Electroacupuncture for fertility in Columbia, PA
Gentle stimulation. Steady support.
I use electroacupuncture to help your nervous system settle while you go through trying to conceive, IUI or IVF. Every session is with me, in my Columbia office, planned around your cycle and your clinic's schedule.
Private one-on-one care • Practicing since 1999 • Columbia, Pennsylvania
What electroacupuncture is
It's acupuncture with a gentle electrical pulse added. Once the needles are in, I clip a few of them to a small, low-intensity stimulator for part of the session. Most people feel a soft tapping.
I don't run a fixed protocol. Whether I use stimulation, where, and for how long depends on your history, where you are in your cycle and what your fertility clinic has planned. Most sessions mix it with standard acupuncture, ear points and quiet time on the table.
Read about IVF support at Riverside
Why people ask me about it
Fertility treatment asks a lot of your body and your nervous system. People usually ask me about electroacupuncture when they're dealing with one or more of these.
- Irregular or absent cycles
- Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
- Diminished ovarian reserve
- Painful periods or endometriosis
- Repeated unsuccessful embryo transfers
- Stress and anxiety during fertility treatment
- Low sperm count or motility
We'll talk through whether it makes sense for you and how it fits your fertility team's plan. It's supportive care. It doesn't treat these conditions on its own.
Where it fits in your fertility care
Whether I use it, and when, depends on your stage of care and your clinic's calendar. Your reproductive medicine comes first. My work supports it.
Trying to conceive on your own
We plan sessions across your cycle, alongside any tracking or testing your doctor recommends.
IUI cycles
I time treatment around your monitoring appointments and insemination date, medicated or not.
Preparing for IVF or egg freezing
In the weeks before a cycle, we focus on calming stress, improving sleep and steadying your routine before treatment starts.
During ovarian stimulation
I may include electroacupuncture during stimulation, adjusted around your medications and monitoring visits. Your fertility team runs stimulation and makes every medication decision.
Embryo transfer, fresh or frozen
I don't use electrical stimulation as a routine part of transfer care. Around transfer and through the two-week wait, sessions are about rest and calm, timed to your clinic's instructions.
Acupuncture is offered for supportive care, not as a way to guarantee pregnancy. Evidence does not consistently show improved IVF live-birth rates, including with acupuncture around embryo transfer.
Read the ASRM embryo-transfer guideline
Working with me
I'm Jason Rinker, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M. I've practiced since 1999 and have cared for a lot of people going through IVF, IUI and other fertility treatment. Every session is with me, start to finish. Your first visit is 80 minutes, so we have time to go through your history, where you are in treatment and anything your clinic has asked of you.
What the research shows
I want to be straight with you about the evidence. Electroacupuncture has been studied in fertility care, and the results are mixed. Two of the largest trials found no more live births than a control treatment.
IVF and live births
A 2018 trial of 824 women at 16 IVF centers compared acupuncture with a sham control during stimulation and around embryo transfer. Live births were 18.3% with acupuncture and 17.8% with the control, a difference that was not significant.
Smith et al., JAMA, 2018PCOS and ovulation induction
A 2017 trial of 1,000 women with PCOS used acupuncture with low-frequency electrical stimulation, with or without clomiphene. Live births were 21.8% with active acupuncture and 22.4% with the control.
Wu et al., JAMA, 2017So I offer electroacupuncture as support alongside your medical care, never in place of it, and I'll never promise you a pregnancy. What I can give you is time to rest, care focused on stress and one practitioner who knows your whole story through a demanding process.
Common questions
What people ask me most before their first electroacupuncture session.
Fertility support in Columbia, PA
Riverside Acupuncture is located in Columbia, Pennsylvania, serving patients throughout Lancaster County and surrounding areas. Appointments can be planned around your fertility clinic's monitoring, retrieval, and transfer schedule.
View location and directionsVisit pricing
- Initial Visit
- $160
- Follow-Up Visits
- $100
Riverside Acupuncture does not directly bill insurance. A superbill can be provided upon request. Reimbursement depends on your insurance plan and is not guaranteed.
Let's see if it fits your care
Whether you're trying on your own, planning IUI or getting ready for IVF, book a visit and we'll work out together whether electroacupuncture makes sense for you.