I have been in practice for almost
sixteen years. During that time, the practice of Traditional Chinese
Medicine (TCM) has grown by leaps and bounds. However, in this
country, TCM is still in its infancy. As a result, most of our
population is not really familiar with what it is or what it treats. Many
times I have heard the comment, “I didn’t know acupuncture treated
back pain!” or “I thought all acupuncture could treat was pain.”
Before we go further, let’s look at
just what TCM is. Traditional Chinese Medicine is an umbrella term to
include the practice of acupuncture, herbal medicine, exercise,
dietary therapies, and massage. For
ease in explanation, let’s just consider the practice of herbal
medicine and acupuncture. Some
TCM practitioners were trained in acupuncture with little or no
exposure to Chinese herbal medicine, while others were trained in
both. Unfortunately, most
of the states, including Alaska, have designated us as acupuncturists
rather than by some other classification more suggestive of the type
of medicine we actually practice.
This is important to note because some types of medical
problems respond best to acupuncture and some respond better to herbal
medicine.
TCM gynecology is a specialty that
falls under internal medicine and is primarily treated with herbal
medicine. In fact, the
practice of gynecology in TCM hospitals and clinics in China is almost
exclusively herbal medicine. This
is not to say that acupuncture is not useful but, rather, the emphasis
should be on herbal medicine. Personally,
I rarely use acupuncture for my gynecology patients but do find it
useful in cases of severe menstrual cramping (dysmenorrhea), PMDD
(premenstrual dysphoric disorder), occasionally in cases of
significant breast pain, and in a few other cases. However, herbal
medicine is always used with all these cases.
So what is TCM gynecology?
TCM gynecology is a specialty field within TCM that deals with
4 areas: 1) menstrual diseases; 2) abnormal vaginal discharge; 3) pre
and post partum issues; and 4) miscellaneous diseases such as: breast
disease, vaginitis, vaginal pain, cervical dysplasia and others.
Diagnosis is based on TCM pattern
discrimination, though some practitioners will also utilize Western
medical model disease classifications. (TCM pattern discrimination is
too complex a topic to discuss here, though for those interested there
is an abundance of information on the Internet and in many books.) The
value of TCM gynecology is its ability to correct underlying
imbalances which lead to gynecologic complaints.
Take, for example, the treatment of
premenstrual syndrome. Allopathic (conventional Western medical model of diagnosis
and treatment) intervention is to assume this complex of symptoms is
normal. If felt to interfere with the quality of life of the patient,
doctors may attempt to treat the symptoms—rather than resolve the
underlying problem. Symptomatic treatment can involve several
approaches, including the use of birth control pills to override the
hormone imbalance. Similarly, an allopathic physician may treat
primary dysmenorrhea (menstrual cramping which is not secondary to
something else such as pelvic inflammatory disease) with certain types
of pain medication which acts as prostaglandin inhibitors or with oral
contraceptives. The
problem is that while these treatments are often times superficially
beneficial, they do not address the underlying imbalance that is
causing the problem. However, TCM pattern discrimination and the use of herbs can
often times totally eliminate
primary dysmenorrhea on a long term or permanent basis with only three
to five menstrual cycles of treatment.
Perhaps you are asking yourself:
“Does this really work?” A November 2007 study from the Centre for Complementary
Medicine Research at the University of Western Sydney found the
following: “All available measures of effectiveness confirmed the
overall superiority of Chinese herbal medicine to placebo, no
treatment, NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), OCPs (oral
contraceptive pill), acupuncture and heat compression."
As another example, let’s consider
breast related issues. Many
breast complaints are so common they are considered normal. In fact,
fibrocystic breast disease has been renamed fibrocystic breast changes
and is now considered a normal occurrence! Significant premenstrual breast pain is also considered to be
of little concern unless the pain is so intense that it interferes
with your quality of life. Based
on my experience (I probably treat more breast-related complaints than
any TCM practitioner in Alaska) and TCM
theory, I can tell you that these common breast complaints are
not normal. Rather, they are considered indications of progressive
bioenergetic imbalances which increase your odds of developing more
significant breast disease. Further, these imbalances
can in fact be
treated and, in the vast majority of cases, will
resolve. If these
complaints were truly normal, would they respond to treatment?
Not likely.
In general, TCM is based on an
entirely different way of evaluating health and disease than
traditional allopathic means. I
have found that health concerns which were not treatable or poorly
treated from an allopathic medical model can often times be managed or
resolved from a TCM model. This
is not to say that TCM has all the answers, because it certainly does
not. However, it is a
valid and very beneficial form of medicine which can complement or be
used independently of other forms of health care.
By
limiting yourself to one form of medicine—be it allopathic,
naturopathic, TCM or any other medical model—you limit yourself.
Empowerment comes from the ability to make choices.
So, what’s the answer? Find the best medical model(s) for
you, for your given health problem, and you will be significantly more
effective in reaching your health related goals.
Michael
Wedge has practiced acupuncture and oriental medicine in the
Valley since 1992.
He specializes in menstrual, breast and pain-related health
problems. Website: www.premieracupuncture.com;
Phone: 745-7928; E-mail: pacm@mtaonline.net
