For Radiant Health

Welcome to Los Angeles Acupuncture and Wellness! 

Offering Acupuncture, Chinese Herbal Medicine and alternative health services to the Los Angeles area.  Laurel Binder uses Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and her background in Western medicine to provide the highest standard of health enhancement.

HOME

SERVICES - TREATMENTS

WHAT IS ACUPUNCTURE?

ABOUT THE ACUPUNCTURIST

TESTIMONIALS

MEDIA

FERTILITY - INFERTILITY ISSUES

FAQ

Newsletter Signup

appointment deposit

CONTACT

Here is the ultrasound photo from 11 weeks at the CVS.  We just got the results back and everything turned out normal!!!!  So far we are passing all of our milestones with flying colors.  Now that I'm nearly out of the first trimester I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for all of your help during this process.  Being an older mother (39) with a high FSH (18) I was beginning to think my chances of conceiving a child were slim.  But with your expert care and guidance with nutrition, herbs and acupuncture, I fully believe that together we lowered my FSH to 11 which enabled me to get pregnant.  I also really appreciate your willingness to assist when we decided to go with Clomid and and an IUI.  I'm positive that the course of herbs and acupuncture for that cycle helped it become successful.  I still can't believe we were successful with our first IUI.  Again, thank you for everything and especially for your calming manner during my times of stress and frustration.  Acupuncture is definitely the way to go when Western medicine doesn't provide much hope.

All the best, Deb, West Los Angeles

When you are going through infertility, you will try just about anything to get pregnant. Although, I was hesitant and skeptical about acupuncture, I still wanted to give it a shot. So, I started seeing Laurie in March of 2007. From the moment you walk into her office, you feel such a sense of peace and calmness. And that is brought on even more so with her soothing voice and gentle, kind ways. She gives an outpouring of positive support to each and every person.

The actual acupuncture, itself, is not painful at all. She is a master at placing the needles and never allows you to feel pain. After about 30 minutes of blissful napping, I walk out of there on a cloud -- so relaxed and carefree.

It was within two short months that she had me ovulating on my own. We soon turned to IVF because of severe male factor issues. It was our first time going through in vitro fertilization (IVF), so needless to say, there was a certain amount of apprehension. However, this is one of Laurie's specialties -- a particular acupuncture protocol during the various phases of IVF.  

It was a picture-perfect IVF phase. I am now nearly 6 weeks pregnant. I whole-heartedly believe if it wasn't for Laurie and the acupuncture, there is no way the IVF treatment would have gone as smooth or flawless. I will continue to see her through the term of my pregnancy and beyond! She has become my 'security blanket' and I can't imagine going through 9 months of pregnancy without her. 

There just aren't enough words in the dictionary to express my gratitude to this woman and her practice. She is truly an angel and I am so blessed that I found her! I highly recommend Laurie Binder to anyone!

Liz

South Bay

Dear Laurie,

As promised, I just wanted to let you know that announcements to family and friends are going well. People are pleasantly surprised that there is only 4 months more to go until delivery, but we wanted to make sure we had the amniocentesis results before telling everyone. My mother is especially excited - although if she asks me how I am feeling one more time, I am going to stop calling her...

I can't thank you enough for all of your help in getting me to this stage. As you know, we had been trying to conceive for almost two years and had two blighted ovum miscarriages before I came to you for treatment in January 2007. Before finding your practice, I had visited two acupuncture/oriental medicine practitioners, one for seven months, and another for four months. Both had been highly recommended to me by others. During that time, I brewed shopping bags-worth of herbs, took herbal capsules, had acupuncture treatments to stimulate ovulation, etc. However, despite all the treatments and expenses, I never felt any noticeable difference in my health.

All that changed when I came to you just after my second miscarriage. At first, I was attracted to your professional background as a nurse practitioner in a fertility clinic and that you were so knowledgeable about all the Western medical treatments that women with fertility issues experience. Your calming and reassuring bedside manner put me at ease immediately. I was especially pleased that you decided to focus on normalizing the chi imbalances and my liver and kidney deficiencies through dietary adjustments and acupuncture, rather than starting herbs right away. I had been somewhat uncomfortable that the other practitioners had pushed the herbal supplements so hard - it seemed like they were trying to increase revenue stream...

To my amazement, within 4 treatments and just 2 weeks, I noticed tremendous improvements in my overall health. My energy level increased greatly, and my cycle - which were somewhat irregular and always very long (43 - 50 days apart), shortened to around 33 - 35 days. I also began a new cycle of Clomid (my second, at a higher dosage), and experienced none of the side-effects that I had the first time around at half the dosage.

