I. Overview: The treatment of infertility by acupuncture in Chinese medicine has a long history, and “Infertility” has been discussed in “Su Wen – Bone and Space Theory”, which says: “The Governor’s Vessel …… is sick and… …the woman is infertile”. With regard to the cause of infertility, the Book of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (A.B. Jing – Miscellaneous Diseases of Women) believes that women’s infertility is due to [blood within the body]: “Women who have no children, [blood within the body does not stop, Guan Yuan is in charge. The Book of Discernment and the Search for Heirs advocates the regulation of the Ren and Du veins, and it says: “A woman with a sore back, a distended chest, an obstruction in the abdomen, a desire to sleep day after day, a desire to lie down every day, a hundred plans to seek a child, but cannot do so. The Ren and Du veins travel in the front, and the Du veins travel in the back, but they all travel up and down from the Belt vein. Therefore, the deficiency of the Ren and the Governor, and the belt vein falls in the front and back, although the essence of men, will be more miscarriages. Besides, if there is a hernia and obstruction between the Ren and the Du, there will be many obstacles outside, and the fetus will shrink into the hernia and obstruction, and often the essence cannot be administered.” Regarding the acupuncture treatment of infertility, the Book of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (A.B.) has the following: “If the husband loses sperm, Zhongji will be the mainstay”; “If the man’s sperm overflows, the yin will shrink upwards, Dahe male will be the mainstay”; “If the son’s sperm is insufficient, Taichong will be the mainstay “. “The woman has no sperm, the yin is quite out, and the white leach is not forbidden, and the upper s is the main one” and other records. Yang Hongwei, Department of Infertility, Guangzhou Liwan District Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Second, the advantages: acupuncture therapy is a traditional Chinese medicine therapy, one of the valuable heritage of the motherland medicine, treatment of infertility, the efficacy is remarkable, especially for idiopathic oligospermia, luteal insufficiency infertility, ovulation disorders infertility and other functional infertility has unique advantages.
1.Simple method, low cost and no toxic side effects.
2. By regulating the balance of yin and yang, acupuncture can regulate and strengthen the functions of the internal organs in both directions, and when used in conjunction with drugs can improve the absorption of drugs, strengthen the performance of drugs, and reduce the possible toxic side effects of drugs.
Third, theoretical basis.
Su Wen – Shang Gu Tian Zhen Lun said: “The woman is seven years old, the kidney energy is strong, teeth more hair long, two seven and the day sebum to, any pulse through, Tai Chong pulse is strong, the moon to time down, so there are children, the husband is eight years old, the kidney energy is real, hair long teeth more, two eight kidney energy is strong, the day sebum to, essence overflow diarrhea, yin and yang and, so can have children.” It means that the kidney qi is strong and real, the true yin is sufficient, the Ren vein is open, the Taichong vein is strong, the woman can have normal menstruation, the man can ejaculate normal semen and choose the “waiting”, the yin and yang intermingle to conceive and have children, and the lack of children is due to blood strain and injury, and the yin and yang are not in harmony, as the “Treatise on the Origin of Diseases and Waiting for Children” says: “But The woman is sick and childless, all due to labor injury to blood, hot and cold, and wind and cold, guest in the uterus, resulting in intra-uterine disease, or menstruation astringent closed, or collapse of blood and bring down, resulting in the disharmony of yin and yang, the menstrual blood line is not good, so childless also. It means that infertility is caused by the lesion of the flush and the dysfunction of the internal organs, and the effective treatment of infertility by acupuncture lies in unblocking the meridians, balancing the yin and yang of the internal organs, and regulating the qi and blood of the flush and the flush.
IV. Treatment
(I) Holistic concept
The human body is a unified whole, an organic whole centered on the internal organs. The internal organs coordinate with each other physiologically and promote each other to maintain the relative constancy of the internal and external environment of the organism, and affect each other pathologically, and the pathology of any one organ may affect the function of other organs. The clinical causes of infertility are diverse and the pathogenesis is complex and varied, so acupuncture treatment of infertility requires a holistic concept.
