By Jackie

Women who experience infertility are commonly scheduled for a hysterosalpinogram (HSG) to see if their fallopian tubes are open and functioning properly. What many women don’t know is that the procedure itself can help a woman become pregnant.

A mucous plug blocking the fallopian tube

Sometimes, a fallopian tube fills with a small amount of mucous. This mucous can form after infections, inflammation, or similar events. If the mucous forms together in one spot, it can block the tube (a mucous plug) and prevent an egg and sperm from meeting.

During an HSG, a thin catheter is inserted through the cervix and into the uterus, where radioactive dye is injected into the fallopian tubes. The force of the dye can push any existing mucous out of the tube. If the mucous was completing blocking the tube before, the woman is now able to become pregnant.

HSG Procedure

A mucous plug should not be confused with hydrosalpinx or tubal occlusion. Hydrosalpinx occurs when the tube fills with toxic fluid and remains trapped, despite an HSG. A tubal occlusion occurs when a tube is completely blocked, usually due to adhesions.

At CPT, we treat both hydrosalpinx and blocked fallopian tubes. We frequently recommend that our patients with blocked fallopian tubes or hydrosalpinx schedule a follow-up HSG after treatment with us. The HSG not only allows women to visualize the effects of treatment, but it may also push-out any remaining mucous in the tube after treatment.

To learn more about our treatment for these conditions, please visit our hydrosalpinx page and blocked fallopian tube page.

By Jackie

Each month, an egg grows in a tiny fluid-filled sac that bursts open during ovulation to release an egg. Sometimes, the sac doesn’t break open and continues to fill with fluid, forming a functional cyst (the most common type of cyst). A functional cyst generally goes away after one to three months, but if it doesn’t, a doctor made need to surgically remove the cyst. A doctor may also choose to operate if the cyst is painful, large, continues to grow, or is present with several other cysts.

Cysts can be removed through laparoscopic surgery or through laparotomy (open surgery), both of which can preserve a woman’s fertility. However, adhesions can form as a direct result of surgery. Adhesions are tiny strands of collagen that form after any injury to the body. Collagen rushes to the site to contain the area and help it heal. As the collagen builds, it forms an adhesion that remains throughout life. Adhesions that form near the ovaries or fallopian tubes can constrict these structures, causing multiple complications and infertility (please see adhesions and infertility). Thus, the surgery to remove ovarian cysts can cause a woman to experience infertility.

However, women who elect to not undergo surgery or whose cysts go away, may still experience infertility due to adhesions that formed as a response to the inflammation caused by the ovarian cyst.

At CPT, we specialize in reducing and breaking-apart adhesions with manual physical therapy techniques. We have been able to help numerous women become pregnant after years of infertility, previous surgeries, ovarian cysts, endometriosis, and other conditions.

One such patient was Jacqueline, who came to us for treatment after two surgeries to remove ovarian cysts. During her first surgery at age 22, her doctor removed 10% of one ovary and 60% of the other due to complex cysts. When Jacqueline and her husband later tried to conceive, they were dismayed to find they couldn’t become pregnant.

One year later, Jacqueline began experiencing severe pain in her abdomen. She went to the hospital and was rushed to emergency surgery to remove a peritoneal cyst. After the surgery, her surgeon told her, “We were able to remove the cyst, but your ovaries and fallopian tubes were buried by adhesions.”

After this startling diagnosis, Jacqueline searched for alternative treatments and found our clinic. We began treating her with our 20 hour treatment protocol, but she had to leave before treatment was finished due to a family emergency.

Before she returned to our clinic, she completed a few tests with her doctor. She had an ultrasound and learned that she no longer had any visible adhesions since our treatment. Her second test, an HSG, showed that her tubes were blocked with liquid (hydrosalpinx).

When Jacqueline returned for treatment, our therapists focused on her fallopian tubes. Afterward, Jacqueline finally became naturally pregnant and later gave birth to a full-term baby.

To learn more about our treatment for adhesions and infertility, please visit our female infertility page.

By Jackie

In the past, a fallopian tube swollen and filled with liquid (a hydrosalpinx) was considered beyond repair and non-functional. In fact, many reproductive endocrinologist still feel the best way to treat a hydrosalpinx is to remove the tube and proceed with IVF.

Belinda and Larry Wurn opened Clear Passage Therapies when they discovered their manual physical therapy could open blocked fallopian tubes. What they didn’t know at the time was that their therapy could also treat a hydrosalpinx.

After a few patients with hydrosalpinx came for treatment and their tubes unexpectedly opened afterward, the Wurns began treating hydrosalpinx regularly. Scientific studies and data have shown that their treatment resolves 50% of hydrosalpinx cases.

One such instance was that of Gabriel. After adhesions had formed around her right fallopian tube from an earlier nephrectomy (removal of a kidney), doctors removed the tube. Gabriel later learned that her left tube was blocked with hydrosalpinx. Her doctor advised her to have the tube surgically removed and then proceed with IVF. Gabriel decided to wait and consider her options.

During this time, she came across the CPT website and decided to come to our clinic for an intensive week of therapy. The next month, Gabriel became naturally pregnant. She told us, “Our pregnancy was beautiful. I just loved being pregnant. The delivery was magical and more tears of joy flowed.”

Gabriel’s full story, along with the stories of 75 former CPT patients, will be featured in our upcoming book Miracle Moms, Better Sex, Less Pain. Please visit our hydrosalpinx page if you would like to learn more about our treatment for hydrosalpinx.

By Jackie

CPT was formed when Belinda and Larry Wurn discovered they could open blocked fallopian tubes, thus ensuring a “clear passage” for egg and sperm to meet. In the upcoming book, Miracle Moms, Better Sex, Less Pain, Belinda and Larry Wurn, along with Dr. Richard King, chronicle how they developed a manual physical therapy treatment protocol that can decrease pain, improve sexual function, and improve fertility in multiple ways.

An entire chapter of the book is devoted to blocked fallopian tubes. The chapter begins with the Wurn’s exciting discovery that their technique for chronic pain could open blocked fallopian tube. Belinda and Larry Wurn discuss the different patients who unexpectedly became pregnant and their subsequent decision to open a clinic devoted to helping women become pregnant.

The chapter dives into the different causes of blocked fallopian tubes and explains the role of adhesions. They also discuss other conditions closely related to blocked tubes, such as hydrosalpinx and ectopic pregnancies.

It was my job to help gather patient stories for this chapter, and let me assure you, there was no short supply! There are so many women who have had success at CPT with blocked fallopian tubes, hydrosalpinx, and ectopic pregnancies that we couldn’t include even close to half! Over 15 women share their personal journeys with infertility, blocked fallopian tubes, treatment at CPT, and ultimate success in the chapter.

If you would like to read sneak previews of these and other women’s stories, sign-up for our newsletter. Please also feel free to visit our book page, Miracle Moms, Better Sex, Less Pain, and discover the other interesting topics addressed in the book.

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