In less than 2 months of treatment with you, I became pregnant again. This time, under your guidance, the pregnancy is passing its milestones with flying colors. You provided stabilizing treatments when I experienced spotting and later underwent amniocentesis, but most importantly, you provided positive affirmations and calming words to soothe my anxieties. Coming to your office was more like a Zen-spa treatment, rather than a medical experience. I catch the best naps in your office!

Although you know that I can't completely relax (I'm trying!) until the baby is safely delivered (then it will be a whole different set of worries), I am hopeful, optimistic and excited about this pregnancy. I firmly believe that the journey and outcome would not have been as positive if I had not found you, and from the bottom of my heart, I thank you.

When we are ready to try for the next baby, I will be sure to visit you, my earthly guardian angel, again - to put me in the best of physical and mental health for success.

In the mean time, I will send you periodic updates on my progress...

With love,  GT

After almost 3 years of "unexplained" infertility accompanied by a slew of eastern and western medical tactics, I was at the end of my rope.  I had just completed the first part of an IVF cycle, with 7 eggs retrieved, only to hear days later that none of the eggs fertilized with poor egg quality cited as the reason for this.  I was 33 at the time.  My husband and I had pre-paid for 2 IVF cycles, so we hoped that a change of meds and ICSI would provide better results the 2nd time around.  Meanwhile, I was emotionally devastated, but knew I wanted to take charge of what we knew would be our last big guns fertility treatment.  Here's where the story takes a turn for the better.  I came across Laurie's Web Site and requested a consultation.  Well.  Laurie was everything I had been looking for in an acupuncturist and in the hopes of best complimenting the Western treatment I would continue to undergo.  Her acupuncture, like her exam rooms, were thoughtful examples of her ability to relax and rejuvenate.  She is a fantastic communicator, finally giving me a full Eastern exam and diagnosis as well as a detailed dietary plan of action that I could really work with.  My RE recommended I try "fertility blend" and Laurie took this and any other medication into consideration and prescribed (without pushing!) herbs that I would take during the time off period prior to our next IVF, which spanned several months.  By the time I began our next IVF, I felt like a different person and I know I owe a great deal of that to Laurie.  The results were remarkable.  I had always been a not-so-great/poor responder when it came to stims, this time around I produced 17 eggs and, I guess it was a numbers game because we were able to transfer 3 embies (an 8A, a 6A and a 6B).  And tomorrow I will be 22 weeks pregnant, amazing.  I cannot recommend Laurie strongly enough, she is, simply put, a Godsend. 

Teresa

Studio City

To Whom it May Concern,

I feel so very fortunate to have met Laurie and been treated by her. I often think back to the first time I stepped into Laurie's office. After months of uncertainty and many of my concerns having gone unanswered by my doctors, I was feeling dejected, frustrated and very anxious. It was so lovely to meet Laurie and to feel listened to. I immediately felt at ease and her calm, confident manner was very healing. With Laurie, I was met with warmth, a sympathetic ear and a reassuring confidence that I would be able to conceive through the help of acupuncture, diet and exercise. I found the course of treatment to be healing on so many different levels. To my great surprise and delight, I found out I was expecting only a couple of months into the treatment. I am now thoroughly enjoying motherhood and often think of Laurie. I am so very grateful to her.
Fondly, N

Encino

I stumbled upon Laurie after several doctors told me fertility may be my only route to getting pregnant due to PCOS.  My husband and I decided to take an alternate route before starting fertility drugs, which is when I had my first consultation with Laurie.  Over the 8 months that I saw Laurie, my awareness of so many things grew, and I felt connected to my body like I never had before.  She also provided much needed support during a very emotional time.  With Laurie's help, I became the healthiest I've ever been.  Shortly there after, my husband and I received the wonderful news that we were pregnant.  We're now 20 weeks along with a very healthy baby and couldn't be more grateful for Laurie's support. 

I first was a patient of Laurie Binder's because I was going through infertility treatments and my body felt out of balance due to the fertility drugs that I was taking.  We were getting ready to do a second try of IVF (in vitro fertilization).  Laurie was recommend to me and I started treatments twice a week.  As the treatments with Laurie progressed my IVF doctor could not believe the progress I was making with the drugs.  He was truly amazed at how strong and improved my physical state was as opposed to before when I was not under going the Acupuncture treatments by Laurie Binder.  I got pregnant and now have a baby boy!  After the birth I was very sore and emotionally all over the place.  Again, Laurie treated me and I felt my body respond and heal.  I am not exaggerating but in one day after the first treatment I felt my swelling go down and my emotional state became calmer.    I am amazed at Laurie's intuitive talents and her skills as a acupuncturist.   I believe that the healthy birth of my son and my fast recovery after the birth was 100 percent helped and improved by the treatments of  Dr. Laurie Binder.

