MATERNITY SUPPORT
Minimize Morning Sickness
Post Labor Recuperation
Correcting Breech and Inducing Labor
URINARY TRACT DISORDERS
Interstitial Cystitis
Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)
Urinary Incontinence
GASTROINTESTINAL DISORDERS
Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Recurrent Stomachaches and Recurrent Stomachaches
GENERAL HEALTH ISSUES
Stress and Pain Management
Allergy Elimination
Smoking Cessation
MATERNITY SUPPORT
Minimizing Morning Sickness:During the first three months of pregnancy, most women experience nausea, possible vomiting, a bloated feeling in the pelvic area and breast. These are normal effects.
“It doesn’t have to be that way,” Jane Liu says. “Besides avoiding extremely salty foods, getting plenty of rest, and eating small meals several times a day instead of three large meals, expecting women should try acupuncture to help alleviate the symptoms especially if they cannot eat a normal meal without feeling nauseous.”
To back up her claim, Jane offers the neiguan point – also know as PC-6 – which lies about three fingers’ width above the crease on the inside of the wrist, between two tendons. For reasons that defy scientific analysis, a firm pricking of that point seems to settle the stomach.
Several studies during the past ten years have shown that pregnant women who receive needle stimulation of the neiguan point are far less likely than their unstuck counterparts to suffer from nausea or vomiting in the first three months of pregnancy. Equally good results have been obtained with cancer patients using the lifesaving but usually nauseating chemotherapy drug cisplatin. In at least two studies of more than 100 patients each, better than 90 percent of them had significantly less nausea when treated with acupuncture just before taking the drug.
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Post Labor Recuperation: Too often, when we think of labor support, we think of C-sections, epidurals, and sepsis for newborns. But in China, mothers pay more attention to recuperation after delivery. Post-labor nourishment is centuries old in Asia, and it is intuitively obvious that those women who feel most supported in labor are apt to do the best.
The technical aspects of various delivery procedures are very simple and don’t usually cause women any physical problems. “But we notice that there are some labor traumas due to hormonal and physiological imbalances,” Says Jane. “If we can help mothers to recuperate after delivery, it will make the difference in the later years. The mothers who had post-labor care seem to suffer less from depression, arthritis, irregular periods, heavy flows, and low back pains. It is the best time to nourish the mother.”
How does a mother nourish herself after giving birth? “Mothers need to make informed choices about special diet, exercise, and stress management while taking care of their babies,” says Jane Liu. “This adjustment alone can produce great results. I’ve been very impressed in my own practice by how much women can really modify their health problems, just by modifying their lifestyle.”
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Correcting Breech and Inducing Labor:A breeched baby and post term labor are two childbirth emergency situations. Acupuncture therapy can help to prevent the disorders without drugs or C-section.
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URINARY TRACT DISORDERS
Interstitial Cystitis:Interstitial cystitis is another disorder, which is most commonly found in women. It is a chronic inflammatory condition of the bladder wall. Unlike common cystitis, interstitial cystitis is believed not to be caused by bacteria and does not respond to conventional antibiotic therapy. It is important to note that interstitial cystitis is not a psychosomatic disorder.
Patients may present some or all these symptoms: frequency of urination at day or night, the sensation of having to urinate immediately, and pain in the lower abdominal, urethral or vaginal area. Pain is also frequently associated with sexual intercourse. Jane says, “Some patients also report muscle and joint pain, migraines, allergic reactions and gastrointestinal problems. It appears that interstitial cystitis has an as yet unexplained association with certain other chronic diseases such as vulvar visibilities, fibromyalgia and irritable bowel syndrome.”
“Though the cause of interstitial cystitis is unknown, I feel that it is, in part, an autoimmune disorder.” Jane says. Making antibodies against the body’s own tissue is the characteristic of autoimmune diseases that stymie conventional medical science and that cannot be “cure” in the conventional sense. The immune system is highly sensitive, and our survival depends on its ability to recognize and distinguish self from non-self. What can possibly be going on when the immune system carries out self-destruct orders? “ To help ourselves heal, we can use the evidence that the immune system carries out the messages from our neuro-endocrine-immune network. And acupuncture and oriental herbal medicine may heal the interstitial cystitis by regulating this self-adjust network.” Jane explains. “That is why acupuncture and herbal medicine works.”
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Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections (UTI): Most of us experienced a few urinary tract infections over our lifetime. The “honeymoon cystitis” is one of the primary causes of UTI, which under the right conditions causes bacteria from the vaginal area to get into the bladder. The symptoms include burning on urination, blood in the urine, and fever. Married women, however, experience recurrent bladder infections, which are treated with repeated courses of antibiotics. This is a different story, and requires a different approach. Chronic use of antibiotics to treat recurrent UTI doesn’t address the underlying imbalance in the body that is leading to the infections, and antibiotics can also kill off helpful vaginal flora, resulting in yeast infections, diarrhea, and – unfortunately – recurrent urinary tract infections.
