Chinese
Medicine For PMS
by Farah Khan
Many women have resigned themselves to the monthly emotional and physical
roller coaster that their menstrual period brings. Psychological symptoms
include weepiness, moodswings, irritability, anger, and depression.
Physical symptoms can include bloating, cramping, backaches, breast
tenderness, food cravings, headaches, acne, and digestive problems.
Oriental medicine has developed treatment for the many complaints of
pre-menstrual syndrome over the past two thousand years. Treatment and
prevention involve the use of acupuncture and herbs along with nutritional
and lifestyle counseling.
Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine are based on the theory that life
energy, called "Qi" (pronounced "chee"), flows through
channels or meridians in the body. When a person is under mental,
emotional, or physical stress, the energy, which normally flows freely
through the body, begins to stagnate.
This may not sound rational to the modern mind, so it might be helpful to
illustrate an obvious example of "Qi Stagnation". When a person
is under stress, their neck and back muscles tense up. This can interfere
with nerve stimulation to the arms or legs. The Chinese would consider the
person's neck or back to be "stagnant" while the person's limbs
would be "deficient" (lacking in nervous stimulation).
The buildup of the uterine endometrial lining and the hormonal changes a
woman experiences before and during her period are seen as a natural
process that is conducive to stagnation, particularly at times of stress
in a woman's life.
Acupuncture and herbal medicine is used to harmonize and free up patterns
of stagnation in the body in order to alleviate the many symptoms of
pre-menstrual syndrome. This can result in relaxation, stress relief, and
mitigation of many of the symptoms of PMS. Symptoms of PMS such as cramps,
breast tenderness, backaches, depression, moodswings, constipation,
bloating, can all be treated with herbs and acupuncture. Acupuncture has
also recently been endorsed by the National Institute of Health for the
relief of pre-menstrual pain.
Many of the herbs used for PMS alleviate depression and are
phytoestrogenic. They may improve a woman's natural hormonal functioning.
Herbs such as vitex, bupleurum , white peony, and black cohosh are used in
Chinese herbal formulas to balance hormones and treat Qi stagnation. Vitex
is particularly useful for fibrocystic breasts and for menstrual pain due
to endometriosis and fibroids.
As a result of acupuncture and herbs, many Asian women have a much easier
"time of the month", and now women in the West can also benefit
from the wisdom of Oriental medicine.
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Farah Khan is a New York licensed
acupuncturist. You can find her site on the web at http://www.yinessence.com.
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