Planning a cycle in 2023? We are offering the opportunity to take advantage of 2023 package pricing. Click the links below to purchase your packages now!
Any packages purchased will be added to your account. New patients, please schedule a new patient visit for 2024, and then we’ll be able to add your packages to your account. New patient visits are not included in packages.
Packages are good for 2 years and are refundable. In the event of a refund, any treatments used will be charged the full existing patient price and the remainder refunded.
The holidays can be hard for those struggling with infertility. In addition to encouraging anyone in the midst of their journey to create healthy boundaries, say no, and even consider a new holiday tradition if your current plans are too triggering, we’d like to offer something to the friends and family of those struggling (or, honestly really anyone because somethings should just not be asked about!).
First and likely most important: Don’t ask pregnancy related questions. It’s never ok to ask someone if they are trying for a baby. This question, while so painful for many, is just too personal! Can you imagine asking an equally personal question to your cousins/aunts/etc? We like a response with a gentle, but firm comment drawing attention to that question like “Wow?! That is a really personal thing to ask me!” Hopefully this will help stop further conversations like this.
Second, offer love and support on their terms. This suggestion is more for people who know about your journey. Let them determine what kind of support they need and, above all else, offer love.
Third, respect their boundaries. This just isn’t about you. It’s about protecting themselves during a really delicate time. Please don’t make it about you (see number 2, offer love). If they can’t stay for the whole gathering, or just can’t be around the couple that just can’t stop taking about their pregnancy, that’s ok. Boundaries are healthy.
Fourth, be mindful of conversation topics. I know that in a group of parents, conversation often revolves around kids and families, as it is often what occupies the majority of your time. But, if you have someone in your group that doesn’t ‘have a family (whether they are trying, not trying, wanting a family or not) make sure you move conversation to a different topic. Trust me, they will be so grateful!
Fifth, it’s ok to just hold space for someone who is struggling. They usually don’t want advice and saying “it could be worse” never comes off well. It’s ok just to say “that sounds awful. I am so sorry” and then just be with them or even ask how they need support. If you are feeling at a loss here, this video might help.
Sixth, if you know someone that is struggling, just ask them what they need. They might want to recount stories from the good ol’ days to get their mind off of it. They might want to talk about their feelings or their journey. They might want a wingman to help deflect questions from Aunt Susan. I’m sure, even if they don’t need anything, knowing you’ve got their back will make their holidays a little brighter.
Seventh, basically a repeat of number 4, but we wanted to reword this advice in another, more direct way. If you know someone is trying or even struggling, ask them about their job, hobbies, interests, literally anything else. They likely want social interaction and would love to be asked about anything other than their pregnancy status.
Eighth, last and definitely not least, don’t ever analyze anyones food choices to see if you can ‘figure out’ if they are pregnant or not. This behavior is annoying at best and intrusive at worst. You will find out soon enough and it is really none of your business. Someone might not be ready to share if they’ve previously had miscarriages or didn’t get great news at their last ultrasound. They also might be watching their diet or not drinking alcohol to prepare for a cycle or maybe they just want to be healthier and it has nothing to do with pregnancy or fertility. They might want a second helping of potatoes because they are eating for two, or they are just hungry and love potatoes! Again, this is none of your business unless you want your choices to be open for questioning.
Tracking your cycles can help optimize intercourse timing and even help clue you in to issues impacting your fertility.
Our bodies are constantly giving us clues as to what is happening on the inside! By observing changes in our bodies and tracking our cycles, we can have a better idea when ovulation might be happening. We encourage our patient to track their cycles using a method they feel comfortable with that doesn’t add any undue stress to the journey.
Tracking your cycles can optimize intercourse timing, and even help screen for any possible ovulation or luteal phase issues that might warrant a referral to a reproductive endocrinologist. We’ll go through our top three cycle tracking methods to help give you an idea of what to look for and where to start.
There are lots of apps that can help you track this information over time so you can start noticing patterns, symptoms, or even red flags that might develop.
