Cyclic Acupuncture Therapy is a unique approach to the treatment of infertility, combining modern scientific knowledge with the wisdom of ancient Chinese medicine. Based on many years of experience in the treatment of infertility and other hormone-related imbalances, Wei Liu developed Cyclic Acupuncture Therapy as a highly effective response to the needs of her infertility patients. Using this method, Liu has helped hundreds of couples to successfully conceive and deliver healthy babies. Cyclic Acupuncture Therapy benefits women who are trying to get pregnant on their own, and also works well as an adjunct to therapies such as IUI, artificial insemination, or IVF.
Wei Liu’s application of Cyclic Acupuncture Therapy is based on a solid understanding of both Western reproductive science and Chinese medicine pattern analysis. She frequently gets referrals from infertility clinics, especially for their difficult cases, as acupuncture becomes widely adopted as adjunctive therapy by many mainstream infertility clinics.
The key to the success of Cyclic Acupuncture Therapy is that it is tailored to the individual physiology of each patient. Liu's approach addresses a woman’s cycle in two ways. First, she adapts treatment modalities according to each stage of a cycle. Second, treatments are modified based on each patient's particular patterns of menstruation. Acupuncture points, Chinese herbs, and dietary recommendations are continually adjusted, depending on the stage of a woman's cycle. For each stage of the menstrual cycle – pre-ovulation, ovulation, post-ovulation and menstruation – the acupuncture points chosen and Chinese herbs recommended will be different. Every woman knows that her own menstrual cycle can vary quite a bit from “normal,” and can also change from month to month. Liu modifies and precisely targets her treatment regimen to produce optimum results for each patient.
Western medicine has documented the hormonal fluctuations associated with menstrual cycles. Traditional Chinese medicine describes changes in our energy pathways and internal organ patterns associated with menstrual cycles, and also discusses how normal patterns become imbalanced. It is well-known that a woman's hormones and energy patterns will be different when she is ovulating, as opposed to when she is menstruating. This can be demonstrated through blood tests and basal temperature changes. Chinese medicine originated long before there were blood tests or genetic research and developed its own methods for diagnosing and describing health conditions. Practitioners of Chinese medicine are trained to be sensitive to energy changes and to perceive each person as a special manifestation of matter and energy.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that acupuncture treatments can increase a woman's chances to conceive, with the result that many fertility clinics routinely offer acupuncture as part of the IVF procedure. There is also strong evidence that Chinese herbs can improve the quality and quantity of a woman's eggs. A recent Harvard study investigated the role which certain foods play in the ovulation cycle. Evidence continues to build that acupuncture and Chinese medicine can make a significant contribution to infertility therapy.
Wei Liu received her training in Shandong, China. She is a licensed acupuncturist and licensed nutritionist in the state of Minnesota, with a Master’s degree in Public Health Nutrition from the University of Minnesota.