The efficacy of herbal medicine in treating infertility is indisputable to the patient community although the mechanism of action is not completely understood at this time. Similarly the mechanism of action of tricyclic antidepressants is not fully understood in its effect on chronic pain , but its efficacy has been maintained.
Practitioners of Chinese herbal medicine rarely use a single herb in treatment. Chinese herbs are formula based; many herbs are mixed together to create the perfect 'decoction' specifically designed for the individual patient.
Some formulae contain two herbs and some thirty or more herbs. Each herb has many functions. Each herb has its own flavor, nature, temperature and trophism. Prescribing the correct herbal medicinals requires extensive training and clinical experience.
Self-medicating with herbal medicine presents a dual dilemma. At best the herbs will be useless, as the key to correct formula prescription is an accurate differential diagnosis which can only be rendered by a licensed, board certified, experienced practitioner. At the worst case, self-prescribing of herbal medicine may prove harmful or fatal.
A good example of this is Ma Huang/Ephedra. Ma Huang is an herb prescribed on a daily basis by hundreds of TCM practitioners to thousands of patients safely.
That several people have died as a result of taking Ma Huang has nothing to do with the dangerous properties of the herb, rather with the fact that in all cases of fatalities the individuals were self-medicating, without directions from a doctor required for appropriate applications and contraindications. Not only is herbal medicine safe, it is highly effective in treating much pathology without the concomitant adverse effects which often accompany pharmaceutical drugs. There are many hospitalizations and fatalities which occur yearly as a result of adverse reactions to biomedicine. The occurrence of adverse reactions to herbal medicine is far less.
Clearly, further research is needed to fully understand the mechanisms of action of acupuncture and herbal medicine in treating the infertile patient. Nevertheless, it is my opinion that the best-case scenario for most patients is to offer them every reasonable option which may serve to successfully address their presentation. Based upon the empirical evidence of many practice in which the experts specialize in the treatment of the infertility, the integration of acupuncture and herbal medicine into the treatment protocol from a clinical perspective makes sense.
