Gynaecology specialism

Women’s health

Women in Acupuncture

Women’s health issues

There is an increasing focus on the differences between the functioning of a male body and a female body. As part of the age-old Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture makes a standard distinction between men and women as well as each individual.

Even more specifically, women in Traditional Chinese gynaecology are seen as so-called blood beings. Many gynaecological complaints can be traced back to the woman’s blood as a common thread: is there a healthy blood flow, is there stagnation, or is there a deficiency? By applying a holistic approach, acupuncture [link to acupuncture on homepage] is a successful method for typical women’s issues.

You can see which women’s issues we specialize in on this page.

Menstruation

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, menstruation should be regular and not painful. Instead, menstruation is supposed to be smooth and painless. When the body is balanced and therefore healthy, a woman does not have menstruation problems.

Besides a good energy balance in your abdomen, your hormone balance is important. This can be disturbed by a variety of causes. Acupuncture and Chinese herbs can provide a great deal of support for menstruation problems, by rebalancing the hormones.

Acupuncture for fertility

These days, getting pregnant is no longer a given for many women. Acupuncture can help with conceiving and staying pregnant. A course of treatment can help with fertility problems, such as: endometriosis, failure to ovulate, repeated miscarriages or it can help in men with a reduced sperm quality.

Preparation for pregnancy

Acupuncture helps to improve fertility. We do this by regulating the cycle, stimulating ovulation and improving the quality of an egg and sperm cell (gentlemen, consider yourselves warmly invited!). In addition to acupuncture, we recommend certain foods, herbs and supplements to promote fertility.

Acupunctuur with IVF, IUI of ICSI

If you are already in a fertility process, acupuncture can help reduce hormone side effects and increase the impact. It has been scientifically proven that treatment around the day of oocyte transfer gives a 30% greater chance of implantation.

If you and your partner want to start regular fertility treatment, we would like to see you at our practice 6-8 weeks in advance so that we can use acupuncture to ensure a good basic condition. But you are always welcome during a course as well!

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Pregnancy

Pregnancy is hopefully a wonderful experience, but it can also be a difficult time for many women. During pregnancy, a great deal happens to your body. As a result, you may experience some physical and mental imbalance and symptoms during your pregnancy. With acupuncture, herbs, gua sha, and moxa, we can help you in our practice to reduce these symptoms.

Acupuncture pregnancy nausea

Some women suffer from extreme pregnancy nausea, making pregnancy very hard on them. Acupuncture has a proven positive effect on reducing the nausea.

Moxa in breech presentation

Moxatherapy is a very successful method for turning a breech baby. The start of treatment should ideally happen around week 34, but is also possible later in pregnancy. The treatment involves heating a point on the little toe with moxa, a Chinese herb that is dried and pressed into a cigar.

Miscarriage

Unfortunately and very sadly, miscarriages are still fairly common. Acupuncture can provide support after this drastic event to help the body recover faster. With acupuncture and herbs, we can support you in recovery and guide you during a healthy new pregnancy.

In addition, our practice offers additional guidance in the event of a miscarriage such as inducing, and, if possible, preventing curettage. Please contact us about this.

Effects of acupuncture during pregnancy:

-Reducing nausea
Reducing pain in the body such as headache and backache
Reducing pain caused by pelvic instability
Improving extreme fatigue
Lowering hypertension
Possible preventing of a miscarriage [link to heading miscarriage]
Reducing stress before childbirth
A shorter dilation phase
Reducing the risk of complications during childbirth

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Childbirth

At 36 weeks of pregnancy, we like to see pregnant women at our practice, as we can use acupuncture to help ensure a smooth delivery.

If you are already overdue, we can use acupuncture to help you initiate labour spontaneously.

Acupuncture’s proven effects on childbirth are that the dilation phase is shorter, fewer complications occur and women experience less stress before delivery.

Support after childbirth

During childbirth, a lot of blood and energy is lost and it is important to nourish and care for the body so that it recovers as well as possible. That is why we also support women with acupuncture after childbirth.

For a so-called “mother warming”, we teach women how to do a moxa treatment themselves in the days after childbirth, which will help the uterus get back into shape faster. Mother warming is also aimed at restoring hormone balance and revitalizing the body.

Being able to breastfeed is not always a matter of course, and we can help initiate breastfeeding or help prevent a breast infection.

We also support women struggling with postnatal depression.

Endometrioses

One in 10 women has endometriosis. Endometriosis involves foci of uterine tissue outside the uterus, usually in the lower abdomen. In a healthy body, this tissue would be cleared away, but in endometriosis this does not happen. Women suffering from endometriosis struggle with a variety of symptoms. The most common complaints are heavy and very painful menstruation or problems conceiving.

Acupuncture, nutritional advice and herbs can reduce symptoms such as pain and heavy bleeding. In some cases, the endometriosis disappears completely.

PCOS

About 5 to 10 percent of women are diagnosed with PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). In this syndrome, multiple fluid vesicles develop in the ovaries and this causes hormone imbalance. The most common problems suffered by women with PCOS are irregular periods, fertility problems, excessive hairiness, acne, obesity, or underweight.

There are many differentiations in women with PCOS. Using Chinese medicine, we can treat these different forms and symptoms effectively.

Positive effects of acupuncture for PCOS:

Improved menstrual cycle
Ovulation is stimulated
Improved fertility
Healthier body weight
Reduction of acne and excessive hairiness

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Menopause

The menopause has a significant effect on your life. This new life phase means that a new balance needs to be found. Hormone balance, which underpins your well-being, is disrupted. You are changing and at the same time you “must” be there for your parents, your children, your partner and your boss. This in turn can lead to too heavy a load.

Menopausal symptoms often include sleep problems, hot flushes, mood swings, heavy menstrual bleeding, and psychological symptoms.

Acupuncture helps to reduce the symptoms of menopause and strengthen your carrying capacity. The treatment helps your body and mind find a new balance, making this transitional phase smoother. As every woman is different, you will receive a tailor-made treatment plan to restore your balance so that your symptoms are reduced. Chinese herbs and nutritional advice can provide additional support.

Ineke is particularly committed to this group of women and is a member of the working group Pro-Homeostase [link https://www.pro-homeostase.nl], a centre of expertise for working women in the menopause phase of life.

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Male fertility and acupuncture

In Western medicine, when fertility is poor, radical treatments such as IVF and ICSI are often quickly opted for. For women in particular, these are very taxing courses of treatment. For male fertility, Chinese medicine offers excellent ways to improve it.

Some causes of deteriorated sperm quality can be found in lifestyle habits, such as smoking, wearing tight trousers, hot baths, limited exercise, and working with a laptop and phone near the testicles. Alcohol, processed food and pesticides on food also have a negative effect on the quality.

With acupuncture, herbs and lifestyle advice, we restore good circulation of blood and energy, which improves sperm quality. We recommend treating for at least 3 months due to the duration of sperm production. Preferably even longer for a more successful outcome.

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