Laboratory Testing

It is important that Chinese Medicine embraces all the advances of modern medicine and I believe there are some really good Western medical tests out there that can help practitioners really hone in on exactly what is happening with their patients. Acupuncturists tend to rely on taking pulses, which is an invaluable diagnostic and can tell us many things that lab tests cannot, however if armed with both conventional medical testing and Chinese medical diagnostics gives us the very best chance of getting the right results for the patient, saving us both valuable time. 

For me, it's not about getting patients to come back week after week. My clinics are busy and so it's important I get results quickly. Having state of the art diagnostic information to hand gets us both there much more swiftly.

I have teamed up with a specialty clinical laboratory that has labs both in the U.K. and America. Samples are often sent to America for more complex testing, providing the practitioner with state of the art diagnostics at their fingertips.  

Fertility Hormone Testing

This test is able to map the female sex hormones - Progesterone and Oestradiol throughout the female cycle.

​The patient will need to provide 12 saliva samples completed on different days of the cycle to chart the interrelation between the different hormones. Once armed with the information, we are able to develop a tailor made package of supplements and treatments to counteract any hormone imbalances the patient may have. 


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Thyroid Testing

Unlike thyroid testing done by your GP surgery, this thyroid test is fully comprehensive and often picks up thyroid problems such as Hashimoto's Thyroiditis that haven't been detected with conventional testing. 

It analyses serum levels of TSH, total T4, free T4, free T3, anti-TG antibodies, and anti-TPO antibodies to assess central and peripheral thyroid function, as well as thyroid auto-immunity.

Having good thyroid function is crucial for fertility and so this test is often invaluable for patients that seem to have a lot of hypothyroidism symptoms but do not need thyroxine. We use thyroid support supplements and acupuncture techniques to support the thyroid in these cases. 

Stress Hormone Testing

This test looks at a patient's adrenal output - Cortisol, DHEA and Testosterone.  

Pregnenolone is the precursor hormone to Cortisol & DHEA (the precursor hormone to all the other sex hormones). If you are stressed, it is forced to make Cortisol over DHEA as the body will always favour survival over reproduction. This is why reducing stress is an important factor in fertility.

Cortisol is also an inflammatory hormone so excess has an impact on inflammatory conditions and auto-immune problems.

The Full Package

For fertility patients looking to get optimal results quickly, I advise testing all the hormones that affect fertility. This shows a comprehensive workup of the following hormones - Cortisol (stress hormone), DHEA, Melatonin, Testosterone, Progesterone and Oestradiol. 

We can also add on a comprehensive thyroid screen so that we know exactly what we are working with and whether there will be any limitations. 

No private IVF clinics offer this service, which is a shame, as I find that once armed with all the information patients only need a few tweaks to balance their hormones, often making expensive and difficult IVF unnecessary.

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Verity Allen Acupuncture is one of the few, if any, acupuncture clinics offering this type of in depth diagnostic testing, rivalling private fertility clinics for more relevant and meaningful results.