Cervical Fluid Tracking
Cervical fluid or mucous will change throughout the cycle and, by observing these changes we can get an idea of when our our fertile window starts and when it might end. In a nutshell, your cervical fluid will be thick and more viscous (we describe it almost like lotion) during non-fertile times. This mucous can often stay in the vaginal canal and might not be noticeable without an internal check. When we’re approaching ovulation, the fluid will become thin, watery, and almost egg-white consistency to allow the flow of sperm through the cervix. After ovulation, it will become thicker again.
4-6 days prior to ovulation, you’ll notice cervical fluid increasing. It will be wet, thin, slippery, and usually clear. Typically women will report an increased feeling of “wetness.” In the 2-3 days leading up to ovulation, our cervical mucous takes on the consistency of raw egg white. If you were to have some on your fingers and pull them apart, the fluid would stretch between them. (There are lots of examples online of what this looks like).
After ovulation has occurred, cervical fluid becomes thicker, sticky, and more dry. You might not notice any or you might see some thicker, creamy fluid. Cervical mucous helps to prevent anything from getting into the uterus most of the month, but during ovulation, it becomes fertile allowing sperm to travel through the cervix, into the uterus, and up into the fallopian tubes where conception happens. One example, that Cleveland Clinic uses, that we think is helpful is to think of the uterus like a swimming pool. Sperm have a much easier time swimming in thin, watery fluid vs thick, creamy fluid. We recommend checking your cervical mucous daily for a couple of months to see what patterns your body has. Semen can make this a bit harder, to try to check with that in mind. Cervical mucous can also be affected by some medications as well as dehydration.
Ovulation Predictor Kits
Ovulation predictor kits, or OPKs, are the most common way our patients track their cycles. We like them a lot as they are usually easy to use and give you some warning that ovulation is coming so you can plan intercourse accordingly. First off, OPK’s measure the level of luteinizing hormone present in your urine. Levels of LH peak 24-48 hours before ovulation. When you start using them, you’ll want to err on starting them a little earlier in the cycle until you get an idea of when you typically ovulate. To calculate this approximate range, take your average cycle length and subtract 14 days. This is your “calendar method” ovulation date. (which is not always accurate). From here, you’ll want to start your OPK’s about 4-5 days before this date. So, if you have a 32 day cycle, you’ll take 32-14= 18. 18 is. your “calendar method” date. You’d want to start your OPK’s around cd 12 or 13 to start. Once you get an idea of your normal ovulation date after a few cycles of testing, you can start testing 2-3 days prior to your anticipated ovulation. After you get a positive test, you can stop testing. If you have irregular cycles, we typically recommend testing starting around cd 8-9 to start and then testing until you get a positive. Of course, as you get to know your timing, you can adjust this date accordingly. It is possible that you have anovulatory cycles or ovulate irregularly and OPK’s can help determine what might be going on. If you notice any of these patterns, we recommend a visit to the reproductive endocrinologist to find out what might be causing the issue. Try to take them everyday at the same time. For most women, this will be first thing in the morning. You may find another time of day that works for you. You will see a faint line or no line when they are negative. As you get closer to your peak LH levels, you’ll see the line get darker and then finally go positive. From here, you can expect ovulation to happen in 24-48 hours. Positive OPK day is the ideal day to time intercourse and we recommend trying during the 2-3 days following the positive test as well. There are tons of different tests on the market, some are cheap strips that are dipped in a small cup of urine, others are digital and some even combine with an app to give even more information. For most folks, we recommend starting with the cheaper strip type tests. The digital tests can be quite expensive especially if you are taking them often, but some women prefer them over the others. All work well, so choose what works for you.
