Alternative Therapies To Assist You On Your Fertility Journey

OSTEOPATHIC MANIPULATIVE TREATMENT (OMT)

OMT for fertility is a complement to your ongoing workup and care.  Osteopathic medicine emphasizes the interrelated unity of all systems in the body, each working with the other to heal in times of illness.   It utilizes an advanced understanding of anatomy and physiology to help the body function at a more efficient and normal level.

A study of infertile patients showed a 60% pregnancy rate after receiving OMT.  

*Kramp, M.E. 2012.  Combined manual therapy techniques for the treatment of women with infertility:  a case series.  Journal of Osteopathic Medicine, 112 (10), pp. 680-684.

Osteopathic treatment can also help with other gynecological ailments.  OMT can be used to treat acute and chronic pelvic pain, associated with endometriosis  and uterine fibroids.

For more information, please contact our Denver Fertility office for a referral to a trained OMT professional.

NUTRITIONAL COUNSELING

Good nutrition is not only the foundation of a healthy lifestyle, but it aids in the prevention and treatment of many disease and conditions.  

Women and men have specific nutritional needs; therefore, it is an important component of fertility.   A healthy body weight has been clinically shown to improve the chances of conception.  Being overweight or underweight can affect your chances of achieving pregnancy.  Minor changes in your diet can maximize nutrient intake, improve mood and energy levels, thereby improving conception.  Obviously, couples trying to conceive should quit smoking, decrease alcohol and caffeine consumptions, practice good nutrition and understand its role in promoting optimal health and well-being.  Elimination of high saturated fats, refined sugars, and processed foods will also contribute to your fertility health.  There are specific vitamins, minerals, and foods that have been proven to enhance your chances of conception.  A nutritious diet and reducing caffeine will help you feel fit, energetic and ensure your body is healthy.  It may also lower the risk of complications during pregnancy and will contribute to the future health of you and your baby.

For more information, please contact our Denver Fertility office for a referral to a trained nutritional professional.  Please also refer to our Nutritional Blog for more specifics.

ACUPUNCTURE

Acupuncture has been used for 2000 years in China to treat issues of fertility.  Since the aim of acupuncture is “to bring the body into balance” it can improve fertility when used in conjunction with assisted reproductive technologies.  It has been shown that acupuncture helps regulate menstrual cycles, reduces anxiety and stress, increases blood flow to the reproductive organs, normalizes hormone and endocrine systems, and positively affects the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis, which plays an important role in fertility.  Research suggests acupuncture may indeed be helpful to couples undergoing IVF.  Acupuncture is a safe, painless treatment that has become widely accepted in Western medicine over the last several decades.  

For more information, please contact our Denver Fertility office for a referral to a trained fertility acupuncture professional.  We work with many acupuncturists in the Denver metro area that specialize in treating both women and men along their fertility journey.

MINDFULNESS

Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we are doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what is going on around us.  We all possess mindfulness but sometimes it is difficult to utilize in our daily lives.  The goal of mindfulness is to stimulate our mental, emotional, and physical processes.  A great way to do this is through meditation.  Meditation allows us to explore the inner workings of our mind.  Mindfulness meditation asks us to suspend judgment and unleash our natural curiosity about the workings of the mind  Mindfulness is available to us in every moment, whether through meditations and body scans, or mindful moment practices like taking time to pause and breathe when the phone rings instead of rushing to answer it.

For more information, please contact our Denver Fertility office for a referral to a trained mindfulness professional.  

HYPNOSIS

Several subconscious fears regarding conception, pregnancy and childbirth can prevent couples from conceiving.  Hypnosis can be particularly useful in helping people to better deal with the stress and anxiety associated in fertility issues by uncovering and removing subconscious fears.  Hypnotherapy transforms the fear and frustration that is felt by an infertility patient, and provides a means to feel relaxed and confident, which research shows to have a beneficial effect on a successful outcome for a peaceful and positive pregnancy.  

For more information, please contact our Denver Fertility office for a referral to a trained hypnosis professional.