Women’s Health

Hormonal Balance/ Wellbeing

A woman’s body is designed to balance various complex hormonal cycles, some of which start at puberty with menstruation, ovulation, conception, and menopause. Because of the complexity of women’s endocrine cycles, it is common that many women suffer various symptoms such as sleep problems, chronic acne, fatigue, weight gain, headaches, depression, and infertility. Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine focuses on restoring body’s natural cyclic hormone balance. Acupuncture and Chinese Herbs are often used for pain management due to its high efficiency because Chinese Medicine targets the root of the problem it helps alleviate many of the associated symptoms that patients often complain of. They include: severe cramps, abdominal pains, breast tenderness, and headaches. 

Fertility for females is strongly connected with menstrual hormonal balance. There are methods such as assisted reproductive technologies (ART) which forcibly controls hormone levels with pharmaceutical medications and surgeries; however, Chinese Medicine seeks to balance hormonal levels without invasive methods to achieve suitable conditions for patients. Chinese medicine has a long history of treating infertility and improving women’s health and men’s fertility.

 
Terminology used in Traditional Chinese Medicine are often different from the conventional western medical terminologies because they describe the body from different perspective.

There’s four major criteria of dysfunctions:

1. Deficiency syndrome: insufficient amount of hormone produced by respective organs to achieve desired effects.
2. Stagnancy syndrome: Sufficient amount of hormone, however, body does that adequately to the hormone.
3. Cold syndrome:Hands & Foots, Abdominal Coldness.
4. Heat syndrome: Abnormal function of affected organ.

Typical Traditional Chinese Medicine diagnoses for Infertility:

• Kidney Yin or Yang deficiency: Kidney yin and yang is important in estradiol and progesterone balance. Yin deficiency may lead to disrupted follicular phase while Yang deficiency would directly disrupt luteal phase. Follicular phase precedes luteal phase and the hormones are orchestrated in intricate manner that change in one phase would disrupt the other.
• Spleen Qi deficiency: Spleen Qi works with Kidney Yang and plays a critical role in luteal phase of menstrual cycle.
• Liver Qi stagnation: Liver Qi is crucial in ovulation.

These dysfunctions can surface itself by variety of symptoms such as dysmenorrhea (painful period), polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), poor circulations and many other clinical presentations. Traditional Chinese Medicine targets the root cause of such symptoms which not only alleviates the patient of the symptoms but corrects the actual dysfunction leading to better health rather than temporary symptom relief. Traditional Chinese Medicine is actually simple when it comes to infertility. It essentially restores patient’s health in order to provide suitable environment for conception to occur.

In-vitro Fertilization (IVF) and Traditional Chinese Medicine: IVF is essentially introducing one or more fertilized egg to an uterus in order for the egg or eggs to implant itself and achieve conception. Traditional Chinese Medicine is excellent method to increase the likelihood of implantation because Traditional Chinese Medicine treatments improve the health of an uterus and balances hormone levels to provide ideal environment for conception. Traditional Chinese Medicine in IVF is ideal for:

• Planning on choosing IVF to achieve conception
• Have tried to conceive through IVF but failed to conceive 
• And many other cases which may be specific to you, we may be able to help
• Planning on choosing IUI to achieve conception

Tradtional chinese medicine can help:

• P.M.S
• M.P.S
• Hormone imbalance
• Infertility
  • P.C.O.S
  • Endometriosis
  • Obstetrics
  • Stress
  • Unknown cause
• Irregular menstration
• Amenorrhea/ Dysmenorrhagia/ Hypermenorrhea
• Pelvic health
• Incontinence
• Low libido
• Postpartum Care

Prescription Herbs

Chinese Herbs have been used for approximately 2,000 years to treat a wide array of health problems. Herbal Medicines can enhance fertility by helping natural functions of the ovulation and fertility process. Many Infertility condition can be treated with herbal medicines. This includes advanced maternal age, luteal-phase-defect, premature ovarian failure, male factor, or unexplained symptoms. The prescription Herbs treatment is one of the most sophisticated herbal systems in existence. The prescribed herbs formula strongly corrects the body conditon based on indivualized patterns diagnosis as well as a disease diagnosis. Your pattern is made up of your symptoms, and the constitution of your body either being weak/strong, hot/cold, young/old etc. Prescription herbs is tailored to your specific pattern as well as symptoms and disease. It is important to understand that the real value and effectivness comes from being properly diagnosed and taking the appropriate herbal formula through working with an experienced Doctor of Chinese Medicine, licensed Acupuncturist or other qualified practitioner. Dr Katherine Cheon Ph.D specializes in infertility care and has a deep knowledge for T.C.M herbology through the long years of family business and experimental practice.

Moxibustion

Is an ancient technique used by Eastern Medicine practitioners which involves the burning of an herb on or close to the skin to eliminate cold, strengthen the blood, stimulate the flow of Qi, and maintain general health. Historically, this plant is grown, dried and pummeled into a soft cloud-like “punk” which is burnt on the skin (scarring or direct moxibustion) or used on the end of a needle (indirect moxibustion). As I’m sure you can imagine, modern technology has made some alterations to moxibustion therapy to ensure the burning of moxa is safer,  more reliable and consistent in heat control as well as smokeless. Moxibustion is fantastic for all aspects of fertility, pregnancy, birth, and even after birth of your beautiful baby. To assist with fertility, Moxa can be used to warm and increase blood flow to the Uterus, improve thickness of the Utrine lining and aid acupuncture treatments to encourage smooth movement of QI through the body.