(II) Acupuncture points
1 Main acupoints: Guan Yuan, San Yin Jiao, Da He, Kidney Yu, Ji S, and Foot San Li
(1) Characteristics of the main acupuncture points: The Ling Shu – Wu Yin Wu Wei (Five Sounds and Five Flavors) says that the Ren Vessel “starts from the middle of the cell”; Yang Xuan Cao’s commentary on the Difficult Classic says that “Ren is also the source of expectation, which is the source of human birth and nourishment”. The foot San Yin meridian travels through the small abdomen and is connected to the Ren channel through the meeting of Zhong Ji and Guan Yuan; the kidneys produce the substance Tian Kuei, which is related to reproductive function; the liver meridian travels around the Yin organ, so the foot San Yin meridian is also related to the reproductive function of human beings. Modern medicine believes that the sympathetic nerves from the lumbar 1 to 2 are divided into the ovarian plexus and the presacral plexus, while the parasympathetic nerves from the sacral 2 to 4 join the pelvic plexus, and these plexus innervate the activities of the genitalia in the pelvis, so the lumbosacral bladder meridian can treat infertility. Therefore, according to the doctrine of the internal organs and meridians of Chinese medicine and the modern neurolocal anatomical principles of the reproductive center, the main acupoints are concentrated in the Ren and San Yin meridians and the bladder meridians.
(2) Characteristics of the main acupuncture points: Reproductive function is closely related to kidney energy and the function of the Punch and Ren channels. It is the meeting point of the Kidney meridian and the Chong channel, which has the effect of benefiting the Kidney and fixing the Chong; the Kidney Yu and the second s warm the Kidney and help the Yang; the “Introduction to Medicine” states that the Kidney Yu “is responsible for all deficiencies and makes people have children”; the Foot San Li strengthens the Spleen and regulates the Qi and Blood. Therefore, the main acupuncture points are mainly in the lumbosacral region, the small abdomen, the yin side of the lower extremities and the back, which can unblock the meridians, regulate the qi and blood of the Chong Ren, tonify the kidneys, relax the liver and strengthen the spleen, and improve the fertility function.
2 Acupuncture points
The points are individualized according to the principles of TCM diagnosis and treatment
(1) Kidney deficiency: dizziness and tinnitus, soreness and weakness of the waist and knees, fatigue, long and clear urine, or cold abdomen and cold limbs, indifference to sexual desire, frequent or incontinent urination, white moist moss, late pulse or weak ulnar pulse; or palpitation and insomnia, dry skin, withered face, pale tongue with thin white moss and sunken pulse.
Treatment principle: tonifying the kidney and filling the essence
Matching points: Yang deficiency: Qihai, Zhongji, Zhanmen
Yin deficiency: Tai Xi (double), Zhao Hai (double)
(2) Spleen deficiency
Main symptoms: tiredness and weakness, reduced diet, pale complexion, pale lips, abdominal distension, dullness, loose stools, pale tongue with white fur, weak pulse.
Treatment principle: tonifying the spleen and benefiting Qi
Coordinating points: Hand San Li (double), Spleen Yu (double), Middle Epigastrium, Tian Shu (double)
Interspersed with dampness: adding Fenglong (double) and Yinlingquan (double)
(3) Stagnation of liver qi
Main symptoms: infertility after marriage, depression, few words and little joy, or anxious and irritable temperament, sighing easily when the chest is distended and full, belching, or even impotence, premature ejaculation, pale tongue with white fur, red tongue edge, thin pulse string.
Treatment principle: De-stressing the liver and relieving depression
Coordinating points: Yanglingquan (double), Tai Chong (double), Neiguan (double), He Gu (double)
(4) Blood stasis
Main symptoms: infertility after marriage, dull tongue or petechiae, thin white fur, astringent or tight pulse
Treatment principle: activating blood circulation and resolving blood stasis
Matching points: Shang s (double), Blood Sea (double), Liver Yu (double)
(5) Damp-heat
Main symptoms: infertility after marriage, bitter and tasteless mouth, yellow and frequent urination, or even painful urination, red tongue, yellowish fur, slippery pulse.
Treatment principle: clearing damp-heat
Coordinating points: Yinlingquan (double), Fenglong (double), Neiting (double), Xingma (double).
