| Womens Health |
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Following are a few of the more commonly treated problems in our office, but this is not a complete list. Natural medicine is quite effective in addressing a wide variety of women’s health issues and in many cases offers a better outcome than conventional medical approaches when treated by a practitioner experienced in women’s health issues. My approach, and the approach I have found most effective, is to address women’s health issues utilizing approaches based on conventional and alternative medical models. Premenstrual and Menstrual Difficulty Because premenstrual difficulty (moodiness, bloating, headaches, breast changes, fatigue, etc.) is common, many women have come to believe this monthly experience is normal, and their physicians often perpetuate this myth. These symptoms are common, but should not necessarily be considered normal. How do I know this? When you treat PMS it usually resolves. Chinese medicine understands the deeper energetic imbalances that are occurring of which PMS is an indication. These underlying imbalances have potentially far reaching implications to your health. Even if you have convinced yourself that you can deal with PMS because it’s only one week of the month, you are missing a deeper understanding of what is occurring at an energetic level which is resulting in hormonal imbalance. These issues should be addressed so you can maintain optimal health throughout your life. Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder is similar to premenstrual syndrome but is characterized by intense emotional turbulence, anger, depression, anxiety and in many women the inability to function emotionally. PMS may affect up to 75 percent of menstruating women, PMDD up to 5 percent. PMDD is disruptive to you and those around you and is capable of turning your life upside down for 1-2 weeks. The good news is PMS / PMDD can be managed and treated without pharmaceuticals in most cases. Pharmaceuticals generally offer limited benefit and often times have many side effects. Natural medicine approaches attempts to restore balance rather than to force the issue with pharmaceuticals. Common causes from a Western Medical perspective include:
Eastern Medical understanding of menstrual difficulties is varied, but at the root is the concept of abnormal movement of qi. From this abnormal movement of qi, a variety of other energetic imbalances may follow. This understanding of menstrual problems accounts for the entire premenstrual symptom picture and when treated with qi regulating herbs and in some cases acupuncture, typically we experience excellent results. I have found combining both the Western and Eastern understanding of menstrual difficulty yields superior results. If you are bothered by premenstrual symptoms, infertility, irregular cycles, I invite you to come and talk with me about your concerns. You have an excellent chance of resolving these problems by bringing back balance to how your body functions. The solution is not about dumping additional hormones, or antidepressants into your body. The best approach is to normalize how your body functions. Menstrual Cramping (Dysmenorrhea) Many women experience significant pain when they menstruate. In some cases the pain is debilitating and puts their life on hold for one or more days each month. The good news is menstrual cramps are easily treated in most cases. Many women following a course of treatment will obtain permanent or at least long term relief from menstrual cramping without the need for ongoing treatment or symptom management. Both Western and Eastern approaches can be helpful, but I have found addressing certain nutritional considerations along with the Chinese Medical understanding of dysmenorrhea to yield outstanding results. Just as with PMS/PMDD as discussed above, dysmenorrhea is caused by abnormal qi flow. Either deficiency of qi leading to stagnation or simply stagnation of qi, and as stagnation increases, stagnation of blood, is at the heart of menstrual cramps. There are a variety of factors responsible for this stagnation, but the end result is an alteration in the smooth, uninhibited movement of qi and blood. As an example, if you suffer from relatively minor cramps, the pain tends to move around rather than being fixed, and you experience moodiness, breast tenderness, headaches, you likely are experiencing cramping as a result of simple qi stagnation. If your cramps are intense, stabbing, generally in a fixed location and you have clots in your menses, you have moved from simple qi stagnation to qi and blood stagnation. This is an over simplification of the Chinese medical theory, but is at the heart of the problem. The good news is menstrual cramping is typically very treatable using herbal medicine. I sometimes will include acupuncture and will always address nutritional considerations. The end result is generally a resolution of the cramping (and other premenstrual symptoms), typically on a long term or permanent basis. What would it mean to you to be free of pain, and to have a menstrual cycle that was comfortable? AN alternative approach Menopause is not a disease of course, but rather a normal and necessary life transition. Some women pass through this time in their life without difficulty, others have a much more difficult time. Until recently hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) was the standard of care. The large study called the Woman's Health Initiative raised serious doubts as to the safety of HRT, specifically Prempro. HRT did increase bone density but also increased breast cancer, cognitive decline and had many other negative effects. As a result many women have stopped HRT and are looking for alternatives. The good news is healthy alternatives do exist and there are several. All approaches should include proper nutritional approaches and lifestyle activities. Many Chinese herbal formulas and Western herbs have proven to be beneficial. Hormone precursors in my experience are very effective. A precursor hormone is a substance you take which provides the material for your body to increase its own hormone production. Excellent results with essentially no side effects if taken correctly. Acupuncture has been shown in various studies to improve the feeling of well being, decrease or eliminate hot flashes and sweating, relieve insomnia and have other beneficial effects on menopausal symptoms. There are a variety of approaches to assist you through this phase of your life. We will present you with your various options including conventional HRT, Bioidentical hormones, both Chinese and Western herbal medicine approaches, hormone precursors and other approaches. If you desire an approach we don't offer, we will direct you to those that can assist you. We are an excellent resource to assist you during this phase of your life. If you are ready for a healthy