Last month I wrote about how acupuncture and moxibustion can help turn a breech baby and this week one of our lovely patients, Monika, used this method with great success. I like it when our YinOva patients write on this blog, so I asked if she would mind sharing her experience. Below you’ll find what she wrote. I think it’s much more interesting to hear about this from her point of view, don’t you? Continue reading…

When we were writing our book Making Babies: A Proven 3-Month Program for Maximum Fertility, we devoted a lot of time to helping couples pinpoint the exact time of the month they should be trying to conceive. I get tons of questions, in my practice, about timing intercourse and also about how often to have sex during a woman’s fertile period. There’s a lot of conflicting advice out there so I thought I’d use the blog today to clear up some of the confusion.

The first task is to work out when you are ovulating and the biggest mistake women make is to assume that they always ovulate in the middle of their cycle. Some people’s GYN’s tell them to count back 14 days from their last period to calculate the day of their cycle that they ovulate on. This method can give you a general idea of when to have sex and will work for many women but if you are struggling to conceive it’s worth being a little more precise. Here are some of the ways our YinOva patients pinpoint ovulation. Continue reading…

One of our patients sent us this lovely photo of her much longed for and long awaited baby. He’s so cute that I wanted to share him with you.

Earlier this week the BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (1.) released a report that found that acupuncture can help women suffering from pelvic girdle pain in pregnancy. This is not the first research study to look at this. In fact in 2005 I was interviewed by ABC news about the same topic. You can watch that clip here.

Up to 1 in 5 women suffer from pelvic girdle pain in pregnancy. Usually our patients complain of pain in the low back and buttocks although some patients also feel discomfort at the front of their pelvic area. Some women also experience radiating pain down one or both of their legs. Most women tell us that the pain gets worse if they have to stand for a long time. In 7% of women the pain continues after they have given birth becoming a chronic lower back issue. Continue reading…

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and so we have been focusing on this disease here at The YinOva Blog. Last week I wrote about breast cancer prevention and the week before I wrote about a new study that shows how helpful acupuncture can be to women who are undergoing breast cancer treatment. I thought it was about time you heard from a patient so I asked Suzanne Murphy Davison to write about her experiences. It has been my privilege to play a small role in Suzanne’s journey. She is an inspirational woman and I have watched her grow in response to the challenges life has thrown at her. I am so, so proud of her and thrilled to introduce her to you. It is my hope that she will continue to share what she has learned with the YinOva community. She has much to teach us. Here in her own words is her story.

Well, hello to you all!! My name is Suzanne, and as Jill mentioned in a previous blog I am a patient at the YinOva Center and five year survivor of breast cancer. I represent a demographic that is, unfortunately, becoming much more common – a young, pre-menopausal woman diagnosed with breast cancer. I was 32 at the time of my diagnosis… and a week away from my wedding! You can imagine how shocking it was to hear I had breast cancer, but I was even more stunned to find that I had a fairly advanced case of it. Continue reading…

Today’s blog entry is written by YinOva Acupuncturist and Clinical Herbalist, Liz Carlson.

Preparing for baby often means making changes in your everyday life- some easier than others. Let’s face it: adding a prenatal vitamin or staying mindful of eating healthy, unsaturated fats are relatively simple tasks compared to letting go of your beloved daily cup (or three) of that rich, dark and ever so addicting…coffee. There is plenty of evidence that drinking coffee can reduce your fertility and heavy coffee consumption can be particularly damaging. This study found that women who drink four 8oz cups of coffee a day reduce their fertility by 26%. At The YinOva Center we ask women who are trying to conceive to reduce their coffee intake but we are only too aware that this can be difficult even for the most disciplined.

Like any drug, caffeine is addictive so when your body shows signs of physical withdrawal such as headaches and irritability, your will power can take a back seat. Our bodies respond best to kindness, so rather than quit cold turkey, it is better for most to ween and here are a few tips how: Continue reading…