(6) Internal disturbance of deficiency heat
Main symptoms: infertility after marriage, bitter and dry mouth, disturbed dreams, poor sleep, heat in the hands and feet, yellow and short urine, discomfort in the perineum, red tongue with little fur or cracked lines, thin pulse strings
Treatment principle: nourishing Yin and clearing heat
Matching points: Taixi (double), Zhaohai (double),
3. Points to be used in treating diseases
(1) Male infertility.
Infertility of oligospermia: vital gate, qihai
Infertility due to seminal fluid non-liquidity: Yinlingquan (double), Fenglong (double), Shenqu
Infertility of varicocele: Blood Sea (double), Taichong (double)
Immunogenic infertility: Tai Chong (double), Tai Xi (double)
Sexual dysfunctional infertility: Huiyin, Zhongji
(2) Female infertility: Combine with menstrual cycle to match points.
Late menstrual period: Tai Xi (double), Zhao Hai (double)
Ovulation phase: Tai Chong (double), Blood Sea (double), Neiguan (double)
Luteal phase: Qihai, Blood Sea (double)
Menstrual phase: Hegu (double), Taichong (double), Yongquan (double)
(iii) Operation methods.
1 Acupuncture.
(1) needle sensation: “Nei Jing” cloud: “prick the important, qi to and effective”. Requires acupuncture with a soreness, numbness, swelling and pain, “the qi can be”, but does not force the needle sensation to the perineum.
(2) Tonic and diarrhea: according to the patient’s deficiency, cold and heat using the appropriate tonic and diarrhea techniques.
(3) Time: 25 minutes/time, 2 times/week
2 Moxibustion
(1) For patients with cold, deficiency and stasis, moxibustion is appropriate to warm the yang and dispel the cold, and to nourish the deficiency and disperse the stasis. For example, the “Secret Tradition of Moxibustion” said: “women are infertile: when moxibustion in the most important”, “Class Jing Tu Yi” said: “Shen Que: women with cold blood is not fetus, moxibustion this never off”; also said: the treatment of “infertility “(2) For some acupuncture points, moxibustion is not recommended.
(2) For some acupuncture points, such as Shen Que, moxibustion can be used, it is said that “the needle is not for, moxibustion is appropriate”
(3) can be suspended moxibustion, intermittent ginger moxibustion, intermittent salt moxibustion, etc.
3 medicine application
(1) Chen Zhi Jian Spleen Cream on Shen Que
The skin is the thinnest and there is no fat under the skin, there are rich blood vessels and nerve endings, the drug can quickly enter the blood circulation, fully and timely play the drug effect, Chen Zhu Jian Spleen cream based on traditional Chinese medicine theory, take the meaning of Huoxiang Zheng Qi Wan and Bao He Wan, Fu Ling, Bai Zhu, Mu Xiang, Scutellaria Baicalensis, Shan Zha to strengthen the spleen and dispel dampness. Chen Zhu Jian Spleen Cream applied to Shen Zhe points has the joint effect of drugs and acupuncture points, which can improve the function of the spleen and stomach, accelerate the absorption of food and drugs, and have a speeding effect on clinical treatment.
(2) Shuangbai Dispersing Stasis Cream is applied to the Eight S points for treating infertility due to inflammation of the gonads; the A-Yi points are applied for treating painful evidence and inflammation.
(4) Needle and medicine together, acupuncture stimulates acupuncture points, regulates the balance of yin and yang in the human body through meridians, does not increase the chemical composition of the human body, but can strengthen the function of the internal organs, on the one hand, can improve the absorption of drugs and strengthen the performance of the medicine, on the other hand, can reduce the possible side effects of drugs, the effect of needle and medicine together is more significant, especially for functional lesions, such as luteal insufficiency, ovulation disorders, can significantly shorten the course of the disease.
V Indications
Male infertility: delayed liquefaction or non-liquefaction of semen, oligospermia, weak sperm (poor motility), multiple dead sperm (low viability), non-ejaculation, erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, low libido.
Female infertility: polycystic ovary syndrome, functional non-ovulation, follicular dysplasia, luteal insufficiency, adnexitis, uterine dysplasia, etc.