Basal Body Temperature
Basal body temperature (BBT) tracking can be another great way to track your cycles and get a bit of information to help you time intercourse and even help determine if your cycles are healthy or you need to make an appointment with your reproductive endocrinologist. BBT tracking involves using a basal body thermometer each day at the same time (even on the weekends!) and tracking that number over time. Early in the cycle, prior to ovulation, temperatures will be low. Around ovulation, you might notice a drop in temperature followed by a ~1 degree rise that can take place over the course of 1-3 days. This temperature rise indicates that ovulation has happened and is caused by increased progesterone levels in the body. After ovulation, temps should stay high and will drop about 24 hours prior to menstruation. Using BBT in conjunction with OPK’s and fluid tracking can help mark the beginning and end of your ovulatory phase. Cervical fluid will become more fertile in the days leading up to ovulation, OPK’s will turn positive about 24-48 hours prior to ovulation (your temps will still be low or you might see an ‘ovulation dip’ around this time). Once you ovulate, temps go up (you’ll also see your cervical mucous becoming thicker and more opaque) and this marks the end of your fertile window. If you don’t see a bi-phasic chart (meaning a chart with a clear temperature rise and a low temperature phase and a high temperate phase), and your numbers look a bit more random, you might want to schedule a visit with your doctor to confirm ovulation and rule our any underlying conditions. It can take some time to get used to temping and reading your chart, so give it 2-3 cycles to get used to your patterns. There are countless apps that can help you track the data and most will help identify your ovulation date as you go. BBT tracking can be helpful in the acupuncture clinic as well. We can use this information to track certain cycle points over time and it can help guide our treatment. However, we’ve seen many patients who find this data overwhelming and tracking stressful since it has to be done daily. In this case, just don’t do it (or maybe just do it for a few cycles). You can also stop after ovulation is confirmed, as usually the stress comes from looking for early signs of pregnancy in your tracking data, and start when you begin your next period. BBT isn’t a reliable indicator of early pregnancy.
One piece of advice on BBT tracking: Please don’t try to analyze the data day to day. There are many things that can affect your temperature (a colder or warmer room, alcohol consumption, insomnia, fever, different sleep pattern, etc). The best way to use BBT is to track the health of your cycles over time.
As always, we are happy to talk through cycle tracking with our patients and often use this information to optimize the timing of our treatments and the acupuncture points used. If you’d like to make an appointment, give us a call, 865-315-3845 or head to our website and schedule online.
We often tell our patients to celebrate good news in a way that feels right to them and this is why….
Something I find myself saying on an almost daily basis is to “celebrate this news in a way that feels right to you.”
I want to take a moment to unpack this statement a little bit. Infertility is tough, really tough. Everyone copes with this difficulty in their own way and many find themselves not wanting to get their hopes up for fear of disappointment. This is, of course normal (btw, you don’t have to be ‘optimistic’ for it to work) and cautious optimism can be a great way to support your mental health. However, when good news does finally come, whether it is finally having enough follicles for a retrieval, a lining thick enough for transfer, finding the right medication dosage that seems to support a healthy cycle, or even finally getting news you are pregnant, we think it is so important to honor that moment.
You worked hard and went though so much to get to this moment and you deserve a small moment of celebration! We encourage couples to take some time and celebrate. This celebration can look different for different families and situations. You may have just found out you were pregnant, but have a history of loss that might make your celebratory moment look a bit different that someone without that history, and that is ok! A simple hug and expressing hope to your partner or a friend can be enough. Maybe you go have your favorite meal or get a bouquet of flowers. It doesn’t have to be much, but honor how far you’ve come in a way that also honors how far you might still have to go.
You will get there, remember to love yourself along the way! 🧡
Subchorionic hemorrhage is a common cause of vaginal bleeding in pregnancy.
Subchorionic Hemorrhage
Lately we’ve had a few patients with subchorionic hemorrhage come through our office doors. We wanted to take a moment and share what SCH is, what do if you have one, and how acupuncture might be able to help.
First, what is a SCH?
A subchorionic hemorrhage is a collection of blood between the chorion (the outermost membrane that surrounds the fetus) and the uterine wall. It is a common cause of vaginal bleeding in early pregnancy, affecting up to 20% of women. Most subchorionic hemorrhages are small and go away on their own without any problems for the pregnancy. However, larger hemorrhages can increase the risk of some complications. The exact cause of subchorionic hemorrhages is unknown, but they are thought to be caused by a tear in the chorion.
Second, what should you do?
