Oriental Medicine and Women�s Health Issues
by Ellen Leonard, M.Ac., Lic.Ac.

The treatment of disease using herbs and acupuncture needles to adjust the body�s qi is part of a healing art that is many thousands of years old.  Stone needles have recently been found in the tombs of ancient emperors.  Diseases and their treatments were described in detail in Chinese classics that date back nearly 4,000 years; the use of plants as medicinals is ageless.  And the issues and medical problems unique to women are found addressed in medical texts that go back as far the Shang dynasty, (1500-1000 BC).  Everything from menstrual irregularities, problems during pregnancy, issues after childbirth, menopausal syndromes, infertility, abdominal masses, organ problems, and infections have been studied and passed on from teacher to student and through the classics for centuries.  The result is that we now have yet another medical model to use in our quest for healthy bodies and improved quality of life.

So how does it work?  One component of Oriental medicine is that qi is the life force in all living things and that there are different kinds of qi.  For instance, there is Yin qi, which is the qi, or energy, of the lower body, the interior of the body, and certain organs of the body such as the heart, lungs, and kidneys.  And there is Yang qi, the qi of the upper body, the exterior of the body, and the remaining body organs, including the stomach, bladder, and the uterus.  Qi is everywhere in the body, it has several different functions, and when it is weak we experience disease. 

Another component of this approach to medicine is blood and its many roles, and its effects on health when it is deficient or stagnated.  It is believed to be moved through the body by the body�s qi, so if there is qi stagnation there is likely to also be blood stagnation, and where there is stagnation there is pain.  According to Chinese medicine, tumors or fibroids are a result of blood stagnation, which are often painful.  Late periods may also be a result of deficient qi not moving the blood out of the uterus and other organs. 

A third component relevant to this discussion is the Eastern view of the causes of disease.  According to the Oriental medical model, there are eight causes of disease.  They are:

1. Exogenous (Pathogenic) Factors � qi in the natural environment such as wind, cold, damp, heat, or excessive dryness.  Think, for example, of someone you know who got a cold or a stiff neck from sitting in a cold draft.
2. Excessive or Prolonged Emotions � we�ve all heard of people who made themselves sick from grief or got a stomach ache from worrying too much.
3. Diet � aside from the obvious cause and effect of food poisoning, another example might be over consumption of cold, raw food.  Too much can lead to damage of the yang qi of the spleen, which in turn can lead to interior cold and damp because the yang isn�t strong enough to warm and dry the spleen qi.  The result might then be abdominal pain and diarrhea.
4. Overstrain, Stress � this has the effect of consuming the vital energy of the body and eventually weakening the qi that fights disease (antipathogenic qi).
5. Lack of Physical Exercise � this idea doesn�t seem to have changed much over the millennium.  Lack of exercise impairs the circulation of qi and blood, saps the body�s resistance to disease, and can lead to soft bones and tendons, low energy, low appetite or obesity, and shortness of breath on exertion.
6. Traumatic Injury � nothing much new here, either.  Injury can lead to muscle swelling or bleeding.  And as previously mentioned, if there is stagnation of blood (say a bruise), there is also likely to be pain.
7. Insect Bites � ok, we understand that.
8. Stagnant Blood and Phlegm � we already know about stagnant blood.  Phlegm is a thicker version of the clearer healthy body fluids and is caused by the dysfunction of one of the organs or an impairment of its function.  The Oriental medical version of phlegm can accumulate and cause disease not only in the lungs, but on the skin and in the muscles, stomach, and intestines, as well.

Now, there are three main things that lead to disease:  a disharmony between the yin and the yang of the body; a conflict between pathogenic and antipathogenic qi; and an abnormal ascending or descending of the qi of the body.  For the purposes of this discussion, I will focus on only the first cause, the disharmony between yin and yang.  But first, let me define the terms.

Something that is Yin may have qualities of sinking inward, cold, dark, moist.  Yin, or Zang organs such as the heart, lungs, spleen, liver, or kidneys, are thought to manufacture and store essential substances, including blood, qi, and the body fluids. 

Something that is Yang may have the qualities of rising outward, heat, bright, dry.  Yang, or Fu organs such as the gallbladder, stomach, small and large intestines, and bladder, are thought to receive and digest food, transmit, and excrete.  The uterus is considered to be an Extraordinary Fu organ � as well it should be.

Now, back to the yin and yang.  If the disharmony between yin and yang can lead to disease, what can lead to the disharmony?  Invasion of those darned pathogenic factors, for one.  And that invasion can lead to a derangement of the yin and yang in your body�s interior.  The consequent disharmony may then manifest as a heat or cold syndrome, and/or excess or deficient syndrome. 

For example, let�s say you get caught in a rainstorm and get a chill.  You likely will have been invaded by cold and damp which might then damage your internal yang qi.  Since cold and damp are both yin qualities, you may produce symptoms of cold syndromes.  Another example might be someone who works outdoors in hot, dry weather.  The yang qualities of heat and dryness may over power the yin and fluids in the body causing a heat syndrome. 

