Acupuncture works for Varicocele? See improvement before or after?

[Love_Green]

DH(27) and I(29) have been try for our first baby for almost 1 year with no luck.

I check my ovalution every month, and after few months I feel something wrong, so I go ahead with HSG test, the result is no blockage, so I have DH to see doctor and have his SA, the result is normal sperm count, normal motillity, but normal form is ..... "0%", no kidding, I amost pass out at that moment since I wanted to be a mom when I was a kid.

Anyway, he had sone another SA and ultrasound, they found that he has varilcocele, his urologist send him for the surgery, and now he is on the waiting list and hopefully he can get it done next month or in Dec.

At the same time I go see my infertility doctor, he said IVF is the only thing we can do since he has 0% normal form which I dont want it happen. So I do lot of research and find out this forum and some people said acupuncture is works especially for morphology, can anyone had this experience and found out acupuncture is really help? How often to do that? can see improvememnt before surgery?

Thank you for your time to read my posting, and any respond is appreciated.

[IT_Guru]

Hi,
So you asked a couple of questions in your post and I will give you the information I have.

There is research that has happened in San Paulo, Brazil. It was published Asian J Androl 2003 Dec; 5: 345-348. Here's a link to the report http://www.acupuncturenorthwest.com/...ture_semen.doc.

The study was two sessions a week for 10 weeks. Here in NY where a session is about $80 that could add up fast. I have opted for once a week and in 10 week I will go do another SA to compare. I am taking vitamins and was just put on Clomid. The only last bit of info. I can give you is that it takes 82 days to create new sperm so don't think that it only is going to take one visit and all will be better.

Oh do you have a break down of all the numbers?

[Mondayschild]

Acupuncture did not work to correct my DH morphology. He has been doing acupuncture and herbs for years now. He started having groin pain recently and they found bilateral grade II varicoceles. He finally had some extensive testing done and found out that due to the varicoceles his sperm had a lot of defects. He had low binding, etc.. We have had a couple of chemicals which they feel are due to our sperm issues. The urologist said doing the acupuncture was good. DH has been doing herbs and acupuncture in preparation for the bilateral varicocele repair and he will continue doing them after the procedure also. Good Luck to you.

[IT_Guru]

Hi MondaysChild,
Can you expand a little on your statement of "We have had a couple of chemicals which
they feel are due to our sperm issues.". I was wondering what chemicals they found and how did they find them?

[Mondayschild]

Sorry, IT, I meant chemical pregnancies. A pregnancy that ends very early. They told us, we would not be able to bring a pregnancy to viablility due to DH sperm abnormalities. To the embryologist trying to pick the best sperm, the defects DH sperm had were not seen. His sperm might be able to fertilize an egg with the help of the embryologist but it would not continue to develop for one thing his sperm could not continue to bind and progress. I wish I could explain this better. This has been very difficult for me, we started this journey 5yrs ago when I was 39 and now they tell us this is what is wrong. The only reason we found out was DH having pain. A couple of things I can recommend, get a urology second opinion, when you have a strict morphology of 2% or less get a more extensive sperm analysis done. Also it was nice to see a urologist put on a pair of gloves that allowed him to perform a more sensitive exam. From what this urologist told us, his 5 years of SAs were typical of varicoceles, they continued to get progressively worse. I hope this helps you.

[Mondayschild]

Another thing is if you feel as though you have been exposed to chemicals there are testing the urologist can do. The more extensive SA let them know that DH exposure to mercury no longer affected his sperm. From use of soy baby formula and soy milk products through his childhood his testerone was normal. DH had to give a very thorough history of his life.

[IT_Guru]

Thanks for the clearification. Do you remember the name of the more extensive SA that you had done. I do not know if I have been exposed to chemicals that could effect me. I do know that I was born at only 28 weeks and I was given a lot of different drugs along with 12 units of blood. A lot of the drugs where experimental and had unknown side effects.

[Love_Green]

Mondayschild, sorry about your chemicals.

Yes, I totally agree with you that DH should see urologist or have more extensive test if strict morphology of 2% or less. My DH has his SA result 0% morphology, so he transfered to see urogolist and find out he has a varicocele. now, he is waiting to do the surgery.

So far, I still couldn't see any light in the tunnel as i don't know will the surgery help him. I've done lot of research, some people can get pregnant within 3-8 month post surgery, or at least can see the improvement after 3 months or so. Some people still couldn't see any improvement for few years... So, I am very confused, should I go for IVF? As I know even 0% morphology still can do IVF.

BIG SIGH!

[Mondayschild]

IT Guru, I will have to check with DH and let you know. The recent urologist we saw was really great, it was like there was nothing that he had not seen or treated. What about the acupuncturist did they find any blood or hormone abnormalities? Are you taking herbs along with your acupuncture?

LoveGreen, That is a tough decision. Sometimes they say with one varicocele, you still have the other testicle unharmed and that is good. DH has bilateral varicoceles. I can only tell you that I wish I would have known about DH varicoceles before we did our multiple IVFs and IUIs. Having the varicocele first would have been the best option for us. I do know that when the body senses something wrong and is producing low counts of abnormal sperm it will slow down production, sometimes that will reverse once the repair is done, sometimes it takes longer, sometimes it does not. DH is scheduled for the varicocele repair next Friday. Of course, that is not soon enough for us. Good Luck!

[IT_Guru]

Yes I have low testosterone and I'm on clomid to fix that and hopefully it will help with the count but as that's not the real issue with me, morphology is, we'll see if it helps. As for the acupuncturist I have done 4 weeks so far and after 10 I'll do another SA. I am not taking any Herbs but I have read and see that Gui zhi fu ling wan can reduce the varicoceles. As I am on clomid now my Acupuncturist does not want to mix herb with perscription drugs. I might find another source as I have see good reviews of it really helping in as little as 3 months. Effects of guizhi-fuling-wan on male infertility w...[Am J Chin Med. 1996] - PubMed Result. Good luck with the repair.