Any time you have any bleeding in pregnancy, your first call should be to your OB or RE. They can run some blood work and do an ultrasound to make sure your pregnancy is healthy and rule out miscarriage. They may recommend additional progesterone, bed rest, pelvic rest, or other treatments.
Third, how can acupuncture help?
To be clear, acupuncture should never be used in lieu of treatment from your doctor, we always recommend an integrative approach. There is evidence that acupuncture combined with progesterone can “improve the effective rate of patients with threatened abortion in early pregnancy complicated with subchorionic hematoma, regulate immune factors, promote the hematoma absorption, and has a better synergistic effect” with progesterone. It can also help alleviate anxiety as any bleeding during pregnancy is terrifying!
If you have questions, feel free to give us a call, 865-315-3845 or email us at info@TennesseeReproductiveAcupuncture.com, we’re always happy to help!
At Tennessee Center for Reproductive Acupuncture, we’re proactively taking steps to reduce the risk of the COVID-19 coronavirus to our patients and staff, especially now with a confirmed case of coronavirus in Tennessee. We’d like to share with you a few preventative measures to ensure the health and well-being of our patients and staff, as well as some links to helpful public health information. Our aim is to make our clinic a healthy place for all.
Many of our patients present with common non-contagious/non-serious upper respiratory symptoms such as allergies, asthma or a lingering cough following a cold, which we will continue to treat these conditions as they do not pose a risk to others.
If you are sick, the best option is to stay home.The main symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, coughing and shortness of breath. Call your primary care physician if you’re in need of medical attention for these concerns. If you need to cancel your appointment due to illness, you will not be charged. We understand and will happily help you reschedule.
Some things to remember:
Please use hand sanitizer when you check in at the front desk, or wash your hands in the bathroom. We also have hand sanitizer in the treatment rooms. Feel free to help yourself. When washing your hands, please wash for at least 20 seconds.
We change sheets, pillowcases and face cradle covers after each patient.
We regularly sanitize surfaces that are frequently touched such as door knobs, doors and faucets. We clean our bathroom regularly.
Cough or sneeze into your elbow rather than onto your hands. If you sneeze or cough on your hands or into tissues or a handkerchief, please wash your hands or use hand sanitizer afterwards.
If you are coughing for any reason, please wear a mask. We understand it may be from allergies, asthma, or even heartburn, but it will help alleviate concerns from others sharing the space.
Avoid touching your mouth, nose, eyes and face with unwashed/non-sanitized hands.
Here are some more guidelines and links to inform you about how to take care of yourself and recommended practices regarding covid-19:
We appreciate your understanding. With your participation we can continue to serve the patients who need us and keep our clinic a healthy and safe place for all. Thank you.
We hear all the time about ways to increase fertility, especially tips about diet and lifestyle. Many of us don’t think about hydration as being important for fertility but in fact researchers are finding that hydration does play a role.
Along with eating healthy, reducing the consumption of processed foods, getting enough sleep and all the other healthy things we should be doing, hydration is not always considered.
Most of us think about hydration in the summer when your outside hiking or being active. However, all of us should be conscious about our fluid intake no matter the season.
Acupuncture before and after your embryo transfer is a great way to relax and help increase your chances of success!
So how does hydration affect fertility?
In one big way hydration affects the male and female fluid qualities. In females that’s cervical mucus and in males that’s ejaculatory fluid. Researchers are finding that the more dehydrated you and/or your partner are at the time of intercourse the harder it is for the sperm and ovum to meet.
Cervical mucus usually fluctuates throughout the month. If a woman has a relatively normal cycle, the mucus should changes around ovulation time, becoming thinner and less acidic. This change allows sperm to move more easily through the vagina and cervical mucus towards the ovum. Just as in females, if males are dehydrated their sperm could also have a hard time “swimming” within semen as well.
Don’t stress, find balance.
We want to emphasize the importance of balance and not stressing. Yes, water is important but make sure not to over-do it. The general recommendation is half your body weight in ounces but if you are not a big water fan you might need to work up to that slowly. Infertility is hard. We know many out there trying all the things to make it work. We found this article interesting and wanted to share.
Any questions?We’re your resource for Fertility Acupuncture in Knoxville!
