A 36 year old nurse, Jenny came to our clinic after trying to get pregnant for the past year. Her story was a familiar one. She had been on the pill for nearly a decade to help ease and manage her periods. When she and her husband were ready to grow their family, she came […]
If you have menstrual cramps, you understand that ignoring them isn’t an option. Luckily, there are many tools out there that can help alleviate cramps. Herbal medicine is one of those amazing tools. There is an incredibly rich array of herbs for menstrual cramps that have been used over the centuries by healers, grandmothers, physicians, […]
Signs & Symptoms – Weak cough – Spontaneous daytime sweating – Getting sick frequently – Shortness of Breath – Dislike of Speaking – Tired – Weak Voice Patho-mechanism of Lung Qi Deficiency: Explanation of Signs & Symptoms One of the primary symptoms of Lung Qi Deficiency is the presence of a cough. The qi deficient […]
So you’ve entered the world of Basal Body Temperature (BBT) charting and you have questions. Taking your BBT can be a very new and overwhelming experience for so many women. How to do it, when to do it, what do all the temperatures mean, etc. Ultimately, you want to work with a qualified professional to […]
When Kat came into my clinic she was 33 weeks pregnant with twins. She had woken up three days prior and felt an odd sensation in her face: looking in the mirror she discovered half of her face was drooping and she couldn’t move her face muscles at all. Panic and thinking she had suffered […]
You’re reading this wondering if there’s something out there that can help you or a loved one with psoriasis. People that are looking for alternative solutions to their psoriasis generally fall into three categories: 1) they want to go the holistic route from the get-go, 2) they’ve tried conventional treatments like corticosteroids or immune-suppressing drugs […]
Hi, Dr Jafari here! I’m a Licensed Acupuncturist & Doctor of Oriental Medicine specializing in women’s health and postpartum care here in Los Angeles. In today’s blog post, I wanted to spend some time on a hugely relevant topic for lots of new mommas: the dreaded wrist and thumb pain.
It’s debilitating, crazy painful, and frustrating. At a certain point you’re wondering does mommy thumb go away or is it just going to linger on forever?! Spoiler alert: it’s not a forever thing nor does it need to be. With correct diagnosis and treatment you can be well on your way to a pain-free mommy life.
For most mommas dealing with postpartum wrist and thumb pain, the most likely culprit is a little known condition called De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis. Sounds like a big, fancy word. But all it means is that the tendon and the tunnel through which it travels are inflamed and swollen. In this case, the tendons we are referring to are the abductor pollicus longus (APL) and the extensor pollicis brevis (EPB).
These tendons help you 1) abduct your thumb (move the thumb away from your hand) and 2) extend your thumb (straighten your thumb and pull it backwards). It’s incredible how much of our daily living activities requires these tiny motions.
De Quervain’s is not to be confused with carpal tunnel syndrome, which many people associate with hand pain. Carpal tunnel involves numbness and tingling of the first 3 fingers and pain in the palmar aspect of the wrist.
The tendons run through a sheath (like a tunnel) which allows them to glide and stretch smoothly. When the tendon sheaths are inflamed and swollen it’s as if the tunnel is on fire and obstructed with debris. This creates a lot of friction and greatly impacts your thumb/wrist mobility as well as causes a lot of pain.
There is an incredibly simple way to figure out if these tendons are the source of the problem: it’s called the Finkelstein test:
The test is positive if you feel pain in the wrist/thumb or if there’s pain radiating up the arm from the thumb.
While the exact cause of De Quervain’s is not known, it is generally accepted that the condition is associated with overuse and repetitive movements such as those typically done by a breastfeeding mother like you! So if you’re wondering why you get wrist pain after breastfeeding, this may be the answer.
The great news is that most people recover with rest and time. Drastic measures like surgery are not commonly necessary. But sometimes, it feels like the injury lasts forever and just isn’t going away. It’s for this reason that we’ve compiled some of the best advice on how to speed up your recovery.
If your pain persists or gets worse, see a doctor immediately. They may offer anti-inflammatory drugs, ice therapy, cortisone shots, or, as a last resort, even surgery. My hope is that none of you reach that point. As soon as you feel an inkling of discomfort, I strongly urge you take a proactive and dedicated approach to healing your body!
