Treated with Chinese Medicine

The gynecological conditions that I most often deal with revolve around menstruation, some sort of mass (i.e. fibroid or cyst), or conditions like endometriosis. Menopausal syndromes are also commonly seen and discussed in a separate section.

Menstruation / Menstrual Disorders:

Regulating a woman’s menstruation and having a symptom free experience (i.e. PMS), is a fundamental goal of Chinese Medicine. Even if a woman’s chief complaint is not menstrual related, there is a basic idea that once the menses are regular other symptoms will disappear. This is due to the same imbalances that cause common problems like insomnia, weight gain, headaches, digestive complaints etc, many times will also cause menstrual irregularities. The menses are a window into the patterns of disharmony of the whole body. Therefore I always strive to obtain “normal” menstrual cycles. Common complaints that revolve around the  menses are:

• Menstrual pain (pre, during, and after)
• Abnormal Bleeding – This can be during, either too light or heavy, or also during the time when there should be no bleeding (mid-cycle).
• Irregular length – This can manifest as the actual bleeding time being too short or too long, or more commonly the time in-between the cycles is either too short, too long, or alternates between the two.

All three of these issues are regularly successfully dealt with in my clinic. When such abnormalities due clear up it is exciting to also see many other chronic symptoms also disappear (See Figure 1).

Masses:

Fibroids and cysts are also quite common in our population and cause symptoms ranging from severe pain to break through bleeding and even infertility. Since infertility is a common condition seen, such issues are regularly resolved for healthy conception. Even if not wanting to conceive, shrinking a mass, as you may imagine, is only a good thing. The chance of success in dealing with a fibroid is directly proportional to its size. The larger the mass the harder and more time it takes to shrink it. Nonetheless, Chinese medicine offers an incredibly effective alternative to modern Western approach of surgery. As mentioned above in regard to menstruation, treating the pattern that has caused the mass in the first place, brings the added benefit of dealing with a pattern that may be causing other problems. Even though I have successfully shrunk down masses to a point where there were barely detectable, and the accompanied symptoms have been eliminated (i.e. bleeding), writing this brings to mind a patient that I just start working with. I started working with her two months ago. We have expected that with the size of her mass it will take around 6 months for a notable change. Therefore we plan for another ultrasound at that point in time. In the meantime, she just recently came in and reported a noticeable increase in her mood (more positive, less snappy, and just generally enjoying life more), she is sleeping better and less pain with menstruation. This in my experience is quite common, because as mentioned above, the body is related and multiple symptoms will be caused by a common imbalance (See figure 1.)

For a brief blurb on Chinese Medicine and Fibroids (PDF), click here.

Endometriosis:

I have treated quite a few women that have suffered from endometriosis. I have seen very good and relatively quick results for this condition. Many times woman come in, in conjunction with wanting help with infertility. Chinese medicine it quite successful at not only eliminating the symptoms that accompany endometriosis, but dealing with the root imbalance that is causing the endometriosis. Fundamentally endometriosis, as with fibroids or cysts, is caused from some sort of stagnation in the body. This cause can be from emotions, diet, lifestyle, or some genetic metabolic or organ weakness / dysfunction. It usually has been going on for some time and although it takes time reverse this progression, notable symptom relief can be seen quickly. Once the body starts reversing this process, woman will become for fertile, and have less symptoms. Most importantly they can avoid some of the more aggressive Western therapies that can many times cause more problems down the road, as well as not take care of the root imbalance that has caused the problem in the first place.

Infertility:

This is one of the most exciting conditions to work with, and only because the end result is so rewarding. I have worked with numerous women that either are working with Western Medicine (i.e. IVF, implantation, etc.) as well as women that desire no Western medicine intervention, or have already tried the Western approach and have had no success. In regard to acupuncture and IVF there is an extensive amount of research showing its effectiveness in increasing conception rates.  As far Chinese medicine’s effective in treating infertility by alone (without Western Medicine), this is not only well researched in China, but there is a long tradition and written history of this in China. I have personally found the immense amount of ancient wisdom extremely useful in aiding couples to conceive.

Testimonial #1 – Female Infertility

The above categories are definitely the most common gynecological complaints that I see. Although there are many others that Chinese medicine can treat successfully. If you are suffering from something else, please feel free to email me and I will let you know how successful Chinese medicine has been in my experience.