Emily Cook RMT, R.Ac

In today’s fertility treatment the patient was on day 34 of her cycle and had ovulated on day 23. The ideal day to ovulate is between day 15 and 20 of your cycle. Today we focused on calming her mind and nourishing her kidneys (the kidneys play a key factor in reproduction in TCM). Heart 7 on the wrist was used as an emotional release to help get some anxiety and stress out. It is important to address mental health first when doing fertility treatments, as this can be a huge contributor to infertility.

Yintang is one of my favourite points to use due to its calming effects. With anxiety and stress being very high this past year, I’ve been using it a lot. Some other conditions it can be used to treat are headaches, insomnia and sinus issues. This point can also be massaged if there is an instance when a needle can’t be put in the area for example an open wound or if the patient has a fear of needles.

Wrist pain is especially common nowadays due to alot of the population working from home at computers, the constant repetitive motion of typing can be a huge cause of wrist and forearm pain. Today’s patient came in with hand and wrist pain. This turned out to be caused by Qi and blood deficiency. For the treatment I used the local points Ba Xie, SI 5, SJ 4 and 5. I also put in SP 6 to tonify the blood and REN 17 to tonify Qi. After the treatment the patient felt significant relief.

Lately I’ve been treating a lot of shoulder pain and this treatment was no different! This patient came in with shoulder pain due to a previous injury. The pain was along the small intestine meridian which turned out to be blood and Qi stagnation. I used points along the small intestine channel and added in LI 4 and LV 3 also called the 4 gates to help move the stagnation. After only one treatment the patient had felt considerable relief.

This past year there has been a lot of anxiety and stress due to the pandemic. I have done many treatments for this and there has been a lot of progress with my patients who have anxiety. This treatment focused on anxiety, stress and overall body aches due to multiple factors. The patient was diagnosed with liver blood deficiency so we focused the treatment on nourishing her blood and calming her mind. Back shu points are wonderful to use as they directly affect the organ in ...which they are associated with. They can be tender to the touch if that organ is imbalanced. Acupuncture is a great natural way to treat anxiety and stress during this difficult time. Pop into our student clinic to come see me or any of the amazing student acupuncturists. I’m currently accepting new and returning clients at the student clinic on Tuesday evenings 545-9 and saturdays 10-2 Book online at https://ccatcm.ca/clinics/ or call 902-832-6628 to book

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Acupuncture can be great for fertility. For this treatment the patient came in with irregular ovulation and blood deficiency. She was currently in the follicular phase of her cycle which in Traditional Chinese Medicine means we needed to nourish her blood in preparation for ovulation. Spleen 6 is a great point just above the ankle for nourishing blood. Many points were put in around her feet and ankles to help nourish her kidneys which are a key factor in reproduction in TCM. It is usually recommended that someone doing fertility treatments comes weekly. I am currently taking patients in my student clinic on Tuesdays 545-9 and Saturdays 10-2