Women’s Problems
In my experience more women attend the acupuncture clinic
than men; this is understandable as women have the extra physiological function
of menstruation. The term women’s
problems covers a wide range of disharmony, from relatively common
conditions such as painful periods and irregular cycles to less common but
frequently seen disharmonies such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and
endometriosis. Associated disharmonies in fertility, obstetrics and the
menopause[1] may also be classed as women’s problems.
Modern Western medical practices have added to the list of women’s problems by the use of and side
effects of procedures, such as oral contraception, fertility drugs, steroids, antibiotics
and invasive procedures such as intrauterine devices (IUDs) and fertility
treatments. A list of some of the women’s
problems that traditional Chinese medicine acupuncture can help with is
given in Table 1.
Modern life causes additional stresses that all too often
lead to or aggravate illness, things such as working too hard for long hours,
not getting enough rest and poor and irregular diet. Other phenomena such as delaying child birth
to middle or even old age, choosing not to have babies at all and the long term
use of contraceptives can all have an effect on women’s health.
I am not opposed to Western medicine treatment for women’s
problems, although I feel many conditions can be better treated with
acupuncture and life style advice so negating the need for the ubiquitous drugs
of Western medicine. Recent research shows that Western procedures such as IVF
and other fertility procedures can often be made more successful and cost
effective when combined with acupuncture, although again it may be in many
cases that acupuncture alone would be successful in helping with infertility
problems.
Traditional Chinese medicine differs considerably from
Western medicine as it takes a holistic approach and treats the whole person
not specifically their illness. See the What to expect section for details of
a typical visit to an acupuncturist. In the case of women’s problems the number and frequency of treatments would vary
from patient to patient but often in the case of menstrual problems 3 cycles (3
months) are needed to achieve good results although some change or relief is
often noticed after 1 or 2 treatments. Visits may be weekly then perhaps
monthly or bimonthly, it is very much dependent on the person and the precise
disharmony. Some conditions can respond very quickly with very few treatments
whereas other chronic conditions may take longer.
Due to the holistic nature of the treatment it is not
uncommon for signs and symptoms the patient thinks unconnected to the main
complaint to improve, for instance sleep may be better, energy levels higher
and digestion improved. Some patients choose to return regularly for
acupuncture even when the main complaint is no longer significant so as to
maintain a healthy balance and feeling of wellbeing.
[1]Men also have a menopause sometimes labelled andropause; this is generally a more subtle decline associated with middle age men and often not greatly affecting day to day life, however it can be troublesome causing many of the same symptoms seen in the female menopause, such as loss of sexual drive (including impotence), depression, poor memory, fatigue, insomnia and hot flushes.