By Jackie

When trying to make treatment choices for blocked fallopian tubes, it is crucial to understand the type of blockage. The success of treatment options vary greatly depending on the location of the blockage. Fallopian tubes can be blocked in three places:

• Proximal: Near the uterus
• Medial: In the middle of the tube
• Distal: At the end of the tube, near the fimbrea

Fallopian tubes that are blocked proximally have the highest success rate for opening with conventional treatment. Doctors generally recommend a procedure in which a catheter is inserted through the uterus into the fallopian tube. Once there, a balloon can be used to try and open the tube. The success rate for proximally blocked fallopian tubes is high, granting women a window of time to become pregnant.

If the blockage is located medially, it is harder for the doctor to access. Doctors generally recommend laparoscopic surgery, in which adhesions are cauterized and the tube is cut and then rejoined. Because it is a much more complicated procedure and scar tissue can easily grow and block the tube, success rates are lower for medially blocked fallopian tubes.

Fallopian tubes that are blocked distally are the hardest to treat. Because the blockage is located near the delicate fimbrea, a surgeon may not be able to remove adhesions without damaging the fimbrea. Furthermore, the area is harder to access and if adhesions re-grow, they can cover the ovary. Doctors generally do not recommend surgery for this type of blockage because of the success rates and instead offer IVF.

To read more about the causes of blocked fallopian tubes and alternative treatment options, please visit our website.

By Jackie

“In early 2004, I became pregnant for the first time,” Savannah told us. “But my husband and I were soon devastated when we learned it was an ectopic pregnancy.”

Ectopic pregnancy located in the fallopian tube

Once a woman experiences an ectopic pregnancy, her perspective of pregnancy is forever changed. The excitement of a positive pregnancy test can be quickly transformed to fear.

Doctors find that adhesions in or around the fallopian tubes can lead to ectopic pregnancies. After Savannah’s ectopic pregnancy, she underwent diagnostic laparoscopic surgery and her doctor found adhesions around her ovaries and fallopian tubes.

Her doctor removed what adhesions he could. Although Savannah trusted the hands of her doctor, she was still fearful that another ectopic pregnancy might occur.

While a surgeon can remove many adhesions, she or he may be unable to access or cut areas that would impair fertility. Furthermore, adhesions frequently re-grow as a direct result of the surgery.

Savannah told us, “I wanted to do everything I could to reduce adhesions and avoid another ectopic pregnancy.” She found our clinic and underwent our 20 hour treatment program. The day she returned home, Savannah became pregnant. Her ultrasound later showed her pregnancy was progressing as normal. Nine months later, she gave birth to a beautiful boy. Remarkably, she went on to have a second son.

Women shouldn’t have to fear another ectopic pregnancy due to adhesions. To learn more about treatment for adhesions, please visit our adhesions and infertility page.

By Jackie

Chlamydia, often know as the “silent” STD, can cause extensive scarring and adhesions within the female reproductive tract. Because Chlamydia produces relatively few noticeable symptoms, women are often unaware they have it until they struggle with infertility and undergo extensive diagnostic testing. Although doctors can cure Chlamydia with pharmaceuticals, the adhesions and scar tissue caused by the disease will remain in the body.

The only option conventional medicine can offer women with adhesions is laparoscopic surgery. However, surgery to open blocked fallopian tubes is not always successful. Furthermore, laparoscopic surgery itself can cause more adhesions and scar tissue to form.

Nicole, one of our former patients, struggled with just this problem. When Nicole and her husband couldn’t become pregnant after three years, they sought the help of a reproductive endocrinologist (RE). Her RE performed a series of tests. Nicole told us, “That when I found out I had an undetected STD, Chlamydia. It had caused scar tissue to form around and block my fallopian tubes.”

Her specialist recommended surgery to open the tubes or IVF. Nicole sought a second opinion with another RE who suspected she had fibroids in her uterus in addition to blocked tubes. He suggested she undergo a myomectomy to remove the fibroids and he would also try to open her blocked fallopian tubes at the same time. He successfully removed the fibroids, but he couldn’t open her tubes.

Nicole then tried three IVFs, all of which were unsuccessful or ended in miscarriage. Afterward, she heard about our clinic on an infertility chat site and decided to attend. After treatment, her HSG test showed her fallopian tubes were clear!

However, Nicole’s doctor encouraged her to undergo IVF. Nicole, concerned about her biological clock, she chose to undergo the procedure and told us, “At nine weeks, I discovered I had twins, but one passed away early in the pregnancy.” Nicole later gave birth to her baby girl, Joy.

Everyone was later surprised when Nicole became unexpectedly pregnant after the birth of Joy. Nicole exclaimed, “We didn’t try anything and we got pregnant!” Nicole’s tubes had indeed opened and she later gave birth to a little boy.

If you would like to read more about treatment for blocked fallopian tubes, please visit our blocked tubes page. Nicole’s story, along with the stories of 75 former patients, will be showcased in our upcoming book, Miracle Moms, Better Sex, Less Pain.

By Jackie

When a woman receives the devastating news that both of her fallopian tubes are blocked, there is only one option that Western Medicine can offer – surgery. But depending on the location and type of blockage, surgery may not be appropriate. If a blockage is near the fimbria, surgery has a low success rate and many surgeons fear that they may damage the delicate fimbria.