When Daisy came to our clinic for the first time, she was at
her wit’s end. She was 9 weeks pregnant when the bouts of nausea started to hit
her. At first, they were tolerable and only triggered by specific smells or
tastes, but after 2 weeks the nausea was getting more intense and frequent. By
the time she saw me, she was starting to vomit nearly daily.
For many women, first trimester nausea and vomiting become a
part of daily pregnancy life.
70-80% of pregnant women experience nausea throughout their
first trimester, and 50% have vomiting as well.
When the morning sickness begins to interfere with quality
of life, like in the case of Daisy, many women look to different remedies to
naturally relieve their morning sickness. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
can be incredibly helpful in alleviating morning sickness and helping to
improve a woman’s quality of life throughout her pregnancy. In this post we’ll
explore:
The earlier, the better.
You should start acupuncture as soon as you start to
experience nausea and vomiting in your pregnancy. Coming in earlier helps us
curb the issue rather than waiting for it to compound and become harder to
treat.
In my clinic, I frequently have patients with morning
sickness come in twice a week.
Like any medicine, dosing it properly is essential to
getting a good result. I see a lot of patients who have switched over from
another acupuncturist because they’re not getting the results they need. Most
often I find that these patients were only being treated once a week. It simply
isn’t enough.
A very common adage in Chinese medicine is that
chronic issues require more spaced out treatments whereas acute issues require
for spaced together treatments. In other words, for something relatively sudden
and new for the patient, like morning sickness, you would get a quicker and
more efficient result by treating the patient more frequently over a shorter
duration of time. For example, if you only had 6 treatments: instead of
spreading them out once a week over 6 weeks, you would get a more powerful
result if you did them twice a week over the course of 3 weeks.
Yes, acupuncture is routinely performed throughout pregnancy and especially during the first trimester. Common reasons for doing acupuncture during the first trimester are fatigue, morning sickness, threatened miscarriages, and mood imbalances.
From a Chinese Medicine perspective, there are two types of morning
sickness. The first type is rooted in deficiency and the second type is more of
an excess problem.
Deficiency of the Digestive Organs (Type 1): This type
presents with nausea and vomiting of liquid or undigested food immediately
after meals. Other possible symptoms are
a “full” or distending sensation in the chest as well as fatigue. This
situation is caused by a weakness of the stomach and as a result, the stomach
is unable to properly descend the food like it’s supposed to. Feeling unusually
fatigued is another sign that “weakness” is at the root of this issue.
Disharmony between the Liver and Stomach (Type 2): This type
presents with vomiting of bitter or sour liquids. The stomach feels bloated,
there may be aching around the ribcage, frequently burping or sighing.
Emotionally this type often feels blues or angry. This situation resembles a
traffic jam on the freeway. In Chinese medicine, long-term stress or anger
tends to compromise the function of the liver temporarily. When the liver
becomes compromised, one of the organs it tends to lash out at and negatively
affect is the stomach. It is for this reason that we see a combination of
emotional mood disturbances along with the nausea and vomiting.
Depending on the type of morning sickness, your body may
need more of a nourishing and tonifying treatment, or more of a de-stress and
unblocking treatment. It all depends on your constitution and the imbalance you
present with.
Over the years there have been immense amounts of research
documenting the effectiveness of acupuncture for nausea and vomiting. It is for
this exact reason that most health insurance companies actually cover
acupuncture for nausea.
One such study found acupuncture stimulation to be just as
effective as ondansetron (a medication to prevent nausea) for post-surgical
nausea and vomiting (1).
Another research study looked at hyperemesis gravidarum
(severe vomiting) and whether acupuncture in conjunction with conventional
treatment could speed up the usual recovery time – the study concluded there
was a significantly faster reduction of nausea and vomiting (2).
A final study looked at 593 women who were less than 14
months pregnant and had morning sickness. The women were separated into
different groups: acupuncture, sham acupuncture, and no acupuncture. The women
who had received acupuncture reported reductions in nausea by the second week
of treatment. In the end, the study concluded that acupuncture is an effective
treatment for nausea and dry retching in pregnancy (3).
The positioning of your baby is something that becomes of greater concern in your third trimester. One of the biggest issues that comes up for many 3rd trimester mothers is finding out their baby is in a breech position.