“Chinese medicine treats recurrent urinary tract infections in different ways,” says Jane. “Acupuncturist focus on the body’s healing system and not just the area of the urinary tract infection.” As we know, the immune system is the body’s natural stronghold against viruses, bacteria, and yeast. The problem is that it weakens over time, and for decades, conventional medicine has insisted that there is no way to block this inevitable decline. New research is suggesting that there may be some ways we can keep our immune system humming along with little interference. Chinese medicine is one of these effective ways that does appear to have immune-boosting powers.
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Urinary Incontinence:
Urinary incontinence is one of the most common problems for women who have a history of natural delivery. It also occurs in women who have had a sequelae by accident or surgery. Normally, all of them can be controlled by strong pelvic floor exercise. But certain cases might need some more help. If nerves have been damaged, it will take a long period to heal. The patient may even have anxiety or depression or another psychologic issue because of incontinence. Acupuncture and herbs may help to stable and nourish the nerves system, so the feedback between bladder and brain (nerves release signals or chemicals to stimulate the brain) become strong and back to normal. Acupuncture also decreases anxiety and depression to help a patient manage the body better.
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GASTROINTESTINAL DISORDERS
Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Recurrent Stomachaches: Irritable Bowel Syndrome is one of the common digestive disorders, which usually happens in female more often than in male. It is related to stress, eating habit, life style, medical history and women’s own constitution. Acupuncture and herbal medicine have been reported to relieve the disorders effectively.
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GENERAL WOMEN’S HEALTH ISSUES
Stress and pain management without drugs: Stress and pain management without drugs: Current estimates show that between 70 and 80 percent of all visits to physicians are for stress-related disorders.
Chronic stress directly affects the immune system, and if not effectively dealt with, can seriously compromise health. According to Chinese medicine, stress may be a factor in the development of many diseases. Treatment of stress includes acupuncture and herbs to help balance the body’s energies and relieve the tension that constricts the functioning of a particular part of the body.
Studies suggest that acupuncture is good for just about anything that hurts: menstrual cramps, headache, migraine, endometriosis, tennis elbow, and muscle strain. In a small pilot study at University of Maryland, researchers showed that in adults with osteoarthritis of the knee – a painful degeneration of the joint lining – a twice-weekly acupuncture treatment reduced pain and increased mobility in eight out of 12 patients over a period of two months.
Acupuncture for Women has treated patients with menstrual cramps, headaches, migraine, endometriosis, degenerative arthritis, neuropathy, trigeminal neuralgia, sciatica, sports injuries, such as tennis elbow, muscle spasm and strain, hypertension and stroke.
One of Jane Liu’s patients, a fifty-five year-old store owner who worked eighty hours a week, came to her complaining of headaches, neck pain, low back pain, insomnia, high blood pressure, and lost interest in sex for a six months duration. Jane Liu treated the patient with acupuncture and herbs. After weekly treatment for one and a half months, her pain became minimal, her blood pressure returned to normal, she regained her sexual desire, and only occasionally suffered from insomnia. As long as a stress-filled lifestyle is maintained, a monthly “maintenance” treatment is recommended to maintain the effects.
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Allergy Elimination: Control allergies with alternative methods: From the view of Chinese medicine, an allergic reaction is not only related to antigen and antibody interaction but is also linked to body constitution and life style. Acupuncture and herbal medicine can help improve the body’s immune system and eliminate allergy symptoms.
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Smoking Cessation: Break addictions to cigarettes or other drugs: Acupuncture’s habit-breaking benefits have been well documented in people hooked on heroin and crack cocaine through a problem called Drug Count, in which felony drug offenders are given the chance to enter an intensive program of counseling and daily acupuncture treatments as an alternative to prison. Acupuncture stimulation on the ears and wrists has a powerful calming effect, counselors and addicts say. It not only reduces the craving for a fix – perhaps by substituting the brain’s own endorphins – but it also helps addicts relax enough to think clearly about their predicament and to resolve to change their lives.
The needle has had success against other addictions, as well. In a two-month study, more than half the alcoholics who got acupuncture stayed sober, compared to 3 percent of those who received “sham” acupuncture treatments, in which needles were inserted in phony acupuncture points.
And for a testimonial on acupuncture as an aid to quitting cigarettes, just ask the judge who administers the drug count program in Miami’s Dade County. He smoked several packs a day for 35 years until ten years ago, when he served the same sentence on himself that he had just serving on convicted felons. After two weeks, he kicked the habit for good.
Liu proposes a simple acupuncture treatment — a few pins in the ears and wrists, every week, for half an hour.
