Here at One Essence Healing we treat a number of issues relating to women’s health. It’s our goal to help you feel better, and we’ll start with a relaxed consultation, a review of your medical history, pulse diagnosis, and a discussion of our findings and recommended treatments.
Conditions we treat include, but are not limited to:
- Chronic Fatigue
- Fibromyalgia
- Infertility
- Menopause
- Menstrual Cramps, Excessive Bleeding, and Amenorrhea
- PMS
Chronic Fatigue
Other than back pain, fatigue, anxiety and depression are the most common complaints that we treat in our clinic. In many cases, the fatigue is being caused by the excessive use of pharmaceuticals that the patient is taking, especially beta-blockers. With the permission and cooperation of the patient’s medical doctor, it is usually possible to reduce the number of drugs the patient is taking, especially those most responsible for the fatigue.
In the State of Washington, an East Asian Medical Practitioner is not legally permitted to prescribe or adjust a patient’s medication. What we do find is that doctors are quite amenable when it comes to adjusting prescriptions.
If the fatigue is not drug-related, then Chinese medicine is an excellent solution. Either the patient has too much toxicity in their system, or they are simply devoid of nutrients and low-level anemia is present. In either case, these problems can be improved using Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine.
An analogy we often use is one of a garden hose which has no water coming out at the nozzle. Either the hose is pinched (too much toxicity), causing a reduction in water flow, or there simply is not enough water in the hose (weakness and anemia). Even though the complaint, fatigue, is the same for both problems, the methods of fixing the problems are completely different.
Fibromyalgia
Many women are suffering from this syndrome, which has no cure in Western Medicine. Clinically, we treat this problem at least five times a day with good results.
In Chinese medicine, we find two etiologies (causes) for fibromyalgia. The first is very poor blood circulation, almost always due to obesity. For every extra 10 pounds we have on our frames, the diameter of our blood vessels are cut in half (Mayo Clinic). If the patient is overweight, then there is a systemic lack of nutrient (Ying) and oxygen (Qi) circulation to all the major muscle groups of the body and the sensory nerves which surround them. The result is constant chronic pain.
Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine appear to be vasodilating the major longitudinal blood vessels of the body, thereby providing more oxygen and nutrients to the malnourished muscle groups. The result is a dramatic reduction of pain over a short period of time.
The second etiology is also malnourishment, but from a different cause. Some fibromyalgia suffers are simply anemic or borderline anemic. The anemia is a plasma anemia which Western Medicine fails to acknowledge. This type of patient is thin, frail, has dry skin, does not sleep well, is usually anxious and jumpy, and of course has a lot of pain, especially in the upper body. Chinese Herbal Medicine seeks to restore the fluid deficiency in the blood and body. The result is an improvement in the condition known as fibromyalgia.
Treating Infertility with Acupuncture
Did you know that treating infertility with Acupuncture and TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) has been recorded in our ancient texts, and even on the backs of turtle shells, for thousands of years? How can this age-old medicine make such a difference? In the last five years the science behind many studies reveal that:
- Chinese medical theory states that Acupuncture can increase blood flow to the reproductive organs, which dramatically improves a woman’s response to the hormonal therapy.
- Acupuncture has been shown to regulate hormone levels by moderating the release of beta-endorphin levels in the brain, which improves the release of gonadatrophin-releasing hormone by the hypothalamus, follicle-stimulating hormone from the pituitary gland, and estrogen and progesterone levels from the ovary.
- Acupuncture reduces stress and a hyperactive sympathetic nervous system response.
- Acupuncture has been speculated to moderate cyclooxygenase and prostaglandin levels in the uterus, reducing uterine motility to improve implantation rates.
The American Society of Reproductive Medicine’s Fertility & Sterility Journal has concluded the utility of acupuncture in conjunction with assisted reproductive technology. With all this evidence in the last five years, you would think that every reproductive clinic in the world would require their patients to receive acupuncture. Thanks to the role that acupuncture and TCM has played in helping women get pregnant, and the media coverage it has received in recent years, all of that is changing.
Menopause
Menopause is the permanent end of menstruation and fertility, defined as occuring 12 months after your last menstrual period. Menopause is a natural biological process, not a medical illness. Even so, the physical and emotional symptoms of menopause can disrupt your sleep, sap your energy and — at least indirectly — trigger feelings of sadness and loss.
Chinese medicine has been treating menopause for at least 2,000 years. The patient can expect the main symptoms of night sweats and hot flashes to be gone fairly quickly. The emotional upset that can go with menopause is treated very effectively with Chinese Herbal Medicine. In short, women suffering from menopause can expect an improvement in their symptoms using TCM.
Menstrual Cramps, Excessive Bleeding, and Amenorrhea
Among the most common complaints that we treat daily are menstrual disorders. Whether the problem is no period, too much bleeding, or excessive pain and cramping during menses, these are all problems readily handled by Chinese Herbal Medicine. Pain at period time is almost always due to vessel blockage in the lower abdomen. This can be caused by vaso-spasms in the vessels of the lower abdomen, excessive cold in the in the lower abdomen, fibroid cysts, or a disease known as endometriosis. All of these conditions, if not too structurally severe, are usually improved through a series of Acupuncture visits and the use of Chinese Herbal Medicine.
Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) refers to a wide range of physical or emotional symptoms that typically occur about 5-11 days before a woman starts her monthly menstrual cycle. The symptoms usually start when menstruation begins, or shortly thereafter. In Chinese medicine, PMS is almost always attributable to poor blood flow through the liver at the time of menses. Encouraging better circulation through the hepatic artery, which delivers 70% of the blood to the liver, can be very effective in helping with these problems. The Chinese discovered almost 2,500 years ago that emotional upset, in most cases, is a result of poor circulation through the liver. Over the centuries, the Chinese developed several methods for increasing blood flow to and through this vital organ. Once the liver is functioning properly, the emotional ups and downs are greatly reduced.