If you have any questions about adding acupuncture to your cycle or how we might be able to support your journey, please give us a call or an email. We are always happy to help.
Have you had anyone ever tell you this? These 7 words are one of our biggest pet peeves. So often, I’ve heard this come from other providers without a proper diagnosis and exam or even friends and family members and it is absolutely devastating to the couple involved. Thankfully, Knoxville’s reproductive endocrinologists are careful with their words and would never say such a thing without first doing a careful exam and diagnosis and discussing all the options with you. Much of the time, they are able to present a treatment plan that will eventually result in a healthy pregnancy. We are truly lucky here in East Tennessee, but I digress.
NEVER is such a strong word (assuming, obviously, you have the necessary organs, etc). In my 10 + year career as an acupuncturist, I have been blessed to be a witness to some amazing miracles in women who seemingly have little chance.
My patients hear me talk about this all the time when encouraging them to try while they wait for IVF or during an unlikely cycle (if, of course, they don’t feel it would add undue stress on them). I finally decided to write about never saying never because one of our miracle patients just delivered healthy twin boys. She had been trying to conceive for over 4 years and went through cycle after cycle, IUI, medications, and more, finally deciding to move forward with IVF. During her retrieval cycle, her response was much less than her doctor anticipated, so the tough decision was made to cancel the retrieval and, instead, do an IUI. She agreed to the plan, with hopes of repeating the retrieval with a different medication protocol in a coming cycle, but was understandably not feeling positive about the IUI at all. We used acupuncture and timed her treatments with our standard IUI treatment protocol. Then, on a day I’ll never forget, I got a phone call. “Uh, so, uh, my pregnancy test was positive.” The shock and disbelief was palpable and understandable! After congratulations (and some tears), we started with our prenatal wellness protocol. After 9 healthy months, two sweet baby boys were born.
Do I think acupuncture was the reason this miracle happened? No. Acupuncture, as much as I wish it was, is not magical. Who knows exactly why it happened. She had an excellent fertility team, a healthy lifestyle, had been doing acupuncture regularly, and the right egg and sperm finally met. Everything just came together. Acupuncture can improve blood flow, help regulate hormones, calm stress, and reduce side effects, but it isn’t magical.
Acupuncture makes a great complement to any type of treatment cycle.
Upon reflecting back on my patients over the years, there have been a number of equally miraculous situations:
– A woman with severe diminished egg reserve who became pregnant on her own after multiple failed IVF cycles with some of the most well known clinics in the country. For the record, she was not doing acupuncture when she got pregnant. They had stopped “trying.” She shared the news with me after a healthy 20 week anatomy scan.
-A woman who ovulated a second time after her trigger shot and IUI and became pregnant with that follicle based on the timing of her positive pregnancy test and beta hCG numbers.
– Many patients who’ve become pregnant naturally before moving forward with an IVF cycle, surgery, etc.
And many more whose details have softened over the years. While I wish every patient had this story, we are so happy for those who do.
We often get feedback about how hopeful we are as we walk with our patients on their infertility journeys. We nervously anticipate pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, blood work numbers right alongside our patients and feel the highs and lows of the rollercoaster ride. But our optimism, while sometimes a bit foreign to our patients who’ve been through so much, is rooted in these stories. We encourage our patients to try on their own (when it is possible, of course, and won’t cause too much stress) while they wait for a cycle to begin, surgery, etc. Because, you never know what might happen. Never say never.
If you have any questions about adding acupuncture to your cycle or how we might be able to support your journey, please give us a call or an email. We are always happy to help.
Acupuncture before and after your embryo transfer is a great way to relax and help increase your chances of success!
We often get questions regarding acupuncture done before and after embryo transfer and wanted to explore how these treatments can be used to support an IVF cycle, why we highly recommend them, and how to add these to your upcoming cycle.
What the research says:
Research supports the use of acupuncture before and after embryo transfer. In a well known study, acupuncture done before and after embryo transfer resulted in higher rates of pregnancy (42.5% in the acupuncture group versus 26.3 in the control group). This study gave us the well known “Paulus Protocol” that we base many of our pre/post transfer treatments on. Although, we typically add or subtract points depending on each patients’ diagnosis and symptoms.