Regina

Santa Monica

"I first started seeing Laurie Binder for infertility treatment.  My husband and I had many tests done and the doctors didn't find anything wrong with either one of us.  They suggested we start with injectable fertility drugs and intrauterine insemination (IUI).  We agreed that we would like to try IUI but were not ready to start with the fertility drugs due to the side effects.  We decided to do a "natural" IUI cycle and try acupuncture as well.  To our surprise (and our doctors as well) we got pregnant the first cycle after I started acupuncture.  I was seeing Laurie 2 days per week.  In addition to achieving pregnancy after 16 months of infertility, I also had more energy and felt better than I had in a long time.  I look forward to going back for more treatment after our baby is born.  Laurie is great!  Her mix of western and eastern medicine is priceless!!"

Julie
Gardena

My husband and I were struggling with fertility issues for almost a year when I started seeing Laurie.  My hormone levels were out of balance, resulting in my ovaries responding poorly to hormonal signals.  Within months of beginning treatment with Laurie, my hormone levels were completely normal.  After a few more months of continued treatment, we got pregnant and are expecting our baby in January.   

I visited Laurie for help getting pregnant, and after just three appointments I learned that I'd conceived!  I loved Laurie's calm and warm demeanor, and felt very confident in her command of both Eastern and Western medicine. I will definitely see her for treatment of any health issues I might face in the future.

Thanks so much Laurie!

Celeste
West Hollywood

My husband I had no trouble conceiving our first child, so we waited a few years to try for a second child.  After a year of trying without success we consulted doctors who advised that without extensive fertility treatments the odds of another child were slim at age 41. Luckily we found Laurie Binder.  Laurie's approach to rebalancing my system with acupuncture and herbs made all the difference. Within weeks of treatment, I had more energy and felt better than I had since having my first child.  After only two and one half months of weekly treatment we conceived naturally.   My second pregnancy was very easy, and we now have another beautiful daughter (Thank you Laurie!)

My husband and I tried for over four years to conceive.  Our doctor had prescribed three treatments of Clomid to help regulate our ovulation cycle.  With our last month of Clomid looming and the prospect of IVF on our horizon I contacted Laurie to see if she could also assist with acupuncture treatments.
Laurie’s incredible warmth and her ability to listen to her patient’s needs truly enabled a very calming approach to an area of medicine that I had not experienced before.
Within six consecutive treatments, sometimes twice a week during my Clomid cycle, my husband and I found out we were pregnant!
I believe my healing with Laurie was not only with our dilemma of not being able to conceive but also my soul benefited immensely from her treatments.
We are now waiting patiently for our little one to arrive into the world!

Aliza
Venice

Dr. Binder,

I first went to Laurie after 6 months of trying to get pregnant.  My doctor had recently diagnosed me as having PCOS.  Imagine my relief when Laurie, due to her previous Western medicine training, knew exactly what that meant without any need for me to translate.  We quickly got to work and she treated me holistically, from the needles (not as scary as I thought they would be) to my diet to reassuring conversations.  She helped me  through this challenging time both physically and emotionally.  She told me it would take 6-12 months for me to be balanced and my body to be ready.  My fertility doctor told me my only option was in-vitro.  Imagine our delight when I got pregnant naturally, no clomid, no in vitro, nothing, about 8 months after I started seeing Laurie. 

After two fruitless years trying to conceive, a friend recommended we try acupuncture. We found Laurie Binder's practice and decided to give it a try. My husband and I both had treatments for about a year. At the same time, we started working with a fertility specialist. We were amazed to see my husband's sperm count & motility improve significantly after a few months of acupuncture. Laurie's attitude is very open; we really like that she appreciates and encourages both Eastern and Western methods.

