Acupuncture for PCOS

by Katherine Rowe, LAc

Most women between the fertile ages of 15-45 have heard of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome or PCOS.  This diagnosis has risen significantly in the past several years and the origins of the disorder are still not well understood.  PCOS is an endocrine disorder and is worsened by weight gain.  Women with PCOS can vary in their severity of symptoms, most will have irregular menstrual cycles and ovulation issues and some can have cystic ovaries, excess androgens and issues with insulin sensitivity. 

We see many patients in our clinic with PCOS every week and it can be a very frustrating diagnosis. 


If a woman is overweight, often even a little bit of weight-loss will benefit their fertility greatly.    If a woman is thin, young and maintains a healthy lifestyle she often feels lost as to what else she can do to improve her situation.  As PCOS has been on the rise, so to have drugs like Clomid and Femara.  These are low-intervention fertility medications that can sometimes get ovulation back on track but they do not address the hormonal imbalance that is driving PCOS.  Thus, Clomid and Femara can have some very negative side effects such as increasing the number of cysts, causing hyper-PMS symptoms, hot flashes, etc. 

The flip side to that is that many women take these medications and get pregnant very quickly, and when that happens we can all feel happy.  My message is to the women who have tried these low-intervention therapies and have not had success within 3 cycles.  What I have seen in treating fertility and PCOS with Chinese Medicine over the past few years is very inspiring.  Because PCOS affects many different hormones from insulin to estrogen, a holistic approach to re-balancing the endocrine system is very helpful in creating the optimal environment for healthy eggs and a healthy pregnancy.

A study last year published in the American Journal of Endocrinology, Physiology, and Metabolism concluded that a series of acupuncture treatments over the course of 12 weeks reduced the metabolic effects of PCOS and increased ovulation frequency.  The proposed mechanism is that the acupuncture points peripherally modulated the sympathetic nerve stimulation to the ovaries.  Reducing the sympathetic nervous system effects (the part of our nervous system that responds to stress) has a broad impact on the different hormonal functions in our bodies. 

In our clinic we pair similar acupuncture treatment with specific herbal medicines, diet and exercise suggestions to achieve results even more quickly.  Often women who are not ovulating regularly will have menstrual cycles that are more balanced and fertile within 2 cycles.  By not bypassing the root of the disorder we help restore fertility naturally.

Here are a few tips to get you started if you have been diagnosed with PCOS:

1. Exercise!  Getting 30 minutes or more of moderate intensity exercise helps stabilize blood sugar and reduce the sympathetic nervous system effects driving PCOS. 

2. Take steps to reduce inflammation – this usually means limiting foods made from flour, sugar, and alcohol to start with.   Often women with PCOS can really benefit from a gluten and dairy free diet.  

3. Reduce your environmental estrogen over-load.  Choose organic meat products, use natural body care products, reduce soy, eliminate processed foods and stay away from plastic water bottles to get you started.   

Please share this with anyone you know who may have PCOS so we can help end the frustration of trying to conceive with this disorder.        

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