Steady support through your IUI cycle
An IUI cycle moves quickly, from monitoring to insemination to the two-week wait. I plan calm, one-on-one visits around your clinic's timing, so you feel steadier and better supported at every step, alongside your medical care.
Jason Rinker, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M. · Practicing since 1999 · Columbia, PA
For you if an IUI is part of your plan
Some people come to me before their first IUI. Others have had a few cycles already and want a calmer way through the next one.
Whatever brings you in, your clinic leads your treatment. My role is to help you feel more settled while it happens.
- Preparing for a first IUI
- Medicated IUI cycles
- Natural or unmedicated IUI cycles
- IUI with donor sperm
- The two-week wait after insemination
- Trying again after a cycle that didn't work
If this sounds like you, let's talk about where you are.
Book online, or call or text me with a question first.
How I support an IUI cycle
Your fertility team decides your medications and your insemination date. I plan around both and follow their instructions.
My focus is on what acupuncture can reasonably help with: stress, sleep, and how you feel in your body through a cycle that can feel like a lot of waiting.
- Your history
- Your reproductive and menstrual-cycle history, how long you've been trying, and anything that has happened along the way.
- Testing and labs
- Previous fertility testing, a semen analysis where one is available, and any relevant lab results you'd like me to see.
- Medications
- What you're taking and what your clinic has planned. I follow their instructions, and I never change your medications.
- Daily life
- Sleep, stress, work, exercise, and food. These are the things you can actually shape, so we talk about them honestly.
Your first appointment
Bring your clinic's plan or calendar if you have one. We'll look at it together and decide where visits fit best.
We talk first
Your first visit is 80 minutes. We start by sitting down and going through your history, where you are on your fertility journey, and anything your doctor or clinic has asked of you.
Then you rest
You lie down in a warm, quiet room while the needles do their work. Each one is as thin as a strand of hair. If anything feels sharp, tell me and I'll adjust it.
You leave with a plan
Before you leave, I'll suggest how often to come in, based on where you are and what's coming up.
Visits planned around your clinic's timing
IUI timing can change at short notice, so the plan stays flexible.
- Before your cycle
- In the weeks before a cycle, we work on stress, sleep, and a steady routine.
- Monitoring and medications
- Visits fit around your monitoring appointments. Your clinic makes every medication decision, and I never change your medications.
- Around insemination
- Sessions are planned from your clinic's instructions and stay gentle and quiet.
- The two-week wait
- Visits are about rest and getting through the days, not about changing the outcome.
- When dates move
- Tell me as soon as your timing changes and I'll move your visits with it.
What the research shows
Most acupuncture research during fertility care has studied IVF rather than IUI. Here is what related studies have found, in plain language. The sources are listed below if you'd like to read them.
Calmer through treatment
- A 2022 review of clinical trials found that acupuncture lowered anxiety for women going through IVF.
- In a large IVF trial, women who had acupuncture reported less anxiety right after embryo transfer than women who had a sham treatment.
Ovulation
- In a randomized trial, women with PCOS who had acupuncture with gentle electrical stimulation ovulated more often than women in the comparison group.
Studies vary in size and quality, and everyone responds differently. I'll always tell you honestly what I think acupuncture can do for you.
Sources
- Hullender Rubin LE et al. Effect of acupuncture on IVF-related anxiety: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Reprod Biomed Online, 2022.
- Smith CA et al. Effects of acupuncture on anxiety and quality of life for women undergoing IVF. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand, 2018.
- Johansson J et al. Acupuncture for ovulation induction in polycystic ovary syndrome: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, 2013.
Care from Jason Rinker
I'm Jason Rinker. I'm a licensed acupuncturist and a Diplomate of Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM), and I've practiced since 1999. Over those years, I've cared for many people going through IVF, FET, IUI, and other fertility treatments.
Every visit is with me from start to finish. I listen, I pay attention to how you're holding up, and I adjust as things change.
Every day, your body is repairing, healing, and renewing itself. It can even grow a whole new person. That's life's way, and it still amazes me. You don't have to do this alone.
- L.Ac., Licensed Acupuncturist
- Dipl. O.M., Diplomate of Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM)
- Practicing since 1999
- Private practice in Columbia, PA
Questions people ask me
Have an IUI coming up?
Book your first visit online, or call or text me with your dates and I'll tell you how I'd plan around them.