INFERTILITY IS NOT A DISEASE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

INFERTILITY IS NOT A DISEASE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

While things have changed in recent years and people are far more likely to speak openly about infertility, we still find it necessary to address this notion that infertility is a woman’s disease. Due to the fact that infertility is such a personal struggle and everyone experiences it differently, it can be hard to know what facts are true and what are false. One of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to infertility is that only women experience this condition. However, infertility does not discriminate and is something both men and women experience. Even though most literature, blogs, and forums focus on infertility as it affects women, many men can also struggle with this problem. As we continue to raise awareness about infertility and strive to be more open in discussing it, we hope to change this stigma and encourage men to have the confidence and support system to speak about infertility issues.

Here at Denver Holistic Medicine, we believe in taking an all encompassing, natural approach to healthcare and conditions such as infertility. While we focus on providing treatment methods that aim to increase fertility for women, we also encourage men to look into the various holistic approaches – such as acupuncture, herbal treatments, and nutritional counseling – that are proven to treat infertility.

 RAISING AWARENESS ABOUT INFERTILITY 

Infertility affects about 15 percent of couples and is defined as the inability to conceive or maintain a pregnancy within a certain time period. Even though it is the woman who will be carrying the child, many men also experience fertility problems and, more often than not, struggle silently. In large part because of shame, men feel as though they cannot speak openly about infertility and that it is a ‘woman’s disease’. By speaking up and raising awareness about infertility in general, we invite men to join the conversation. We hope that, as more men speak up about infertility, it will no longer be looked as a ‘disease’ that only impacts women. With this, the hope is that legislators will put pressure on insurance companies to provide comprehensive coverage for infertility treatments for all.

Many people do not realize this, but stress is well-known to have an impact on fertility, for both men and women. For men, stress can lead to impotence, erectile dysfunction, and even shut down the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular-axis, otherwise known as the group of glands that have a direct impact on developing and regulating the reproductive system. All of these things can interfere with a man’s fertility, which is why it is important to engage in stress-reducing activities and look into natural treatment options when you think something is amiss.

 TREAT INFERTILITY NATURALLY

The bottom line is that we need to be better at openly discussing infertility concerns and stop looking at it as a disease, especially one that only affects women. In general, we encourage you to look at natural and holistic treatment methods that aim to get at the root of the problem, not simply provide a quick fix. At Denver Holistic Medicine, some of holistic fertility services that we offer include:

• General fertile wellness
• IVF/IUI support
• Immunological fertility
• Male fertility factors
• Luteal phase defects

To learn more about our fertility services or to meet with one of our doctors to discuss either male or female infertility, please contact us today.