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Painful Periods

1. Overview and Causes
2. Symptoms
3. TCM Effectiveness and Evaluation
4. Common Syndromes and Treatments in TCM
  a. Blood Stasis due to Stagnation of Qi
  b. Qi Stagnation in the Liver and Gallbladder
  c. Deficiency of Both Qi and Blood
   5. Healing by Other Therapies
  a. Qigong and other
  b. Medicated diet
  c. Life style
6. Psychological Adaptation


1. Overview and Causes

Painful Periods, especially menstrual cramps, are also called dysmenorrhea. If the pain starts within about three years of menarche, it is known as primary dysmenorrhea, which is thought to be a result of normal hormonal changes during menstruation and can persist for years until menopause. If periods become painful in a woman who has been menstruating longer than three years, the condition is know as secondary dysmenorrhea, which may be caused by disorders such as endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease, or fibroid

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2. Symptoms

1. The pain in the lower abdomen appears with the menstrual cycle.
2. Menstrual pain varies considerably. Some women have dull pain in the abdomen or back, others have severe cramping abdominal pains. It is usually worse at the beginning of the period. Sometimes there is also nausea and vomiting.

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3. TCM Effectiveness and Evaluation

TCM is most effective for insomnia. About 85 percent cases have a satisfied effect.

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4. Common Syndromes and Treatments in TCM

This ailment, according to TCM, has different syndromes. The treatment for these syndromes using herbal medicine and acupuncture is shown below.

Syndrome (a)
Blood stasis due to stagnation of Qi

Distending pain and tenderness in the lower abdomen one or two days prior to or during menstruation accompanied with fullness sensation in the chest, hypochondrium and breast, deep-purple blood with clots, relief of pain after discharge of clots, ecchymoses on the tongue and edges, string-like pulse.

To treat by Herbal medicine
Therapeutic principle: regulating the flow of Qi and removing blood stasis to alleviate the pain.
Prescription/Formula: Modified decoction for Removing blood stagnation in the lower abdomen. Common fennel fruit, Cinnamon bark at 6 g each; Angelica root, Chuanxiong rhizome, penny root, Corydalis tuberat, Myrrh, Cat-tail pollen at 10 g each; Trogopterus dung, Poria at 12 g each.

  

To treat by Acupuncture and Moxibustion
Therapeutic principle: Regulating the circulation of Qi, activate blood, resolve blood stasis and relieve pain by using points mainly from the Ren meridian and the Liver meridian of Foot Jueyin.

Prescription/Formula: Taichong (LR3), Sanyinjiao (SP6), Hegu (LI4)

  

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Syndrome (b)
Stagnancy of Cold and Dampness

Distending pain and tenderness in the lower abdomen one or two days prior to or during menstruation accompanied with fullness sensation in the chest, hypochondrium and breast, deep-purple blood with clots, relief of pain after discharge of clots, ecchymoses on the tongue and edges, string-like pulse.

To treat by Herbal medicine
Therapeutic principle: Regulating the flow of Qi and removing blood stasis to alleviate the pain.

Prescription/Formula: Modified decoction for Removing blood stagnation in the lower abdomen. Common fennel fruit, Cinnamon bark at 6 g each; Angelica root, Chuanxiong rhizome, penny root, Corydalis tuberat, Myrrh, Cattail pollen at 10 g each; Trogopterus dung, Poria at 12 g each.

  

To treat by Acupuncture and Moxibustion
 Therapeutic principle: Regulating the circulation of Qi, activate blood, resolve blood stasis and relieve pain by using points mainly from the Ren meridian and the Liver meridian of Foot Jueyin.
Prescription: Taichong (LR3), Sanyinjiao (SP6), Hegu (LI4)


  

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Syndrome (c)
Deficiency of Both Qi and Blood

Distending pain and tenderness in the lower abdomen one or two days prior to or during menstruation accompanied with fullness sensation in the chest, hypochondrium and breast, deep-purple blood with clots, relief of pain after discharge of clots, ecchymoses on the tongue and edges, string-like pulse.

To treat by Herbal medicine
Therapeutic principle: Regulating the flow of Qi and removing blood stasis to alleviate the pain.

Prescription/Formula: Modified decoction for Removing blood stagnation in the lower abdomen. Common fennel fruit, Cinnamon bark at 6 g each; Angelica root, Chuanxiong rhizome, penny root, Corydalis tuberat, Myrrh, Cattail pollen at 10 g each; Trogopterus dung, Poria at 12 g each.



To treat by Acupuncture and Moxibustion
Therapeutic principle: Regulating the circulation of Qi, activate blood, resolve blood stasis and relieve pain by using points mainly from the Ren meridian and the Liver meridian of Foot Jueyin.
Prescription: Taichong (LR3), Sanyinjiao (SP6), Hegu (LI4)

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5. Healing by Other Therapies

(a) Qigong and other therapies

For effect of Qigong on the Nervous System Function, click here.

Generally, Qigong can relieve pain as it improves the circulation of qi and blood. Results won't be visable right away, however it takes less time for Qigong to heal pain than other ailments.

The following types of Qigong may help:

For the information of different types of Qigong ,just click a link above.

This information is for education purpose only. We strongly advise you seek a licensed Qigong master to learn the correct ways to conduct these exercises before attempting them.


 (b) Medicated diet
1) Finger Citron(Fushou) 10g, Fresh Ginger(Shengjiang) 6g. Decoct the finger citron and ginger in water, remove the residues from the decoction. Add some white granulated sugar and take it warm. It is applicable to Dysmenorrhea caused by stagnation of the liver-qi.
2) Bark of Chinese Cassia Tree(Guipi) 6g, Flesh of Hawthorn Fruit(Shanzharou) 10g, Brown Sugar(Hongtang) 30g. Decoct the above ingredients together in water. Take it warm prior to menstruation. It is applicable to dysmenorrhea due to blood stasis caused by accumulation of cold.
3) Chinese Angelica Root(Danggui) 15g, Mutton(Yangrou) 125g, Fresh Ginger(Shengjiang) 30g. Stew the above listed ingredients to make soup for oral administration. It is applicable to dysmenorrhea of qi and blood deficiency.

(c) Life style
1. Take enough rest and keep in good mood.
2. Avoid wet or cold.
3. Take some tonic or nourishing food if qi and blood deficiency

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6. Psychological Adaptation to a Chronic and Severe Illness
One encounters different health problems in the course of one's life. Some problems are acute yet minor and often improve by themselves or yield to simple self-management. Severe and acute conditions often necessitate the help of health professionals who may provide fast relief with specific interventions. However, when the condition is chronic, the management required is quite different.

Please click the following button to learn "Psychological Adaptation to a Chronic and Severe Illness".

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Acknowledgments:
Healthphone.com greatly acknowledges the support and dedication of our
Healing Centre Panel, without whom this section would not be possible.

We also greatly acknowedge Ms. Najaf Munir, MBBS, for her editorial support. Ms. Munir simplified the highly technical medical documents into easy-to-read documents, for the enjoyment and education of our numerous visitors.