Women’s Health

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is very effective in treating women’s health issues. Traditional protocols are combined with western medical science to maximize the success of treatments. Most gynecological issues can be resolved in three to six menstrual cycles.

During the course of a lifetime a woman’s body goes through many cycles. From menarche, the start of a girl’s menstrual cycle during puberty, to pregnancy, and finally menopause, a woman’s body and hormones are in a constant state of change. TCM can restore balance at any stage during a woman’s life. TCM has been shown to have a positive effect on the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis, the body’s mechanism that is responsible for keeping the female reproductive system in balance.

Some of the many women’s health conditions that TCM treats are:

• Amenorrhea (absent periods)
• Dysmenorrhea (painful periods)
• Irregular Periods (long, heavy,)
• Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
• Perimenopause and Menopausal symptoms
• Thyroid Conditions
• Endometriosis
• Polycystic Ovarian Syndrom (PCOS)
• Fibroids
• Genital Herpes
• Genital Warts (HPV)
• Cervical Dysplasia
• Hormonal Migraines
• Chronic Yeast Infections
• Urinary Tract Infections (UTI)

The following studies illustrate the effectiveness of TCM for women’s health conditions:

• A 2002 study published in The Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine focused on women diagnosed with painful periods due to endometriosis. The results showed that 81% of the women had significantly less pain with their periods after receiving acupuncture.

• A 2008 study of 649 women with dysmenorrhea found that a significant number of the women reported a large decrease in pain and an improvement in quality of life after 3 months of acupuncture.

• A 2002 study on women with premenstrual syndrome (PMS) found that 78% of participants who received a four week course of acupuncture experienced a significant reduction in symptoms of anxiety, irritability, headache, breast pain, insomnia, bloating, nausea, and gastrointestinal disorders.

• A 2005 Chinese study looked at women with ovarian cysts to determine the therapeutic effect of acupuncture and moxabustion combined with Chinese herbs. In the treatment group, 54% of the women had enough improvement in their condition to be considered cured. In the control group, which did not receive TCM therapies, only 15% of the women were considered cured. In 2000 a Swedish study on women with PCOS found that acupuncture treatments over a 3 month period regulated ovulation in 38% of the women.

• A 1999 study found that TCM is a very effective treatment for menopausal symptoms of hot flashes, sweating, insomnia, and anxiety.. Hot flashes decreased by 35% and insomnia by 50% in women who received acupuncture and herbs for 7 weeks.
• Another study done in 2010 found that acupuncture had a marked clinical improvement in hot flashes and menopause related symptoms in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women. Other studies show that acupuncture therapies are better than hormone therapy for reducing menopause related symptoms.