An Answer for Women's Health

Once I was taking my mom for a doctor’s appointment and we ended up on a shuttle from one part of the large hospital complex to another.  The driver was an older man, very sweet, who said something I’ll never forget.  We were talking about health and he said,

 “Yeah, my health is pretty easy to manage but my wife, she’s kind of like an old car.  Always needing a tune up, an oil change, something rattling, squeaking, needing repair. Yeah, she’s always in the shop.”

Bonnie and Boudi - Rebecca's mom and daughter

It was said with both love and chagrin, but I’ve always remembered it because I think a lot of women in particular feel this way over time.  Our bodies and our hormones are constantly giving us trouble and needing tweaks, tune ups, and constant maintenance.  Luckily, Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine have some very simple and practical ways to address women’s health issues including:

• PMS, PMDD, Menstrual irregularity
  
• PCOS
  
• Uterine Fibroids
  
• Supporting Fertility
  
• Treating Infertility
  
• Migraines
  
• Insomnia
  
• Menopause
  
• and more
  

Women's Health - Chinese Medicine View

In Chinese Medicine, women are a joy to treat. Our menstrual cycles, while sometimes a nuisance to deal with in our modern world, give SO much information about your health.  In Chinese Medicine we pay attention to length of cycle, specific PMS symptoms including presence or absence of, duration of bleeding, blood flow, color and consistency.  Each of these things give clues to your overall health, not just your menstrual cycle and fertility issues, making women much easier to diagnose and treat!

Standard Course of Treatment for Women's Health

In China, a standard course of treatment for any health issues is 10 acupuncture treatments in 10 days and then you reassess.  In the US we find this virtually impossible and largely unnecessary.  Furthermore, when it comes to women’s health especially for PMS, PMDD, Fertility, Infertility and hormonally related Migraines and Insomnia, I typically see patients once a week for 4 weeks and then 2x a month around ovulation and menstruation for 3 months thereafter.

Since our hormones cycle once a month, it takes more time to assess the success of treatment and to make lasting changes.  Its more of a course correct than a quick shift and over several months, the effects of our treatment can be seen.  The longer you have been suffering from a problem, the longer it can take to treat as well - so a women’s health issue that has been present for 6 months or less can often easily be treated in 3 months total.  An issue that has been present for 5 to 10 years?  Could take 6 to 12 months of regular treatment to truly change.  I generally ask patients to give me at least one month for every year that they have been suffering from something when using natural medicine to create lasting change.

Chinese Herbs are also very important when treating menstrual and menopausal issues.  When you are still menstruating, it is possible to alternate herbal formulas in 2 week cycles to help regulate menses and treat migraines and insomnia.  When you are into Menopause, Chinese Herbs are highly effective at controlling the night sweats, hot flashes and irritability if taken regularly!

Want to Know More? Contact Rebecca!

If you want to know more or have questions about acupuncture and women’s issues, please feel free to comment here, contact me via email or book an appointment online! I look forward to hearing from you!  

Until next time,

~Rebecca

Keywords: Women's Issue Treatment, #Fertility Treatment, #Infertility, #Acupuncture and Women's Issues