International Women’s Day is right around the corner, so it’s time to talk about women’s health. There are loads of health conditions specific to women out there, and although it’s not a replacement for advice from a medical doctor, many people choose to explore traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in conjunction with Western medicine to help soothe some of the common conditions specific to women around the world.
What does TCM believe about women’s health?
Most important body processes that women go through in life involve blood (be it menstruation, pregnancy, birth or lactation), hence TCM practitioners believe good blood is at the core of a strong and healthy life. Whether it is puberty, pregnancy and childbirth, or menopause, TCM believes that many female illnesses are a result of imbalances in the blood.
Many traditional Chinese medicine practitioners try to look at what they believe are the root causes of imbalances—namely poor diet and lifestyle, cold exposure during periods, too much heat, stress, or toxic exposure—and use natural methods with the goal of helping to correct and maintain optimum fertility and minimise the risk of other female issues such as PCOS, fibroids, miscarriages, PMS, and endometriosis (to name a few).
Specific TCM practices targeted towards optimal female health include Facial Acupuncture and Gua Sha for weight management. Here’s what you didn’t know:
Better skin with facial acupuncture
Traditional Chinese medicine views skin health as a reflection of internal health. TCM approaches this with facial (and body) acupuncture that aims to improve the body’s constitution as a whole. The thought is that a better internal environment results in better skin health too, as the acupoints are linked to specific internal organs throughout the body. For instance, TCM practitioners believe dark eye circles and eye bags could suggest kidney deficiency, dampness due to spleen deficiency, or blood stasis within the body; while dark facial spots can be due to stagnation of Qi and blood. As TCM aims to treat the underlying conditions with herbs and acupuncture only, there are no severe side effects to facial acupuncture (apart from occasional bruising which goes away within a week), and it could play a role in helping several beauty issues including skin pigmentation, acne, wrinkles, dull skin, puffy face, eye bags and dark eye circles.
Weight management with gua sha
Also known as scraping, gua sha treatment involves the skin being lightly scraped (刮 “gua”) using a scraping tool to produce a red, bruise-like/rash-like appearance (痧 “sha”). The scraping is purported to help relieve tension, tightness and blockages in the meridians, thus promoting blood circulation while dispelling toxins from the body. This is commonly used by TCM enthusiasts to help treat weight management issues, but it is also used to address a variety of illnesses, including pain management, thanks to its believed ability to increase microcirculation in the body.
Traditional Chinese medicine is not a replacement for conventional medical treatments and pharmaceuticals prescribed by medical doctors to cure or treat diseases. Coconuts Media is not a medical service provider and cannot replace advice from a doctor.