A study that is not completely proven yet shows that relatively inexpensive and simple treatment of acupuncture might ultimately prove to be a useful add-on to traditional methods.

In, acupuncture they place very thin needles at specific points on the body surface mainly to control pain and reduce stress. In fertility treatment, however some say that the acupuncture can increase blood flow to the uterus, relax the cervix and inhibit “fight or flight” stress hormones that can make it tougher for an embryo to implant.

“It is being taken more seriously across our specialty,” and more doctors are training in it, said Dr. William Gibbons, who runs a fertility clinic in Baton Rouge, and is past president of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology. “I have not seen proof … but we wouldn’t mind at all” if it turned out to work, he said.

The analysis was led by Eric Manheimer, a researcher at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and paid for by a federal agency, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Results were published Friday in the British medical journal, BMJ.