You’ve been practicing for 20 years, and now your patient base is mostly IVF, fertility, and pregnancy-related. What was the turning point that shifted your practice in that direction?
I moved from San Diego to the Jupiter area after I finished college. I started my acupuncture practice and looked to the community to see what the area really needed. I realized that Jupiter is unique in that it has two big IVF practices, where many cities have none — women commute from all over to see the excellent doctors here. I started getting requests to treat IVF patients, and I became really interested in the process of IVF and fertility. At the same time, medical studies were coming out showing that acupuncture is one of the few things that can truly influence the success of an IVF cycle, so that helped me decide to specialize.
Whether a couple is going through fertility treatments or trying to conceive without medical help, it remains true that making a baby can be a stressful process. Women need support and guidance, emotionally and physically. My goal is to treat all my patients with a combination of warmth and knowledge so they can feel confident that they’re doing everything in their power to have a healthy baby. My deep understanding of the subject means I can answer questions that often get forgotten in the bustle of the doctor’s office. This is also why I created my video-based embryo transfer day guide, ThrIVFing. Whether or not a woman can work with me in person, I want every IVF patient to walk into her embryo transfer day feeling like she is thriving, not just surviving. The guide can be accessed from anywhere in the world at ivftransferday.com.
How does acupuncture specifically support patients going through IVF, physically and emotionally, and at what point in the process should someone ideally start?
Acupuncture works in two ways. First, it increases blood flow to the organs we choose to target, bringing more oxygen and nutrition. When we specifically target the uterus and ovaries, the body’s response is to improve egg quality and make the lining more receptive to implantation. Second, acupuncture benefits the nervous system, allowing the patient to relax, release tension they’re holding in their body, and sleep better at night. The body only sends blood flow to the reproductive organs when the nervous system is in a state of restfulness, and acupuncture helps the body achieve that.
In fact, when my patients wear their Oura ring or other health tracking device to their sessions, they register time in both light and deep sleep during treatment, and the tracker also shows measurable improvements in their HRV, sleep quality, and daily energy. These benefits all add up to improved success while trying to conceive. By the time a woman is seeking help with her fertility, she already wanted to be pregnant. Don’t delay acupuncture. Sometimes it can help you avoid medical intervention altogether, and if not, it will support you through every step of the process.
You work with conditions like endometriosis, PCOS, and low ovarian reserve. Does your approach change depending on the diagnosis?
Definitely! Every acupuncture treatment is tailored to my patient’s specific needs. Endometriosis can be a painful condition that involves inflammation in the uterus and surrounding organs, and many people don’t know it also affects egg quality. Acupuncture is so helpful for endometriosis because it naturally reduces inflammation in the body by calming the nervous system.
Fun mini fact: PCOS is now called PMOS! The name has been updated to reflect that it doesn’t just cause cysts on the ovaries, it also affects multiple hormones and the metabolism. Acupuncture can address this imbalance through improved blood flow and optimized organ function. Both endometriosis and PMOS benefit from dietary changes, improved sleep and digestion, and building more muscle.
Low ovarian reserve can happen because of these two syndromes, but it can also exist on its own, and surprisingly, it can affect a woman at any age. Improvements in blood flow, diet, and supplements can help. Women with low ovarian reserve can definitely still conceive without medical intervention; I see it happen often in my patients! With all three of these conditions, it’s a real benefit to be dialed in to good diet and lifestyle habits, but the changes each person needs to make are different, so I coach each patient based on her individual needs. All of these conditions see a huge benefit not just from acupuncture, but from pelvic red light therapy added to the treatment. I also offer high-quality supplements at my office that can be put together to create a wellness bundle, without the confusion and noise of reading about them all online.
Beyond fertility, you treat things like perimenopause, anxiety, and hormone balance. What does a typical women’s wellness patient look like, and how does treatment differ from your fertility work?
This came about because many patients who started coming to me for fertility help decided to stay with me for years afterward. What a compliment! I have patients I’ve been working with for 15 or more years, and that makes me so happy. Acupuncture can benefit any stage of a woman’s life through hormone balance and stress relief. Many of the patients I see outside of fertility treatment are dealing with migraine headaches, body pain, and insomnia. I often get the question, “Can I send my mom in to you?” The answer is “Yes!”
What are some signs a woman’s hormones might be out of balance that she may not think to bring to a doctor?
The important thing to remember is that estrogen and progesterone benefit every tissue in the body. They don’t exist just for us to ovulate and have a menstrual cycle. Hormone loss or change starts with subtle signs like a racing heart, waking every night at the same time, anxiety or irritability, acne, and dry eyes. There are over 200 different symptoms of estrogen and progesterone loss. Acupuncture helps so much by keeping the ovaries functioning optimally for as long as possible.
We can all laugh about the changes we feel throughout a menstrual cycle — one week you love being around your partner and family, the next week you need to close yourself in a room with noise-canceling headphones. Then we start to feel those changes even more intensely as hormone levels drop, and it can be baffling. These shifts can feel like they happened all of a sudden. But the good news is there is support and help available to get you feeling really good in your body again.
Tell us about the Signature Facial + Red Light treatment. What happens in a session, and how is it different from a typical spa facial?
My signature facial is really unique; it’s designed to be both therapeutic and aesthetic. I created it to achieve the “snatched” look: well-sculpted cheekbones and jawline, a smooth forehead, and overall glowy skin. I get there through a combination of facial gua sha, facial cupping, facial acupuncture, and Celluma face and full-body red light therapy. All of these therapies also address the underlying tension we hold in our facial muscles from things like frowning at our phones, hunching over the computer, and clenching our jaw from stress.
You call it a “full-body reset,” not just a beauty treatment. What results do patients typically notice?
The signature facial really is a full-body reset, because releasing the tension held in the face, neck, and scalp noticeably changes pain and inflammation levels throughout the whole body. At the same time, the Celluma full-body red light blanket works with every cell to benefit the mitochondria, the part of the cell responsible for energy production. This naturally leads to improved cellular repair, reduced inflammation, and better metabolism. I’m the only acupuncture doctor in South Florida who offers treatment with full-body Celluma red light therapy. It’s an amazing healing tool that really benefits overall well-being.
Is there a patient story, kept general, that captures why this work matters to you?
Eleven years ago, I started seeing a patient who was having trouble conceiving due to PMOS. Around the same time she started acupuncture, she asked me for a referral to an IVF doctor I knew personally. While coming in for weekly treatments, she underwent an IUI cycle using small doses of fertility medication. Her results were so good that her doctor converted her to an egg retrieval patient, and she got lots of healthy eggs. She and her husband made healthy embryos, and she continued acupuncture for pregnancy support with her son.
She came back to acupuncture for postpartum care, and continued for hormone balance and well-being. Her second child was conceived naturally. No medical intervention was necessary beyond her regular acupuncture. We worked together through her pregnancy with her daughter, and once she could make time for herself again, she returned to treat migraine headaches and pain around ovulation. Her son is now ten years old, and her daughter is six. We still see each other twice a month and laugh together about the changes that happen to a woman’s body with age and time. She says I’m never allowed to move or retire. Helping women feel good in their bodies and balanced in their lives matters so much to me.
What do you wish more people understood about acupuncture before trying it for the first time?
If you work with a skilled acupuncture doctor, it doesn’t hurt! Most people worry that treatment will be uncomfortable. I’ve cultivated a reputation as the “gentle acupuncturist” through a combination of experience, skill, and bringing the best-quality equipment to my treatment table.
