The (Long Overdue) Normalization of Menstruation

The normalization of women's menstruation is long overdue. For centuries women’s cycles have been shrouded in mysticism and secrecy with the overarching belief being that during the time of the month when a woman bleeds, she is “impure” and must be kept out of the public eye. The menstrual rituals of different cultures run the gamut from the use of menstrual huts to “cleansing” baths once a woman ceases bleeding.

What this broad belief of “menstrual uncleanliness”  has done is create a culture around menstruation where bleeding is considered bad or unclean and therefore, as with most bad or unclean things, it does not get discussed; this lack of openness on the subject ensures serious and honest conversations about our cycles, including what is “normal”, do not occur. Too often, women believe that if their mother suffered from it (whatever “it” is…), then that is also their fate and if their mother did not, then they are just the unlucky one to have to deal with this problem now.

For this reason, so many women have no understanding about what a normal cycle is, what a period should feel like and further, what measures can be taken if they experience something pathological with their period. So having said that, I would like to shed some light on what a normal cycle is, what a normal period is and what can be done if you experience pain or discomfort. 

A normal cycle (with a cycle being defined as the first day of bleeding to the next first day of bleeding) can be anywhere from 26-35 days with the sweet spot really being 28-30 days. Some patients' cycles are slightly longer or shorter than this, and what I say regarding that is: if you are in good health and your cycle is regular, then that is what is normal for you, and what is normal for you is not pathological. A typical period from start to finish, will last anywhere from 3 to 6 days. Shorter or longer bleeding is atypical and would need to be explored further. As for pain with one's cycle, that is pathological, meaning it is not “normal” and not something that one must learn to just “power through” or “suffer with”. The same goes for pain with ovulation, or Mittelshmirz. Premenstrual syndrome is something many women struggle with, and is comprised of any number of uncomfortable symptoms, such as bloating, irritability, cramping and fatigue, experienced prior to a woman beginning her monthly bleed. There are many different reasons one might experience PMS or feel pain with their cycle or with ovulation, and in addition to speaking with a gynecologist, one can also seek out alternative remedies such as acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine to help alleviate any unusual symptoms. The usual course of treatment for a gynecologist when a women comes in with these complaints is to put the woman on birth control, which comes with its own set of issues. I am all for women having ownership of their bodies, it is another thing for me when I see doctors covering up pathology with a pill that does nothing to address the root of the problem.

Consider how many women you know who have had painful or irregular cycles. Think about how many women you know who may have had trouble conceiving. And now think about how most of those women struggled through the pain and how the ones trying to conceive had to see a number of doctors to get pregnant, if they were lucky enough to get pregnant at all. Think about all the women out there that don’t talk about it at all. This is what a lack of conversation does, it breeds a paucity of education about ourselves. If education is power, then the mainstreaming of women’s health is imperative to our work towards equality in healthcare. 

A Case of Extreme Bloating: Before and After

Another before/after transformation ✨😁✨
Patient came in with a chief complaint of extreme bloating (she is NOT pregnant). She had modified her diet on the advice of her dietician. Multiple functional tests reported nothing out of the ordinary. These cases are always the most frustrating for patients - they don’t feel good, but there is no pathological reason for it!
In her first treatment I opened her Dai Mai, the “girdling” channel, and worked on moving Qi of the Middle Jiao.
Next I prescribed a modified Fu Zi Li Zhong Wan for cold in the middle, to warm and move in an attempt to jumpstart movement in the middle.
The 1st pic is after her first treatment, where she said she already noticed a decrease in bloating. The 2nd pic is from today, after 6 days of herbs. Big difference!! There is still some bloating, but you can see her waist now and more importantly, she feels SO much better.
Next steps are to continue warming Yang and work on nourishing Spleen Qi so she can work on her next big project: getting pregnant. 

What is Ear Acupuncture & How Does it Work?

In the 1950s, Dr. Paul Nogier, coined as the “father of Auriculotherapy,” discovered that certain points in the ears correspond directly with specific parts of the body. The process of inserting hair thin needles into these specific points within the ear is called Auricular, or “ear,” acupuncture. Auricular is different from ‘regular,’ or body, acupuncture because it does not utilize the meridian system. Auricular utilizes points or areas within the ear to stimulate specific organs or to obtain certain results. It is similar to reflexology in that certain groups of cells gather in certain areas, like these specific points, and represent or dedicate themselves to specific parts, functions, and/or organs of the body. Therefore, “stimulation of a reflex point in the ear can relieve symptoms of distant pathology with a reliable duration,” (Gori & Firenzuoli, 2007). Signals created by ear acupuncture travel directly to the brain. The body then takes these signals as commands coming directly from the brain, thereby allowing ear acupuncture to take advantage of its own control center, the brain. 

Auricular acupuncture is used for a wide variety of reasons and is effective at treating a variety of physical, mental or emotional issues. It can be used alone or as an additional modality along with a typical acupuncture treatment. When used alone, the treatment is typically for pain or substance abuse and the aim is to get quick results with minimal time and energy. The most famous protocol to be administered alone is called the NADA protocol and is used to treat anxiety, addiction and for smoking cessation. When used along with body acupuncture, ear points help strengthen the treatment. Additionally, ear seeds (small seeds or magnets) are sometimes applied at the end of a treatment to further stimulate the points and help keep the effects of the acupuncture going between sessions. 

Overall, ear acupuncture (when administered properly by a licensed professional) can be as effective as body acupuncture at reducing pain, cravings, and easing anxiety. Many people enjoy the benefits as an extension of treatment, and as an added bonus many people love the way ear seeds look!

Works Cited:

Gori, L., & Firenzuoli, F. (2007). Ear Acupuncture in European Traditional Medicine. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine : eCAM, 4(Suppl 1), 13–16. http://doi.org/10.1093/ecam/nem106

What the Tongue Tells us About Your Health.

Everyone wants to know why we look at tongues and what we’re looking for. 

Well here is a great example: 25yo F trying to conceive. She has PCOS and hypothyroid and has not had a natural period in over 10 years. From her tongue I can see that she has damp accumulation, particularly of the low jiao, there is heat accumulation as a result of the damp, some blood deficiency, and dysfunction of the digestive system which is hampering all of this.

The 2nd picture was taken about 2 months later, after a course of damp clearing, Spleen and Kidney tonifying herbs. Here we see a lot of damp has been cleared by the thinner tongue coat, the coat is no longer yellow so we can see we have cleared heat as well. The tongue is far less puffy, though we still see some puffy “rails” on the sides, so we see fluids are not accumulating as they had been. And overall color is pinker - though the lighting is different, the color has definitely changed as well.

I’m also happy to report that after 10+ years, she finally got a natural period!! 

Next steps are monitoring BBT to try and track if and when she is ovulating to time conception and further Kidney Yang tonification to support a healthy pregnancy!