CPT offers an effective treatment for women who find themselves in this predicament. I recently spoke with a former CPT patient, Tina, who was diagnosed with blocked fallopian tubes. Her doctor told her, “I would not advise surgery to open your tubes. Sometimes this type of surgery is not useful, and in your case, I recommend you move straight to IVF.” Tina tried IVF, but it was unfortunately unsuccessful. She then sought our help to see if we could unblock her tubes. After twenty hours of treatment, Tina returned for a follow-up HSG and learned that her right tube was completely open and her left tube was half open.

Tina’s story is not uncommon at CPT. Research shows that CPT has a 61% success rate for opening blocked fallopian tubes. Tina’s full story, along with 75 CPT patient stories, will be featured in our upcoming book, Miracle Moms, Better Sex, Less Pain. If you would like to read other patient stories before the book is published, please sign-up for our newsletter.

GAINESVILLE, Florida, February 18, 2008/PRNewswire/ — A study published in Alternative Therapies In Health and Medicine (Feb, 2008) reports that blocked fallopian tubes can be opened without surgery, enabling infertile women to become pregnant naturally.

Authors of the study “Treating Fallopian Tube Occlusion with a Manual Pelvic Physical Therapy,” became curious after a pilot study published in Fertility and Sterility (9/06) showed the treatment returned fertility in women with blocked and swollen tubes.

The non-invasive treatment developed by Clear Passage Therapies® (CPT) involves a unique protocol of manual physical therapy techniques that can be completed at any CPT clinic in one week.

According to the study, CPT’s non-surgical treatment opened tubes in 61% of women with totally blocked fallopian tubes. Without the treatment their chances for pregnancy would have been available only through surgery or in-vitro fertilization (IVF). Of the successful participants, 53% conceived naturally after the non-surgical treatment.

“I was amazed after therapy to learn my only tube was open, and I became pregnant naturally,” said Jennifer Kennedy, a CPT patient. Before therapy, one of her tubes had been removed during emergency surgery, and her remaining tube was totally blocked and swollen. “We wanted a family, but I wanted to avoid more surgery if possible, so I tried CPT. Since therapy, we have since been blessed with three beautiful children – naturally,” said Kennedy.

According to research gynecologist and former Chief of Staff of North Florida Regional Medical Center, Richard King, M.D., “This therapy has shown remarkable results in several areas and is a natural adjunct to gynecologic care.”

Larry Wurn, Clinical Research Director, founded CPT with his wife, Belinda, a physical therapist of 30 years. In 1987, Belinda developed chronic pain after surgery for pelvic cancer. The work they developed relieved her pain. When they used it on patients, women who were diagnosed infertile began having babies naturally.

A surprising side-effect of the work was increased orgasms. Many women reported improved sexual function including increased desire and orgasm, and less intercourse pain after receiving the therapy, according to two other published medical citations (Fertility & Sterility, Medscape General Medicine).

“These initial results are very encouraging,” said the Wurns. “Many physicians are impressed that a non-surgical therapy (Wurn Technique™) can be effective treating pain or infertility.”

For interviews with physicians, therapists, or patients, contact Larry Wurn 352 336-1433 or cptherapy(at) aol.com

New Orleans, LA., November 2, 2006/PRNewswire/ — Scientists at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) reported that therapists were able to open totally blocked fallopian tubes using a new pelvic physical therapy that feels similar to a deep massage. Previously, surgery was the only treatment option for women with blocked fallopian tubes.

The manual treatment (Wurn Technique®) opened blocked fallopian tubes in several women, some of whom conceived naturally after the therapy, according to the study abstract published in Fertility and Sterility (9/2006).

The abstract examined eight women with totally blocked fallopian tubes. One patient had only one tube and it was blocked, but had a natural pregnancy and childbirth after receiving the therapy. Half of the women had at least one tube opened by the therapy; half of those became pregnant naturally and gave birth.

The study cases were further complicated by a condition known as hydrosalpinx. Not only were the tubes blocked, but they were filled with a liquid that is considered toxic to embryos.

“Hydrosalpinx is generally thought to render a fallopian tube useless and may decrease the chance for successful in vitro fertilization (IVF),” said co-author Mark Kan, MD, reproductive endocrinologist at the Newport Fertility Center in Newport Beach, CA. “The therapy opened several affected tubes, and apparently returned function to some of them.”

“While this study was small, the results are clear,” said physical therapist Belinda Wurn who developed the technique with her husband, massage therapist Larry Wurn. “A diagnostic test clearly shows whether either tube has opened. The full term pregnancies indicate a return of function.”

Research gynecologist and former Chief of Staff at North Florida Regional Medical Center, Richard King, MD, called the results remarkable. “The therapy is a natural adjunct to gynecologic care,” King says.

The therapists began developing the technique in 1987 to treat author Belinda Wurn’s pelvic pain after cancer and surgery. It is now used to treat female infertility, endometriosis pain and female sexual dysfunction (including painful intercourse). The therapy is available at Clear Passage Therapies® clinics throughout the United States.

Media contact: Larry Wurn 352-336-1433 or cptherapy(at)aol.com