Chiropractic and Infertility

Infertility Helped With Chiropractic

In the scientific periodical the Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics (JCCP), comes a study that involved the literature review of 10 different papers of the cases of 11 women who were suffering from infertility. The review, published in the bi-yearly JCCP March 2008 issue, reviewed the case studies of 11 women ages 22 to 42 who were diagnosed as suffering from Infertility.

According to the article, Infertility is defined as an inability to conceive after a year of unprotected intercourse or to carry a pregnancy to term." The author of the review Stacy Bula D.C., notes that in the US infertility impacts six million women between the ages of 15 and 54. According to the study the US Centers for Disease Control reported that in 2004 there were 127,977 artificial reproductive procedures performed to try to help women get pregnant. The study notes that although only 34% of the medical procedures attempted will result in a live birth, the costs can range up to $30,000 per menstrual cycle attempt.

In the cases reported in this literature review study, the cases of eleven female patients were reviewed from 10 separate documented case studies. Their histories included one natural childbirth, two miscarriages, two failed in-vitro fertilizations, and three failed artificial inseminations. In some of these cases the women sought chiropractic care for a variety of other problems in addition to infertility. Some of the additional problems that brought the women to a chiropractor included, ulcerative colitis, lower back pain, neck pain, menstrual cycle problems, diabetes and joint pains.

The average age of the women in the various studies was 32. In 10 of the 11 cases the women were actively trying to become pregnant and were unsuccessful. Several had unsuccessfully tried more expensive and risky procedures. The author noted that the standard medical care for infertility, "..can have serious health problems for both the mother and child."

The results from these various case studies showed that all 11 women got pregnant shortly after the start of chiropractic care. The author of the review noted that 9 of the 11 did not receive any further medical care to become pregnant. The care rendered in all of these cases was specific correction of vertebral subluxations using a variety of chiropractic analyses and techniques. The author noted that correction of vertebral subluxations caused an improvement in function which allowed the women of these studies to become pregnant.

In her conclusion, Dr. Bula stated, "The ten case studies examined in this paper suggest that regardless of the type of chiropractic technique used, when subluxations of the vertebral spine were adjusted there was a simultaneous improvement in function of the reproductive organs and related endocrine system."

Another case study
A study published in the May 2003 issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research, showed a strong link between the resolution of infertility and the initiation of chiropractic care. The study consisted of a retrospective review of 14 separate articles of 15 women suffering with infertility. In each of these cases chiropractic care was introduced and the results were documented and published.

The studies followed 15 female subjects ranging in age from 22 to 65. The prior pregnancy history of these women revealed 11 of them had never gotten pregnant. Two of the women had prior successful unassisted pregnancies. One woman had an assisted pregnancy, while 1 had a history of a miscarriage. In this group 9 women had previous treatment for infertility before starting chiropractic and 4 were actually undergoing infertility treatment when they started chiropractic care.

The study noted the huge expense of infertility treatment options currently used by many couples noting the range of expenses can easily go into the thousands. The article also noted that in vitro fertilization has shown evidence of long term risks. A study published in November 2002 in the online version of the American Journal of Human Genetics reported that “babies conceived by in vitro fertilization may be at increased risk for a rare genetic disorder that predisposes them to cancer”.

The chiropractic care rendered to the women listed in this study was from a variety of chiropractors using a variety of techniques. The focus of the care in these cases was correction of vertebral subluxations. The research article defined Subluxation by using the agreed definition of the Association of Chiropractic Colleges. Subluxation, as defined by the Association of Chiropractic Colleges, is a “complex of functional and / or structural and / or pathological articular changes that compromise neural integrity and may influence organ system function and general health". The study noted that all of the women in these studies, who were struggling with infertility, had evidence of nerve system interference, as detected by the presence of subluxations.

The results of these individual case studies showed that even though many of these women had tried unsuccessfully for some time to become pregnant, all of the women in this study eventually became pregnant somewhere between 2 months and 20 months of the onset of chiropractic care. One of the case studies was summed up by the author, Elizabeth Anderson-Peacock, DC, DICCP, "Although chiropractic care is not a treatment for infertility, it is postulated that improvement of spinal neural integrity through specific chiropractic adjustments may have contributed to improved homeostasis and physiological adaptation thus allowing the body to express a greater level of health as an outcome."

Another case study
Infertility and Chiropractic
Several recent published case studies have highlighted the benefits and miraculous results of chiropractic care for patients who were unsuccessful in their attempt to have children. In three successive issues of the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research, (JVSR), case studies were published of women who were having trouble with infertility, and who were helped by chiropractic care.

The December 8, 2003 JVSR reported on a case study of a 32-year-old female with a history of infertility, who had attempted to become pregnant since August 1999, with no success and sought chiropractic care in November of 2001. Prior to the chiropractic care, she had received unsuccessful conventional medical treatment, including detailed fertility testing, artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, and treatment with the fertility drug Clomid. She sought chiropractic care on November 3, 2001. Chiropractic analysis and correction were performed over the next six weeks and during this time, the patient’s secondary complaints of low back pain and headaches improved dramatically. Additionally, the patient’s fertility specialists noted that her estrogen levels, endometrial thickness, and cervical mucus levels were all at more favorable levels than at the time of the first in vitro attempt. A second attempt at in vitro fertilization was made on February 17, 2002, and the patient had a positive pregnancy test on March 2, 2002.

The second case was that of a thirty-four year old woman who presented for chiropractic care on January 10, 2000. Her concerns listed a variety of conditions, including a history of infertility. This patient made no other alterations in her lifestyle or clinical situation besides the addition of chiropractic care. Approximately 4-5 weeks into the care program the patient conceived naturally.

The third case was interesting because the woman was not trying to conceive. This case was that of a 65-year young female who presented with agonizing low back pain and severe lumbar degeneration. After four weeks of care she began spotting and was diagnosed as having a normal menstrual cycle. What was really interesting about this case was that she had experienced a severe fall at 13 years of age which resulted in a complete cessation of her menses at 18. She was diagnosed as infertile.

In each of these cases the chiropractic care was specific for correction of vertebral subluxations that were determined to be interfering with the normal function of the nervous system. This in turn disrupted the reproductive system of the patients. The conclusion of one of the studies sums up the process by saying, "The human body is designed to be healthy and to reproduce. Impairment of this ability indicates dysfunction on a fundamental level. Subluxations of the spine and the associated nervous system dysfunction can hinder proper function of body systems."