Chinese Medicine & Accupuncture

Submitted by mommi2three on March 19, 2006 - 11:47am
Body: 

Hi, there has been so much activity on Chinese medicine lately I'd thought i would start a topic. :)

I am curious for the few that are using traditional chinese medicine...does the doc prescribe you a pack or herbs and you have to boil it up and drink it or is it premade by their own pharmacy?

I think the whole belief system centers around good blood circulation and energy of the body. Everything is described and hot or cold. Sometimes it is hard to translate its true meaning to the western culture.

So it does sound silly that not wearing shoes can chill the uterus! But I think that it can be interpreted as a translation of wearing something to keep the feet warm, even socks can improve circulation to the body and to pelvic area. It's like wearing a hat outside on a cold day to keep the heat from escaping your body. :)

Has anyone tried accupunction?

Christine

March 19, 2006 - 12:34pm

I don't find it silly at all, just different paradigms that women have to wade through for themselves. I've had accupuncture for over-the-top menstrual bleeding and for screeeeching neck pain resulting in vertigo. I was cured of both immediately.

rosewood

March 19, 2006 - 1:45pm

upon the recommendation of my pt, who has seen some of her patients with prolapses have great results with the herbs. She has also told me that warming up the body is crucial. Thus, no cold foods, no raw vegetables, no cold drinks, no alcohol, no hot and spicy food, and, this may strike a cord with some here, red meat every day! Giving up salads is the hardest for m e as I live off them -- so I've been steaming them, just a little bit. I do eat some meat anyway, organic/grass fed. And I'm taking a two week course of the herbs. They are the kind you boil and are really pungent. I will try to get a listing of the herbs in English -- it's a combination of probably 10 different herbs, a prescription based on my meetings with the doctor and her taking pulses, talking to me, looking at my tongue, etc. Since she has had such good success with other, can't hurt to try!

mommi2three

March 19, 2006 - 2:47pm

I commend you for really taking it to heart. It is more than just medicine. Is seems like a whole way of living. Yeah, the cold foods part is very hard to give up for most of us. I have seen a chinese doc too but have not been diligent with the herbal concoctions. I think they put this main ingredient (dong guai...) mostly for uterine health and I was sensitive to it. My mom went back and the herbalist gave her another herb to put in there (looks like white bark) to complement it. Everytime i drank something with dong guai in it I would wake up with a sore throat. I guess it produces alot of heat?

Let me know about your classes and ur herbs. You're right, nothing to lose.

Btw, did they mention ginseng to you? I was told to drink that once a month. But you have to make it with the real root and boil it in the tradition medicine steamer pot with some very lean fresh chicken breast or black chicken and eat the root with the soup.

UKmummy

March 19, 2006 - 2:52pm

I had acupucture in Taiwan from a Chinese Dr there for a chronic knee problem I was having when I ran alot. It REALLY helped and I had no further problems. We will be going back in the summer and I have been thinking about going back to see the same Dr for my prolapse issues. I don't think it can do any harm. Of course I will keep you all posted.

granolamom

March 19, 2006 - 8:08pm

so how does one go about finding a doctor of chinese medicine? this all sounds so interesting to me, especially because I always walk around barefoot, and have an aversion to cold foods, raw vegetables, cold drinks, and hot/spicy food. I am always cold, and if nothing else, would love to warm up!

mommi2three

March 19, 2006 - 8:36pm

I have gone to one by referral, usually someone who has used them or knows others who have used them. There are some well known docs usually by word of mouth in big chinatowns like nyc or san francisco. These docs don't have the school certificates on the walls but people in the area know they are trained from the old country.

There are professionally trained ones thru the Naturalpathic Medicine School but I have not come across one in my area. That may be an idea to browse thru the internet.

The ingredients of the herbs are complex and put together by their pharmacy..usually family business and it is very inexpensive for a consult. The herbal potions are interesting to drink...acquired taste but anything for better health! :) They just require time to prepare. So it is hard to be diligent so they tell you that you have to do it for a length of time to feel the difference. The herbal doc that i went to has a fancy operation in that they will even be able to mail you the brewed potion in a vacuum seal pack to save time. But it's probably best to just make it scratch so you could see all the things they put in there.

I think you will really benefit from it even if it is just improving your general health and energy. You mentioned that you are always cold? Do you know if you are anemic?

I know better nutition and following the warm foods recommendation has made a difference in my postpartum health & recovery.

mom30

March 23, 2006 - 7:14am

Hi. I was actually considering ordering these from Life Extension. I take their daily mix for my vitamins. If I try it, I'll let you know if it does anything.

http://search.lef.org/cgi-src-bin/MsmGo.exe?grab_id=0&page_id=5935&query=BetterWOMAN%20%C2%AE&hiword=%C2%AE%20BetterWOMAN%20

ann.helen

March 28, 2006 - 7:35pm

anne-helen

oh soul destoying! Wrote a huge post. (And for me that's saying something). decided to tinker and correct a spellin on one word. Lost it all.

I'll write it out again at the weekend but in the meantime...

I'm on year one of a very good acupuncture programme in canada and here's the very edited version of some of what i had written!

1. absolutely do not go to any untrained, "barefoot doc" type people with no certs on the wall. This intuitive bias is being taken advantage of by completely untrained people.

2. In the states NCCAOM training is of a very hight standard and anyone who has this certification is trained to a high level. So if looking for a practitioner, look for ones with this accreditation.

3. don't try make up the herb formula someone else got for their prolpase - it is only suitable for them and may make you very ill.

4. Definately don't all start eating hot or (was it cold food). There's more on this in my food posting from a few months back and i'll explain much more at the weekend.

If there's any typo's this time they're staying :)

xxxx
Anne-helen

Christine

March 29, 2006 - 10:35am

Thank you so much Anne-helen for all the wonderful insights and information you have provided us! Thanks much for the reply about the herbs! It's getting really hard to reply to every post and I so appreciate the time women take to share with and help each other (and the occassional husband, too!)