Chinese Medicine Herbs & Acupuncture for Hydrosalpinx

While bringing a new life into the world can bring much joy and excitement, many couples in today’s rapid-paced world face problems regarding fertility.

There are many factors that can affect fertility, hydrosalpinx being one of them.

Acupuncture can greatly help in our experience here at the Qi Herbs & Acupuncture Treatment Center. Many of our patients have gotten pregnant after a short course of treatment.

What is hydrosalpinx?
Hydrosalpinx is when a fallopian tube is blocked with a watery fluid. This condition is typically caused by a previous pelvic or sexually transmitted infection. Although some women don’t experience any symptoms, others may experience constant or frequent pain in the lower abdomen or unusual vaginal discharge. In all cases, the condition can have an impact on your fertility.

How does this affect your fertility?
To get pregnant, the sperm must meet an egg. Around day 14 of a woman’s menstrual cycle, an egg is released from an ovary and begins its travels down to the uterus to the waiting sperm. If a tube or tubes are blocked, the egg can’t make the journey and pregnancy can’t occur. If you have one fallopian tube that’s affected by hydrosalpinx and one that isn’t, pregnancy is technically possible. It isn’t without the potential for risks and complications, however a damaged fallopian tube can leak fluid into the uterus during pregnancy.

What your OB will say
Doctors typically suggest having the affected tube removed or separating it from the uterus before trying IVF.

What are the causes of hydrosalpinx in terms of TCM?
We have two explanations for the blockage:
Imagine a female reproductive system as soil that is either extremely cold or hot. It is not good for planting seeds. The soil must be at a certain temperature with enough nutrients for it to be fertile.

1. Heat in the uterus and fallopian tubes steams up body fluid into very sticky and unsmooth consistency. The concentrated structure gets stuck in relatively narrow parts of the tubes.
2. Cold in uterus and fallopian tubes condenses body fluid into more solid state, which means less fluidity and can be damaging to the tubes.

What are hydrosalpinx symptoms?
As mentioned above, there are two main causes for blockages in the fallopian tubes: heat and cold.
For most of the cases, heat syndrome is an excessive condition. Patients also have tender pain in their low abdomen and hypochondriac area, a tough abdomen and constipation. According to the ‘Bible of TCM’ called “Treaties on Cold Disease”, having different pulse rates in both hands is a symptom part of the Tao He Cheng Qi Tang formula. It is important to never use moxibustion in this situation. Other symptoms that come from the heat are yin deficient heat, blood deficient heat, etc.

As for coldness in the tubes, this usually derives from a long-term habit of consuming cold food and drink. Patients experience cold cramps during regular periods, frequent urine and soft stool. The basic herbal formula for this condition is Wen Jing Tang. The best way to treat this is with acupuncture needles accompanied with moxibustion.

Lastly, it is important to note that cold and heat sometimes can occur at the same time due to the complication of the human body.

How do we approach hydrosalpinx?
Hydrosalpinx means there is water structure in one or two of the tubes. No matter what causes the unexpected structure, it is a blockage.
Logically, as Chinese medicine doctors, the first thing we do when receiving patients with hydrosalpinx is to drain the blockage. The tools used to do this depends on where the blockage comes from.

Please feel free to contact us for any further questions.