Bell, J. D., Gareus, I., Pacheco-López, G., Goebel, M. U., Spahn, G., ... & Dobos, G. J. (2005). Repeated acupuncture treatment affects leukocyte circulation in healthy young male subjects: a randomized single-blind two-period crossover study. Brain, behavior, and immunity, 19(4), 318-324.