About 25% of babies are breech before 28 weeks. At 32 weeks this number drops down to 7%. By the time the pregnancy is full-term, this number drops down further to 3-4%. In order to avoid a c-section, many women with breech babies turn to various modalities to help turn their child into a head-down position. Overall, mothers are taking a more proactive approach. It is for this reason that acupuncture, moxibustion, postural exercises, and chiropractic care are becoming more and more popular and sought out by the birthing community.
The goal of this article is to help you understand the basics
behind acupuncture and moxibustion treatment for breech babies and what you can
expect from it. Topics we’ll be covering are:
Breech positioning is basically when your baby is in a bottom or feet-first position as opposed to a head-first position. As the statistics earlier showed, quite a large number of babies are breech before 30 weeks. Around this time, your baby’s head becomes big enough to encourage a downward flip via gravity’s help and to position itself nicely head down. If you are interested in the more nitty-gritty details of breech positioning check out this article by Spinning Babies.
The biggest issue with breech positioning for mothers is that it will lead to a planned c-section. There are not many doctors or midwives in the United States that are trained in breech deliveries anymore, and so, protocol is geared towards having these babies delivered surgically. For many women who have envisioned a vaginal or natural birth, a breech position can be a giant obstacle towards realizing their plan.
If the baby is still in a breech position by 36 weeks your doctor may suggest performing an external cephalic version (ECV) around 37 weeks. The procedure involves the doctor using pressure with their hands on your abdomen to try and maneuver the baby into a head down position. The procedure is done at a hospital and the baby’s heartbeat is monitored to ensure the safety of the child. For many women on the natural birth route, an ECV can be seen as a sort of final effort to try and turn the child.
Acupuncture involves the placing of sterile, hair-thin acupuncture
needles into specific points on the body to create a therapeutic effect. The
therapeutic effect depends on the root cause of the situation. In other words,
what imbalance in the body is causing the breech position.
While there is no concrete certainty behind what causes a breech presentation, the following are a few theorized reasons:
While pelvic imbalances and placenta positioning seem like more direct contributors to your baby’s positioning, it’s fascinating that something like thyroid health can influence the situation. It is for this reason, that your acupuncturist must take a look at your body’s entire constitution. Addressing your entire health is a necessary part of supplying your body with the support it needs to encourage a head-down positioning.
If your thyroid is under-functioning and causing symptoms like constipation, poor energy, and dry skin throughout your pregnancy, then it would be important to address that imbalance with acupuncture when you come in for a breech treatment.
Another very common issue is imbalances in the hip or pelvis region. This may be due to too tight or loose uterine ligaments and muscles. These inequalities can cause the sacrum to “twist” or be asymmetrical and in turn, this can cause the shape of the uterus to be altered as well. This affects the space in which the baby resides and as a result, can contribute to a breech positioning. Acupuncture helps with these muscular and ligament imbalances and helps create space for the baby to turn.
It is interesting to note that there can often be an emotional component involved in tightness of the hips or a misaligned sacrum. In acupuncture, there is the basic belief that the body contains multiple pathways on it. Think of them as freeways. These freeways run along different parts of the body, connecting with different muscles and organs. They have their own functions. They also correlate with different emotions. It is believed in Chinese medicine that holding on to strong emotions long-term can damage and compromise the function of the different freeways. It’s no coincidence that that freeway related to frustration and anger runs across the neck and shoulders. It also happens to be the same freeway that runs along the hips and sacrum. It’s for this reason that when it comes to sacrum misalignment, your emotional well-being is also taken into account and addressed.
Moxibustion (commonly referred to as moxa) is a heating
therapy where acupuncture points on the body are stimulated with heat using the
herb mugwort. Moxa is commonly used for many different types of ailments in
Chinese medicine, and one of its most prominent uses is to help turn a breech
baby naturally.
The moxa treatment is done daily for 10 consecutive days.
The first treatment is done with your acupuncturist, after which they will
teach you how to perform the treatment by yourself at home for the next 9 days.
The home treatment will be explained in further detail below.
Moxa is performed on a single acupuncture point on the
little toe, called Bladder 67. While there is no concrete evidence for its
mechanism of action, its is believed to work by stimulating production of
placental oestrogens and prostaglandins (1). The increase causes movement or
contractions of the uterine muscle which in turn encourages the baby to move, ideally
into a head-down position.