What else might cause yin and yang disharmony?  Each organ has an emotion and a taste associated with it; the heart is bitter taste and the emotion is joy; spleen is sweet taste and worry; lung is pungent and grief or melancholy; kidney is salty taste and fear or fright; and the liver taste is sour, the emotion is anger.  Too much of any one emotion, or overeating of one kind of flavor may cause an imbalance of that organ�s qi which then affects the qi of the organs associated with it.  Then in typical domino fashion, that organ will over or under act on IT�S associated organ, and on down the line, with different symptoms manifesting for each organ.

So, let�s see how it all goes together.  Let�s say you�re in a time in your life when you�re doing a lot of worrying.  Since worry is the emotion associated with the spleen, excessive worrying can harm the spleen�s qi, and in the Oriental model, the spleen is responsible for holding things up and in place, like blood in the vessels and organs.  And let�s say that when you�re worried, you like to eat ice cream.  Since it is a lot of the sweet flavor, it too can damage the spleen qi.  Worry also has the affect of causing the qi in the body to stagnate, and recall that qi moves the blood, so if qi stagnates, blood may stagnate, as well.  This all might have the affect of causing early periods, because the spleen qi can�t hold the blood in the organs.  Or the stagnate qi and subsequent stagnant blood may cause blood to slow and even stop moving in certain areas, and according to the Chinese classics, tumors and fibroids are nothing more than stagnant blood.

Ok, so now what?  If you happen to be in an acupuncturist�s office, he or she will probably do things like check your pulse because a well-trained practitioner can get specific information about each of the organs from your pulse.  If they practice Chinese acupuncture, they may also ask to look at your tongue because again, the state of the individual organs is reflected in different areas of your tongue.  If you happen to be seeing someone who practices Japanese acupuncture, they will ask to palpate your abdomen for signs about the condition of your body organs.  After asking lots of questions, some of which my seem irrelevant to you but help your practitioner add pieces to the puzzle, they will then put together a diagnosis and a treatment plan for you.

Treatments are aimed at putting the qi back into harmony so it can flow freely and do its job.  Your practitioner may use very tiny needles at points where the qi of the body comes close to the surface, the acupuncture points, to tonify the qi if it is deficient or disperse it if it is in excess.  Or they may burn the herb mugwort, or moxa on the end of a needle to add warmth to a place that has been attacked by cold, or to move qi in a stagnated area.  And say you have an area of tension and tight muscles.  He or she may do something called cupping, which involves creating a vacuum in a glass or plastic cup and placing it on the tight area.  This has the affect of breaking up the stagnated blood that caused the tightness in the first place, allowing the blood to once again move freely through the area and the tightness to dissipate.

So let�s say you go in with painful fibroid tumors.  You also notice that your complexion is dark, your skin is dry, you feel cold, and your periods are late and painful.  The practitioner notices that your tongue looks purplish and your pulse feels choppy.   The tumors tell your acupuncturist that you have chronic blood stasis.  The dark complexion also reflects stasis of the blood.  The cold feeling is from poor circulation of the blood, and the dry skin is because stagnant blood is pooled in your lower abdomen and does not moisten and nourish your skin.  Your practitioner�s job will be to invigorate your blood, eliminate the stagnation (since the tumor is seen as the final result of blood stasis), and get your qi moving again.   They will endeavor to eliminate the blood stasis and soften its hardness, dissolve the masses, and regulate the stomach and spleen, two organs that are paired together.

To do this, they may needle points on the various channels or meridians that qi flows through, each point doing something very specific.  For instance, they may needle Gallbladder 34 on your leg and Conception Vessel 6 on your abdomen to move the qi and blood in the abdomen.   They might also use Spleen 10 above your knee and Bladder 17 on your back to invigorate your blood, and Stomach 29 on your lower abdomen to invigorate the blood in that area.  If they have been trained in the use of herbs, you might also be given a prescription for an herbal formula that helps invigorate your blood, eliminate the stasis, stop pain, and dissolve the masses in your lower abdomen.  He or she might also suggest certain foods to eat or eliminate from your diet to help strengthen the organs involved, i.e., cut back on the ice cream and the raw vegetables for a little while to allow your spleen qi to regain its strength. 

Acupuncture treatments are predicated on the knowledge that diseases of this nature are a result of problems that have been present in your body, and leading to other problems, for a period of time.  It is, therefore, unrealistic to expect that the disease can be resolved then in just one or two treatments.   Most likely, your practitioner will give you a treatment strategy that might call for coming in once or twice a week for a few weeks, then once a week for another period of time, and then less frequently until the problem is completely resolved or at a place where it can be more easily managed.  The longer the problem has been present, the longer it takes to eliminate it.  But with patience and a little perseverance, chances are you will see some wonderful results.

As both a patient and as a practitioner, I particularly like the fact that acupuncture treats a symptom by helping the entire body become both physically and emotionally healthier.  But if you�re still wondering how, or even if, acupuncture works or if it can work for you, remember that it�s the oldest, best researched, and most used form of health care in the history of mankind.  If it didn�t work, it never would have lasted to the present day.  I figure it this way - thousands of years and billions of people can�t all be wrong.  And if the only side effects are things like feeling more relaxed, perhaps feeling a little more grounded or peaceful, or other secondary and seemingly unrelated complaints like dry skin or back pain or night sweats are also improved, it seems there is little to lose and much to gain from this ancient and comprehensive form of health care.

Ellen Leonard, M.Ac. Lic.Ac.
Licensed by the Massachusetts Board of Medicine
Specializing in Pain Management and Sports Injuries

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