Acupuncture.. does it really help IVF pregnancy rates?

Acupuncture, a traditional Chinese healing technique which involves the placement of needles in strategic locations in the body has become very popular for treating many conditions, including infertility. Many patients at our office and other practices, chose to get acupuncture assuming it will help their chances  for pregnancy.  But the question is, does it actually improve pregnancy rates, harm them or does it have no effect? Researchers from China combined the various studies in attempt to answer this question and published their findings in the journal Fertility and Sterility. Well, the results were mixed. Overall, acupuncture improved pregnancy rates and live birth rates in IVF cycles. However, when sham acupuncture was used as a comparison, the so called Streitberger technique, properly done acupuncture offered no benefit over placebo. So what does this mean? Acupuncture may help improve pregnancy rates, but it may it may actually work because of our belief that it will work.