During your first acupuncture treatment, your physician will teach you how to perform the moxa on yourself at home. A course of moxa for breech presentation is 10 days long. If the baby has not turned head-down, a second course of 10 days is performed provided there is still enough time.
An important thing I always mention to patients is to
continue the treatment until the 10th day even if the baby turns before.
Also, it is normal for the baby to become more active during and right after
the moxibustion therapy. The movement is a good thing because it creates the
possibility for repositioning.
Items needed:
Instructions:
It is possible to perform the the moxa on yourself, however,
I recommend that you have someone else do it for you. This allows you to relax
and fully experience the treatment. After the moxa, I usually have my patients
do a round of postural exercises that encourage the baby to turn like forward
leaning inversions and breech tilts.
This treatment is done once a day for 10 days.
The ideal time to receive this type of treatment is between
32-34 weeks. At this point in time, the fetus is not too big and there is
generally sufficient time and space to help the shift in position happen. In my clinical practice, we sometimes begin the
treatments as early as 30-31 weeks if we find out the baby is breech via
ultrasound. We want to tackle the root issue as soon as possible if there are
structural imbalances in the pelvis or other potential causative factors.
Solving these imbalances earlier helps us avoid the anxiety of “racing against
the clock” towards the end of the pregnancy.
If the treatments bear no effect on the positioning of the
fetus, the final option would be to undergo an ECV, which was mentioned at the
beginning of the article. This is not performed any earlier than 37 weeks.
When I see patients for breech presentations, we are rarely
doing just acupuncture and moxa. I am a firm believer in collaborative care and
its synergestic effects. If you are able to approach the issue from different
angles and perspectives, you are more likely to get a more well-rounded result.
The top three things our breech position patients are doing:
Chiropractic care is great because they can further work on any physical or structural misalignments through soft tissue work and adjustments. There is even a specific technique for working with Breech positioning called Webster technique. Find a chiropractor who is experienced with this technique.
Postural exercises are incredibly important! The way we carry our bodies and the positions we tend to keep our bodies in can have incredible effects on our pelvic alignment. A big one is to try and keep your knees below your hips when sitting. This means avoid “lazy” chairs where your buttocks and hips sink lower than your knees. This contracts the space in the lower part of the womb, giving your baby less space to turn head-down into. In terms of actual exercises to perform: check out the Spinning Babies website. They have an excellent array of different postures to perform that help with aligning the pelvis and encouraging the baby to flip head-down.
Yes, when performed by a licensed professional who is
experienced with prenatal care.
According to a 2019 review of all the major studies done on moxa for breech presentations, it was concluded that “all the systematic reviews agreed that there are no adverse effects directly related to moxibustion and acupuncture technique, so it seems to be safe” (2).
Like all things, there is no guarantee of success. It is for this reason that I always recommend a three-pronged approach of different modalities to ensure that you’re doing all that you can to set you up for the highest chance of success.
There have been a number of studies done on moxibustion’s efficacy for turning breech babies. Below is one of the most studies published in a peer-review journal.
In 2019, the Evidence-Based Complimentary and Alternative
Medicine journal published a research paper on the efficiacy of moxibustion for
turning breech babies at 32-35 weeks (3).
Who: The study included 93 women who were 32-35 weeks pregnant
and had a breech presentation
Intervention: The women received moxa therapy on the acupuncture point Bladder 67 once a day for two weeks. If they were still breech after the 2 weeks, they did another round of moxibustion + acupuncture treatment for three days.
Results: 62.4% of the women had their babies turn head-down and delivered vaginally. It was concluded that moxa therapy could be an effective, low-cost treatment for turning breech babies.
1) Cooperative Research Group of Moxibustion Version
of Jangxi Province. Further studies on the clinical effects and mechanism of version by
moxibustion. Abstracts of the Second National Symposium on Acupuncture,
Moxibustion, and Acupuncture Anesthesia; 1984 Aug 7‐10; Beijing, China. 1984:150‐1.
Have you been recently diagnosed with uterine fibroids and wondering what’s the next step?
Uterine fibroids are benign (non-cancerous) growths that occur in the uterus. They are incredibly common amongst women, and many will have the fibroid without even knowing it because they don’t show any symptoms.
