Women’s Health

Menopause

Menopause is the permanent end of menstruation and fertility 12 months after a women’s last menstrual period.

This is a natural biological process, not a medical illness. This means that a healthy woman can and should be able to go through this natural biological process without the symptoms often associated with menopause.

The physical and emotional symptoms of menopause can disrupt sleep, sap energy and at least indirectly trigger feelings of sadness and loss.

Chinese medicine has been treating menopause for 2,000 years. The patient can expect the main symptoms of night sweats and hot flashes to be gone fairly quickly.

The emotional upset that can go with menopause is treated effectively with Chinese Herbal Medicine. In short, women suffering from menopause can expect an improvement in their symptoms using Chinese Medicine.

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is the name given to a range of symptoms that occur around 5 to 11 days before a woman’s period.

Several methods have been developed for increasing blood flow and reducing emotional volatilities leading up to the menstrual period.

Encouraging better circulation through the hepatic artery, which delivers 70% of the blood to the liver, can be very helpful. The Chinese discovered almost 2,500 years ago that emotional upset, in relation to PMS, is a result of poor blood circulation through the liver.

Over the centuries, the Chinese developed several methods for increasing blood flow to and through this organ. Once the liver is functioning properly, the emotional ups and downs are greatly reduced.

Fibromyalgia

Many women are suffering from this, which has no known cure in Western Medicine. Fibromyalgia is the name given to an undiagnosed, inflammatory condition in the body. Clinically, I treat this problem each month with good results.

In Chinese medicine, I have seen two common causes for fibromyalgia. The first is poor blood circulation, almost always due to obesity. For every extra 10 pounds we have, the diameter of our blood vessels are cut in half.

If the patient is overweight, then there is a lack of nutrient and oxygen circulation to all the major muscle groups of the body and the sensory nerves that surround them. The result is constant, chronic pain.

Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine are successful in vasodilating the major blood vessels of the body, thereby providing more oxygen and nutrients to the malnourished muscle groups. The result is a dramatic reduction of pain over a short period of time.

The second reason is also malnourishment, but from a different cause. Some fibromyalgia sufferers are anemic or borderline anemic. The anemia is a plasma anemia which Western Medicine fails to acknowledge.

This type of patient is thin, frail, has dry skin, has poor sleep well, and is usually anxious, jumpy and has a lot of pain, especially in the upper body. Chinese Herbal Medicine seeks to restore the fluid deficiency in the blood and body. The result is a sustainable reduction of pain and inflammation in the body, and the restoration of vitality.

Menstrual Disorders

Among the common complaints that I treat daily are menstrual disorders. Whether the problem is amenorrhea (no period), excess bleeding, or pain and cramping during menses, these are all problems remedied with Chinese herbal medicine.

Pain at period time is almost always due to vessel blockage in the lower abdomen. This can be caused by vaso-spasms in the vessels of the lower abdomen, excessive cold in the in the low abdomen, fibroid cysts, or a disease known as endometriosis. All of these are usually improved through a series of acupuncture visits and the use of Chinese herbal medicine.

Post-partum Depression

Childbirth is by far the largest strain on the human body for most women. The loss of blood and fluid at childbirth combined with sleep deprivation during the first year of the child’s life leaves many women tired, anxious and depressed. Western Medicine usually uses iron supplements if there is anemia, counseling, and hormone replacement, along with anti-depressants or serotonin re-uptake drugs.

Chinese Medicine takes a different approach. One of the gifts that Chinese Medicine gave the world is the knowledge and use of what are known as tonic herbs, such as ginseng, astragalus and many more. With this class of herbs a well-trained Chinese herbalist rebuilds the strength of a woman suffering postpartum depression. The results are usually better than the Western approach and help restore the patient to their former level of vitality, prior to becoming pregnant.