SINGAPORE: With one in ten married couples facing fertility problems, more are turning to western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for help.

Doctors said it is all right to combine both types of treatment, but couples need to inform their doctors accordingly so that accurate prescriptions can be given.

Treatments under TCM such as acupuncture and foot reflexology are commonly used, and TCM fertility treatment encompasses many segments.

Colin Chan, a registered physician at Ideal Clinic and lecturer at College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said: "There are mainly four categories. The first one would be the blood category. The second would be dampness-heat category and the third type would be deficiency in kidney category.

"The two main points (in the third category) are the deficiency of the 'yang' energy and the deficiency of the 'ying' energy. And last, but not least, is the stagnation of 'chi' in the liver category."

Chinese physicians said western and TCM treatments can complement each other and the effectiveness of such treatments has been enhanced with modern technology.


- CNA/so