While finally gaining an answer to what’s been causing your symptoms can bring relief, it is often followed with the uncertainty of how to proceed – especially if you’re interested in holistically approaching the situation & wanting to shrink fibroids naturally.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the basics behind uterine fibroids from both a western & Chinese medicine point of view. You’ll learn:
If you’d like to skip ahead and learn about our process specifically and how we approach uterine fibroids in our clinic, click here.
Many of the women I see in my clinic with uterine fibroids aren’t coming in primarily for the fibroid itself. In fact, a lot of them had no idea they had a fibroid to begin with. They had a persisting menstrual-related issue that was getting worse over time, and when they got it checked out with their gynecologist, turned out there was also a fibroid. The most common symptoms secondary to fibroids that I see are:
Chinese medicine is amazing at working on the above issues while simultaneously working on the fibroid. The reason is simple. Our goal is not to just reduce the fibroid, but to understand the hormonal imbalance causing the fibroid growth. This imbalance is also most likely causing your problem with heavy flow or cramps or infertility.
In the world of Chinese medicine, using acupuncture and herbal medicine to work on uterine fibroids is nothing new. Treatments are most effective at helping with small to medium size fibroids. This means a fibroid up to around 5 cm, which is about the size of a lemon.
If the size of the fibroid is large (upwards of 7 cm and more) and it’s causing a lot of pain, having it removed through one of the various surgical treatments seems to be the norm. Another reason to consider immediate surgical removal of the fibroid is if the location of the fibroid is sensitive. For example, the fibroid is pressing on the intestines or bladder causing problems there. Or it may be located in the inside layer of the uterus making it difficult to fall pregnant. In those situations, removing the fibroid would give you a rapid solution and relief.
So the main question here is why take the holistic approach?
If you’d like to skip ahead and learn about our process specifically and how we approach uterine fibroids in our clinic, click here.
One of the main reasons to consider a holistic approach to fibroids is their high rate of recurrence. Different studies have shown the recurrence rate to be as high as 30% in some instances. Basically what this means is that simply removing a fibroid doesn’t guarantee that it’s gone for good. Many women have had their fibroids surgically removed, only to have new ones show up on their ultrasounds a few years later. It is for this reason that women who aren’t interested in getting pregnant or are done having kids, are routinely recommended to have a complete removal of their uterus (hysterectomy) to prevent recurrence.
The reason for these recurrences are simple: if you don’t change the environment which created the problem in the first place, it is highly likely the issue will recur. When treating fibroids we have to dig deep and understand what environmental and hormonal factors contributed to the creation of this tumor. If we don’t remove the environmental toxins and correct the hormonal imbalances, we are not taking care of the situation from all angles.
One of the biggest issues when it comes to fibroids is your exposure to estrogen. It’s well established that estrogen can promote fibroid growth. In holistically treating fibroids, we need to understand whether your body’s exposure to excess estrogen is caused by outside factors (like foods / chemicals / etc) or from the body’s inability to properly metabolize it.
If you’d like to skip ahead and learn about our process specifically and how we approach uterine fibroids in our clinic, click here.
In Chinese medicine, fibroids are said to be caused by two different imbalances: stagnation of blood in the uterus or an accumulation of dampness.
Blood stagnation: refers to a lack of smooth blood flow in the pelvis. The flow is so unsmooth that it is causing blockages and obstructions. Think of a freeway where cars begin to drive erratically and chaotically – an accident is bound to happen and once it does, there are major traffic jams. This is the type of environment that engenders fibroids. The fibroid is essentially a more tangible and physical manifestation of these obstructions. It is interesting to note that the blood stagnation imbalance shares many of the same symptoms of estrogen dominance (excess estrogen): painful cramps, pms symptoms, heavy bleeding. In a sense, they are east-west parallel versions of each other.
Dampness: refers to impaired fluid metabolism in the body because of poor digestion. In Chinese medicine, the digestive organs are responsible for refining food and drink into nutrition and transporting it to the different parts of the body. When this factory process is messed up, your body produces dampness. When you bloat or feel sluggish after eating even the lightest meals, this is a manifestation of that dampness.
Your intestines play an incredible role in metabolizing estrogen: excess estrogen in the body is inactivated by the liver and removed from the body via the stool. If your digestive health isn’t optimal, it’s possible you’re holding onto more estrogen than you need, and this can be fueling fibroid growth. It is for this reason that if dampness is a presenting factor in your case, your digestive health must certainly be addressed.
