Women’s Health

This is something Chinese Medicine has become very famous for in the last decade or so, and with good reason. We are often asked how we tackle women’s health issues, especially period pain, peri-menopause or menopause symptoms.

As a holistic, functional medicine, Chinese Medicine considers all your symptoms as connected and relevant. With this in mind, I will ask you about your menstrual cycle. Some of these questions may seem odd initially but the answers you give provide an understanding the reasons behind your health concern.

From the very early days of Traditional Chinese Medicine it was noted that ‘disorders of women are ten times more difficult to cure than those of males’ (Sun Si-Miao, 581-681AD). I think this is something many women already know, as the physical and psychological effects the female reproductive system, and its fabulous and complex hormonal cycles, potentially create much distress and discomfort for many women.

At Jade Chinese Medicine, Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine, supplementation, and diet and lifestyle advice are all utilised within and after a treatment to regulate female hormones with a gentle and natural approach. Chinese Medicine guides the body to a new state of hormonal balance by addressing the root cause of the symptoms.

As many of us are busier, more stressed and more time poor, symptoms such as painful periods, mood swings, hot flushes, night sweats, irregular periods, infertility, weight gain, low libido, fatigue or insomnia become harder to manage and challenging to continue with daily activities: these are of course more likely to worsen with stress and often rear their head during or after busy times when you have the least time to dedicate to self care!

Womens health issues are frequent conditions seen in clinic. While complex and individual results are of course variable, Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine have been historically used for gynecological conditions for thousands of years in Chinese Medicine and often respond well.

Self care remedies if you have period pain

• Keep warm
• Apply a wheat bag or hot water bottle to your lower back and abdomen
• Stretch and relax your ligaments and tendons. Pain make many of us contract and tense, resulting in spasm and further tension of muscles and heightening our nervous system response
• Wear loose fitting clothes (especially around the abdomen)