alternative, give us a call. We can help. Breast health should be on every woman's mind. Did you know that in the 1970's, 1 in 11 women developed breast cancer in their lifetime, and today that figure is either 1 in 8 or 1 in 7 depending on the source? Regardless of the specifics, breast cancer is on the increase and we are seeing it frequently in women in their 30's, even their early 30's. Cancer is being diagnosed at an earlier stage, but not early enough to make much of a difference for many women. Treatment is long, painful and is far from consistently successful. It is interesting to note that acupuncture and herbal medicine are being used in integrative cancer clinics to treat cancer. One such clinic is Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Prevention The other side of the equation is prevention. Breast health should be seen as being on a continuum with normal healthy breast tissue at one end and cancer at the other. Now this is a bit of an over simplification, but the idea is that the more unhealthy changes a breast undergoes, the further down the continuum you travel. You can certainly go from no pathology to cancer and you can slide down the continuum and never develop breast cancer, but not accepting unhealthy changes in your breasts is proactive and may very well prevent cancer. We see breast health differently than most. Conventional approaches include screening, typically using mammography, biopsy if an area seen mammographically is suspicious, and if cancer is found, surgery, radiation, chemo and biologic therapies may be utilized. Unfortunately the outcome has improved little over the last few decades for women with metastisis. Little attention is paid to the progression of benign pathology such as fibrocystic changes, fibroadenomas, pain, etc. Although these changes in most, but not all cases, are not directly linked to breast cancer, they are evidence of unhealthy changes occurring in the breast which should be a red flag that an unhealthy process is occurring which increases your chance of developing cancer. To look at this from a Chinese Medical perspective, the underlying imbalance in your body that is allowing these changes to occur also is responsible for the development of breast cancer. Our approach is to recognize the progressing pathology and imbalances and reverse them. One method we use to evaluate breast health and screen for breast cancer is thermography. I encourage you to look at our Breast thermography section. Resolve the underlying imbalance and we strongly believe you reduce the chance of breast cancer in your life. Additionally, why suffer from breast pain, cysts, etc., if you have the possibility of resolving these pathologic changes? Unhealthy changes include fibrocystic changes, breast pain which is considered more than mild, fibroadenomas, and any other changes in the breast tissue that either occur cyclically (timed with your menstrual cycle) or are constantly present. Treatment Our experience indicates the majority of women with breast pathology will benefit from appropriate care. In addition to conventional breast cancer screening provided by your physician, we offer an assessment which include:
Treatment may include Chinese herbal medicine, hormone balancing, nutritional medicine, environmental influences from endocrine disruptors and a discussion on reducing risk factors. For a more detailed discussion of breast thermography and its role in early diagnosis of breast cancer or precancerous conditions (potentially years before diagnosis by mammography) go to our Breast Thermography page. I encourage you to take the necessary steps to improve breast health and reduce your risk of breast cancer. Cancer has touched all of us either directly or through someone we care about. Lets work together to improve breast health (as well as our health in general. The health of the breast cannot be separated from the health of the entire body, mind and spirit.) With breast disease as common as it is, and breast cancer on the increase, isn't it time you became more proactive in your breast health care? By doing so there is no guarantee cancer won't become a part of your life, but taking steps now to decrease your risk is prudent. If you have concerns and wish to discuss this issue further please call for a no cost consultation. More information about my philosophy on breast health can be found on my blog where I have included the rough draft for the introduction to a book I am writing on the treatment of breast pathology. If you should be diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer, especially if there is regional or distant spread of the disease, what are your options? Of course consulting with your oncologist is the first step, but where do you go from there? Survival of cancer with distant metastasis is about the save as it was decades ago. Is there anything alternative and complementary therapies have to offer? The answer is a resounding yes. The key is sorting through what might be beneficial and is supported by clinical trial, empirical evidence or has a good theoretical basis for working, and what is simply a waste of time and money. We have experience in this area and know others inside and outside our community offering alternative and complementary therapies. There are basically two broad categories of approaches: 1) Supportive care Supportive care might include nutritional support, immune system support, liver support, acupuncture for fatigue, weakness, nausea, vomiting. 2) Complementary treatments Complementary treatments include therapies targeted directly at the growth and survival of cancer cells and are typically utilized in combination with conventional treatments. There is a considerable amount of data and research to support these therapies. Some of these therapies are available through our office and others are available elsewhere. We are an excellent resource and can direct you to people offering well documented alternative and complementary cancer therapies that we do not offer. I believe all cancer patients should explore their treatment options, but this is especially true if you have experienced regional or distant metastasis. |
The area of woman’s health is a specialty area within traditional Chinese medicine just as it is in Western medicine. The female body is nothing short of a miracle in how it functions. The ability to reproduce life should instill wonder and an appreciation of the incredible wonder of the female body. But this system is delicately balanced and can be thrown out of balance by a wide variety of causes. These may be nutritional, environmental, stress, surgery, medications and other causes as well. Many of the problems women deal with such as premenstrual syndrome, fibrocystic breast changes, menstrual cramps, and others, are generally easily and effectively addressed with natural medicine, and particularly Traditional Chinese Medicine.