I started acupuncture sessions with Laurie shortly before undergoing an IVF cycle in the hopes it would increase our chances of success. I am happy to say the IVF worked first time and I am very confident that the acupuncture sessions I had with Laurie before and after egg retrieval and transfer played a large part in our success. I continued to see Laurie weekly throughout my pregnancy, working on several factors from holding and calming points to treatment for back and rib pain. Her knowledge of pregnancy related ailments and their treatment using acupuncture really helped me stay active during my pregnancy. Later in my pregnancy we discussed acupressure for pain relief and more effective labor. I used Laurie's DVD 'Acupressure and Breathing for Childbirth' during my labor and had all the nurses surprised that I was in very little pain even though the monitor was showing strong contractions! The great thing about the DVD is that it is very calming, easy to follow and gave me something visual to focus on while copying the breathing techniques and it allowed my husband to be involved in the labor process by following the DVD and finding the correct pressure points on me that he could press to help with pain relief and help get the baby moving downwards. He was also very happy to be doing something useful during this time! I am so glad I had the opportunity to use this DVD and I would highly recommend it to anyone preparing to give birth whether naturally or medicated. It really is an invaluable tool and I will definitely use it again when we have baby no. 2! I cannot recommend Laurie highly enough. She is wonderful! Thank you Laurie!

Joanna D
Venice, CA

Hi Laurie,

I'm a former patient of yours (Feb - April) and I just wanted to let you know that we are expecting! I found out the day after I cancelled my last appt with you (4/17). I just wanted to wait until I was nearing the end of my first trimester before saying anything to anyone. I had a scare around 6 weeks with some bleeding that landed me on bed rest for 2 weeks, but my doctor says that everything has resolved and that the baby looks great. Thank you so much for all that you did to get my PCOS symptoms under control and to help prepare my body for this baby. I really can't thank you enough. You are truly a gifted healer!

All the best,
Kellee

Subject: Pregnant!
Laurie, I'm so thrilled to tell you that the Doctor called this afternoon to tell me that my beta HCG is 68!!! I'll go back for another test on Monday. Thank you so much for everything!! Let me know when you think it might be helpful to have another treatment!!!! I still can't believe it!!!!

Best,
Sara

Laurie is an incredible acupuncturist and person. She helped me at every stage of my pregnancy from getting pregnant quickly (after just two appointments), to managing anxiety throughout the pregnancy and finally at the end, when I was going to be induced, I saw her a few days before the induction and the acupuncture points helped induce my labor very quickly once I got started at the hospital. She is warm, helpful, educated in both eastern and western medicine and extremely compassionate, especially in the areas of fertility and pregnancy. I highly recommend her to any woman who is trying to get pregnant or who wants extra support during pregnancy. She is wonderful!

Alexis

Having tried two other acupuncturists in my attempts to get pregnant after a miscarriage, I had just about given up on acupuncture before I stumbled across Laurie Binder. She is an amazing acupuncturist and human being. While my previous acupuncturists had left me bruised around 50% of the time, Laurie never bruised me once. She is approachable, kind, supportive, extremely knowledgeable, and instantly puts you at ease. I always looked forward to my appointments, to which I happily drove 30 miles each way. Her office has such a calming energy, and even during the most stressful times I managed to fall asleep during the treatments. I absolutely credit her with helping me get pregnant and stay pregnant with my twin boy and girl. I cannot thank her enough.
--Nicole

I saw Laurie Binder for two reasons: digestive issues and fertility. I was 40 and we wanted to get pregnant for the first time. (I had also had breast cancer at 35 and had 8 rounds of chemo back then; but luckily I was still ovulating after treatment!)

She 'balanced' and strengthened my chi for the digestive issues with acupuncture and herbs and pretty soon, those problems were gone.
She then worked on helping to get me pregnant...(I was not on any other fertility treatments and did not have any plans to). She said we should give it about 6 months. Sure enough, at 6 months I was pregnant. Unfortunately, we miscarried at 8 weeks. But I continued to see her for treatment and we did get pregnant again and now have a healthy baby boy (born March 6, 2012). In addition to herbs and a recommended diet, I truly believe Laurie's acupuncture helped!!!

Once we were close to delivery, she recommended her Acupressure and Breathing for Childbirth DVD for use during the day of delivery. I have to say, it really helped lessen the pain of the contractions (esp the sacrum points!). I went to 6cm without an epidural (the anesthesiologist thought it was pretty impressive that I made it to 6cm w/out any drugs). My husband did a great job in administering the acupressure and I really believe it was effective to ease the pain.

I whole heartedly recommend Laurie Binder for any acupuncture treatment and her acupressure instructional DVD. Aside from the benefits of acupuncture, she is very knowledgeable, compassionate, has excellent bedside manners and a real positive outlook on life. She made our whole baby-making experience a lot less stressful!

-Gina J. Lee-Lua

many more testimonials here...

privacy policy - terms of service

Copyright © 2010, Laurie Binder

Los Angeles Acupuncture and Wellness