If you’d like to skip ahead and learn about our process specifically and how we approach uterine fibroids in our clinic, click here.
Like we talked about earlier, Chinese medicine views poor blood flow as one of the main causes behind fibroids. The impaired flow eventually leads to blockages and ultimately the growth of fibrous tissues. In such situation try:
Like we talked about, your liver is responsible for metabolizing and inactivating excess estrogen in the body. If your liver is not happy, you will be holding on to more than you need and this can encourage fibroid growth.
In Chinese medicine, when we treat gynecological issues, one of the most important organs we looks at and treat is the liver. It’s incredible because the traditional doctors from hundreds of years ago had no idea about the liver’s role in estrogen metabolism, and yet, the medicine recognized its importance in menstrual health.
Things you can do to keep your liver happy are:
Excess body fat can cause your body to produce too much estrogen. If you have fibroids this can be an issue because that extra estrogen can be fueling their growth.
Exercise also helps improve insulin sensitivity. When insulin sensitivity improves, your body properly uses the sugar in your blood as energy instead of storing it as more fat in the body. So this helps decrease excess body fat and hence, excess estrogen production.
Xenoestrogens are foreign estrogens – meaning they come from outside the body through food, environment, etc. Their name is derived from the fact that they mimic estrogen because of certain similarities, and as a result, they are able to trigger similar hormonal responses in the body. The difference is, however, that they exert an effect much stronger than your body’s natural estrogen. This leads to an over-dominance of estrogen in the body. Xenoestrogens are considered endocrine disruptors, which basically means they mess with the normal functioning of your body’s hormones.
Here are some simple ways to reducing your exposure:
We talked about this before. Your gut plays an integral role in estrogen metabolism. If your body isn’t pooping out that extra estrogen then your body ends up accumulating too much in the body.
How to keep your gut healthy:
Inflammation becomes a problem when it tends to linger on long-term in your body. Short bursts of inflammation to manage acute situations like injuries or infections is normal, but when it keeps going on and on it’s going to wreck havoc. For a person with fibroids this is important because chronic inflammation can make your body’s estrogen receptors more sensitive to estrogen. This hypersensitivity causes your body to have an extra-strong reaction to even normal amounts of estrogen in the body. This in turn can fuel fibroid growth.
Ways to reduce inflammation are:
In Chinese medicine, emotional health can be a big contributing factor in the formation of fibroids. It’s not so simple as getting angry will magically make a fibroid grow. Rather, holding on to strong emotions long term like anger or sadness will slowly start to compromise the physical functioning of the body.
Intuitively this makes complete sense. Think of people who have lost the will to live and see how soon after they pass. There are very clear connections between the mind and the body.
In the clinic, I’ve found that for women with fibroids there is always an important emotional component that needs attention. It’s important to acknowledge and explore these emotions.
If you’d like to skip ahead and learn about our process specifically and how we approach uterine fibroids in our clinic, click here.
If you seek Chinese medicine treatments, an integral part of your holistic treatment plan will be Chinese herbs. There is no single herb or collection of herbs that is always used for uterine fibroids. It always depends on your specific constitution and root cause.
Of the many types of herbal formulas that can be used to shrink fibroids, one of the most common formulas are Cinnamon & Poria Pills. Much research has been done on this formula and its effect on uterine tumors over the years. A 2019 research article explored the pharmacological effects of this formula on fibroids and discovered that the possible mechanism by which it works is that it induces apoptosis (the death of cells) within the fibroid tumor (1). Other studies purport its usefulness in treating fibroids because of its anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory effect (2,3).
Case study #1: Beth
Beth came in to the clinic because she had extremely heavy periods for the past 3 years. She had always bled on the heavier side, but when it started to get worse, she went to her Obgyn for a check-up and was diagnosed with uterine fibroids via ultrasound. Her heavier bleeds were accompanied with period cramps and low back pain. Since the largest fibroid measured around 4cm, they decided to wait and see how the fibroids progressed: would they grow or stay the same? The idea was if the discomfort wasn’t detrimental, then she could avoid surgery.
Beth’s situation is not all that uncommon. While her symptoms weren’t detrimental to her daily life, they most definitely affected her quality of life physically and emotionally. Having to use both a pad and tampon for the first few days and changing them almost every 1 hour was incredibly stressful while she was at work. In the nights, the bleeding could be so heavy that she would place towels on the bed for the inevitable leakage that happened while she slept. The cramping and lower back pain left her no choice but to take Advil multiple times a day. She didn’t want to have the surgery, but she definitely didn’t want to have to keep going through this torture every month.
