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Natural Awakenings Healthy Living Magazine

Acupuncture for Mental Health During Fertility

Becoming a parent is one of the biggest transitions in adult life for both men and women. The stress of pregnancy and living with “modern lifestyle syndrome” can be very stressful.

Modern Lifestyle Syndrome

Modern lifestyle syndrome describes being constantly stressed, in pain or just not giving ourselves the kind of self-care that is essential to living our best lives. The negative effects can be detrimental to our bodies, mood and behavior. Here are some of the issues contributing to modern life syndrome.

Constantly Connected with Information Overload

Technology has contributed to increased productivity and connectedness, but also a troubling impact on work patterns (switching off when work is over), as well as social media. It is estimated that we will spend at least five years of our life accessing online accounts. Getting information on any subject at the swipe of a finger can be overwhelming.

Doing Too Much

Social media creates a niche for everyone—busy professionals, corporate climbers, organized and crafty stay-at-home moms, adventurers, travelers, fitness gurus and more. We are fooled into doing too much and causing an imbalance in our lives with negative effects.

Not Prioritizing and Multitasking

Many people don’t prioritize their health, which leads to feeling a lack of achievement or accomplishment. Together with a heightened workload, this is a recipe for burnout. Multitasking has been found to increase the production of the stress hormone cortisol and the fight-or-flight hormone adrenaline, which can overstimulate the brain, causing mental fog or scrambled thinking.

Poor Stress-Release Mechanisms and Dangerous Pain Relief

Because we may not make the time and our stress-release mechanisms frequently tend to be poor or infrequent, signs of stress include chronic pain, headaches, muscle tension, high blood pressure, increased substance use, social withdrawal, unhealthy eating habits, anxiety and more. The Institute of Medicine estimates that 116 million adults experience chronic pain each year. The idea that pain relief resides only in a bottle of drugs is a common and dangerous misconception, as evidenced by the opioid abuse crisis in our country.

Mental Health and Fertility

Infertility affects an estimated 12 to 15 percent of couples and is said to have exponentially increased due to postponement of childbearing years and the success of infertility treatments. Couples that experience non-fulfillment of a child often face periods of anger, depression, anxiety, marital problems, sexual dysfunction and isolation. Not being able to conceive can occur because of many reasons, including low sperm count or motility issues in men.

            Acupuncture can help by increasing blood flow to the reproductive organs. For those women undertaking intrauterine insemination or in vitro fertilization, acupuncture may also dramatically improve a woman’s response to hormonal therapy as a natural hormone regulator. Acupuncture has been shown to help restore hormone function for a better flow and balance within the body.

            The physical and emotional stress of daily living can take their toll on the body, especially if it is working hard from within to create life. Acupuncture has been proven to reduce stress, which in turn may help to improve ovulation.

            Becoming pregnant and giving birth to a child is an amazing, overwhelming experience. The woman’s body goes through a huge physical and emotional life change which can include elevations in fatigue and anxiety. There is a large amount of blood needed to create and give birth, so naturally a woman needs to recover and restore her body.

            A holistic treatment such as adding acupuncture to a regular routine can be a great complement to other medical treatments and an effective practice in supporting patients through their personal healing journey.

Guantong (Lucky Aaron) Li, L.Ac DAOM, has helped numerous patients deal with fertility issues, pain and overactive anxiety at Lucky Flow Acupuncture, located at 19244 Newburgh Rd., in Livonia. For appointments and more information, call 313-513-6228, email [email protected] or visit LuckyFlow.com.