In research published by our acupuncturist, Sarah Prater, similar results were seen. Patients receiving acupuncture had pregnancy rates for 57.1% versus 45.8% for those not receiving acupuncture. Additionally, this study followed patients a bit longer and discovered that the clinical pregnancy rate (gestational sac seen on ultrasound) was much higher in the acupuncture group: 55.1% versus 34.4% for those not receiving acupuncture. Even better, the overall miscarrage rate for patients who received acupuncture was only 3.4% compared to 22.7% in the non-acupuncture group. It is easy to see how these two simple treatments can have a big effect on live birth rates after IVF.
Embryo transfer acupuncture at our clinic
Pre and post embryo transfer treatments are done as a part of our comprehensive IVF treatment protocol. Beyond the increase in pregnancy rates, some additional benefits include reducing any symptoms from the hormones like headaches, irritability, hot flashes, etc and helping you relax. Transfer day is a big day often filled with a mix of emotions that can range from excitement and optimism to anxiety and even fear. Acupuncture on transfer day can be such a wonderful way to relax and emotionally prepare for your transfer. The treatments are painless and many times patients fall asleep or deeply relax during acupuncture.
Our patients know that we work very hard to time treatments throughout your cycle to help make sure you are getting the best benefit from each and every treatment and pre and post transfer treatments are no exception. We are willing to come in early, stay late, and even come in on weekends to help accommodate your transfer day schedule. We understand that you often don’t get your transfer time until the days leading up to the transfer and have a system in place to handle all the scheduling for your big day.
Serving patients throughout the country
In addition to seeing our own patients before and after embryo transfer, we are proud to serve patients traveling from other cities and states for their cycles. We work with many out-of-town patients doing embryo adoption cycles at the National Embryo Donation Center here in Knoxville or with any of the other local clinics. You don’t need to have previously had acupuncture to take advantage of this service. We are happy to answer your questions and make sure you get a spot on our transfer calendar.
So, if you are planning an IVF cycle in the coming weeks or months, please reach out and we can talk more about adding acupuncture before and after your transfer. We are available via email, phone, or through our website. We look forward to hearing from you and good luck with your cycle!
Mother warming is a treatment given to women in their postpartum time to support recovery from birth. Mother warming also helps to increase energy, and support healthy milk supply. Mother warming is usually done as part of the Chinese Tradition of “Sitting the Month.” This is a system of postpartum recovery involving a full month of staying in bed, nutritional recommendations, and herbal supplements. While that does sound a bit strict, postpartum recovery is often overlooked in planning for a new baby. Women are praised for “bouncing back” quickly, but this can come at an overall cost to health and wellbeing and we believe there is something to be gleaned from revisiting this tradition, modernizing it, and making it your own.
The process of mother warming is very simple: Moxa, dried mugwort, is burned near the skin and warms specific acupuncture points. This supports the healing process and feels absolutely wonderful to the mother receiving it Mother warming is typically done at least once in the days and weeks after birth and often continued throughout the postpartum time.
A moxa stick, pictured above is used for mother warming.
When To Do Mother Warming
Vaginal Birth: For a vaginal birth, you can do your first mother warming treatment 3-4 days after birth.
Cesarean Birth: If you gave birth via Cesarean, you can begin your mother warming about 2 weeks after birth.
After the initial mother warming session, it is typically done as needed throughout the first 3-4 weeks postpartum. Please consult your acupuncturist for specific guidance on how to perform and when to begin mother warming.
Contraindications to Mother Warming
Mother warming can be done safely for most women. However, avoid mother warming if you have an infection of any kind (incision, uterine, or even a cold/flu). Consult your acupuncturist for advice on when to begin or if you have any questions.
Your acupuncturist will give you detailed instructions along with a moxa stick to use. Mother warming kits come as part of our postpartum recovery basket along with everything else you’ll need to get your postpartum recovery off to a great start! These kits are available in the office or online.
If you have any questions, please contact us, we’re happy to help!
