Infertility: How a Manual Physical Therapist Can Help

Why does infertility occur?

Infertility can occur for many reasons. It can be due to hormonal imbalances such as poly cystic ovary syndrome, ovulation disorders, early menopause, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, fallopian tube damage and pelvic adhesions. If you’re having any fertility problems, you should always consult a doctor first to perform a pelvic exam, determine your hormonal levels through blood work and to rule out any serious conditions. A common cause of infertility is due to scar tissue and restrictions of the reproductive organs. Often there is increased pain with menstrual cycles when there are restrictions and scar tissue present. These restrictions can also change the position of the uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries within your body. It makes it increasingly difficult to conceive a child if the path of the unfertilized egg is disrupted due to misalignment of the ovary, fallopian tube and finally the uterus.

What is manual therapy?

Our approach to physical therapy at Elite Health Services is about treating the whole body. We look specifically at soft tissue restrictions, joint mobility, strengthening using proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation to improve increase muscle recruitment and improve efficient functional. We address the structural issues and restrictions in order to return you to a healthy, efficient state.

How can manual therapy help infertility?

Manual therapy can help to remove these soft tissue restrictions and get the reproductive organs properly aligned. We can assess the positioning of the ovaries, fallopian tubes and uterus and alter them accordingly to improve the path of the egg. We use soft tissue mobilization techniques to break up the restrictions and possibly pelvic joint mobilization techniques to improve the positioning of the hips. Recent studies have proven the efficacy of this type of treatment for infertility. One such study was performed on 28 women experiencing infertility due to fallopian tube occlusion using these types of restriction clearance techniques. After manual therapy, 17 of them women had confirmed fallopian tube occlusion resolution and 9 of these women were pregnant within a 2 year follow up of the study. If conventional medical treatments are not working to help you get pregnant, try our non-pharmaceutical approach to fertility difficulties.