About Mary Zhang

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Making Dreams Come True

Treating Infertility with Chinese Medicine

 

Lisa had tried to get pregnant for eight years. With polycystic ovaries, irregular menstrual cycles and a tilted uterus, it was proving difficult. Her doctors tried to balance her hormone levels and gave her progesterone injections to get a cycle going – all to no avail. “It was so frustrating,” she says. “The emotional ups and downs of wondering whether you’ll have a period or not. Then if you do, will you get pregnant? Month after month of that was very stressful.”

 

Then Lisa talked with some friends who had been seeing Mary Zhang, a licensed acupuncturist based in Kansas City, MO. Zhang had treated them for other health problems and they swore that she could help Lisa. When she walked into Zhang’s office, Lisa had very little hope and more than a little doubt about acupuncture. “I thought, will this really work? And will it be worth the money?”

 

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is an ancient healing art that has been used for five thousand years. It sees people as an integrated mind/body organism. This whole body approach provides a key to unlocking unlimited healing potential. It seeks to treat not just the symptoms, but the root causes. Acupuncture is the insertion of thin, sterile needles into specific points on the body. Stimulation of these points improves energy flow and facilitates healing. “Acupuncture can be used to strengthen and balance one’s general health,” Zhang says, “so that conceiving naturally and procedures like in vitro fertilization are more effective. Often a combination of acupuncture and herbs along with modern procedures seems to work best.”

 

After an initial consultation, Zhang said that she could help Lisa. First she would have to regulate her internal balance and harmony. Once those were restored, Lisa would start having menstrual cycles and would ovulate. She was ready to try anything and began twice a week treatments.

 

“I really don’t like needles,” she says. “I don’t like having blood drawn or anything like that. But the acupuncture needles are so fine that you don’t really feel them.” She was surprised at how relaxed she felt after her 20-minute treatments. “More relaxed than after an hour long massage!”

 

After three weeks, Lisa began noticing some changes. “I had been taking allergy pills for a long time and I no longer needed them,” she says. She had more energy and even her digestion improved tremendously. “I had also taken prescription sleep medication for six years,” she says, “and after three weeks I stopped taking it. I sleep much better without it.”

 

After one month of treatments, Lisa had a period. “To have a cycle without medication was amazing!” And for the first time, Lisa had hope.

 

Zhang says that there are many women like Lisa, depressed and frustrated, losing hope of having a family. Zhang has treated infertility with acupuncture and Chinese medicine for over fifteen years in China, Germany and the United States. She has treated hormonal imbalances, ovarian function, amenorrhea, dysmenorrheal, perimenopausal symptoms, endometriosis, polycystic ovaries, tubal obstructions, and uterine fibroids. She has also treated men for sperm count and sperm mobility and quality.

 

In addition to acupuncture, Zhang’s treatment utilizes Chinese herbs and moxibustion. The herb formulations help stressed organ systems operate in a more natural and balanced state. Moxibustion, also known as moxa, is a form of heat treatment that stimulates specific acupuncture points. The gentle, soothing heat of moxa provides a deep relaxation.

 

After just four months of treatment, Lisa became pregnant. On May 10, 2006, she gave birth to Henry, a beautiful, healthy boy.

 

The national success rate for treating infertility with traditional methods is only bout 20 – 30%. Mary Zhang’s success rate is 60%.  She recommends one or two treatments per week for two to three months. At that point, she re-evaluates the patient’s condition. She says that the average treatment is twenty visits.

 

Zhang says that although Chinese medicine has become more popular, there is still not enough public understanding of how it works and what it can treat. While her specialty is the treatment of infertility, she also treats internal, external, emotional and spiritual problems. Her goal in practicing reproductive wellness is to make dreams come true, one family at a time.

 

Asked if she would recommend TCM to other women, Lisa says, “Absolutely! The emotional ups and downs of infertility are very stressful. These treatments helped me relax – and they work. I’m proof!”