Based off of her history, constitution and symptoms, we decided to take a two-pronged approach: we needed to improve the poor blood circulation in the pelvic area. This was contributing to the fibroid growth and the pain she was experiencing around her periods. Second, we needed to tackle her digestive health. Her chronic digestive issues were definitely a factor in how her body was poorly metabolizing estrogen. When estrogen metabolism is disrupted, the body can hold on to more estrogen than needed, and this over-accumulation can promote fibroid growth.
We began with a weekly regimen of acupuncture & herbal medicine to enact the approach described above. The first symptoms to improve were her digestive issues: less bloating along with more comfortable & regular bowel movements. Her second period since beginning the acupuncture was when her period symptoms began to improve. The first significant change was a major reduction in her overall pain: no more ovulatory pain, much less period cramping, and no more lower back pain. As the months progressed, the bleeding amount also began to change. No more leakages at night, she could go for 2-3 hours before having to change pads. The biggest change here was that she wasn’t feeling incredibly anxious and emotional around her periods. Her overall experience of life surrounding her periods was shifting from something chronically negative to more positive and normal. It is now 1 year since she first came in to our clinic, and we are happy to report that her period bleeds have returned to their normal amount from before the fibroids.
Case Study #2: Flora
Flora came in for what at first she thought was just really bad period cramps. She was in her mid-40’s and had started experiencing cramping for the first time in years. The pain was unbearable: she was unable to go to work, it radiated to her back and down into her legs. After she went to the doctor and had an MRI done, they discovered a uterine fibroid measuring close to 6cm. This was about the size of a lemon!
This wasn’t the first time she was diagnosed with fibroids. She had one when she was in her 20’s and it was surgically removed. As mentioned before, fibroids have a high rate of recurrence, and this was exactly such an instance. Due to the size of the fibroid and degree of pain, her doctor recommended they do surgery. This time, however, the doctor recommended they do a hysterectomy (complete removal of the uterus) to 100% prevent the recurrence of a fibroid. Her surgery was scheduled for two months away.
Flora basically came in to find a way to naturally manage the pain until her surgery. She came in right as her period was beginning and the pain was at it’s height. We used acupuncture to activate her body’s natural painkillers, boost blood flow quality in her uterus, and reduce the pain. After 30 minutes of napping with the acupuncture points in her body, her pain level had reduced from an 8/10 to 0/10. It was an incredible result. The following week she reported that while she would normally have pain for a full week, that she had no more pain in the days following the acupuncture treatment. Instead of 7 days of pain, she only had 1. We repeated this protocol for her next cycle with similar results. Our goal was to keep her out of pain and her body strong going into her surgery. It is an amazing experience to share because even though the fibroid is still there, we were able to modify her body’s perception of pain to such an incredible degree!
If you’d like learn more about our process specifically and how we approach uterine fibroids in our clinic, click here.
Information in this post and on this web site is provided for informational purposes only. This information is not intended as a substitute for the advice provided by your physician or other healthcare professional or any information contained on or in any product label or packaging. Do not use the information on this web site for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, or prescribing medication or other treatment. Information and statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always speak with your physician or other healthcare professional before taking any medication or nutritional, herbal or homeopathic supplement, or using any treatment for a health problem.
1) Chen N. N., Han M., Yang H., Yang G. Y., Wang Y. Y., Wu X. K., et al. (2014). Chinese herbal medicine Guizhi Fuling Formula for treatment of uterine fibroids: a systematic review of randomised clinical trials. BMC Complement. Altern. Med. 14, 2. 10.1186/1472-6882-14-2
2) Yao Z, Shulan Z. Inhibition effect of Guizhi-Fuling-decoction on the invasion of human cervical cancer. J Ethnopharmacol. 2008;120:25–35. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2008.07.044.
3) Li TJ, Qiu Y, Mao JQ, Yang PY, Rui YC, Chen WS. Protective effects of Guizhi-Fuling-Capsules on rat brain ischemia/reperfusion injury. J pharmacol Sci. 2007;105:34–40. doi: 10.1254/jphs.FP0070450.
