How to treat endometriosis from the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine

Chinese medicine has no such disease called endometriosis but categorizes it to dysmenorrhea, irregular menstruation, infertility, and abdominal stasis. The ancient medical book " Causes and Symptoms of Various Diseases" said women who suffer abdominal pain during menstruation are weak physically due to blood and Qi deficiency ,chill and cold attacking venation and cells that results in harm of Vital Channel. 

 

 

In endometriosis treatment,  western medicine currently employ progesterone, which will improve the patient's condition in a certain extent. However, its adverse reactions make the patient virilized such as increased hair, emotional changes, gruff voice and further affect liver function and gain more weight. Some will also have menopausal symptoms like hot flashes, sweating, vaginal dryness, irritability, depression, and joint pain. Generally, western medicine fails to eliminate the pathological mass, which can be removed surgically but relapse easily after the surgery. 

 

 

Thousands of years has witnessed the development of traditional Chinese medicine in endometriosis natural treatment with  a definite curative efficacy, which holds the view that the general situation of endometriosis manifests as overall weakness and partial fitness. In this disease, the root lies in the kidney, and the change develops from heart and spleen, which necessitates treatment from the basis of  heart, spleen and kidney. As kidney dominates reproduction, the main pathogenesis of the disease is caused by kidney and qi deficiency,  imbalance of yin and yang in kidney plus invasion of external cold wind into uterine cells leading to stasis.

 

 

Therefore, kidney deficiency is the fundamental to endometriosis, involving treatment based on tonifying kidney and improving energy.  Since the spleen is the source of life dynamic, responsible for transformation and growth of Qi and blood. In view of the fact that the kidney is the "bolt" of stomach, once the kidney is dysfunctional , the spleen is exhausted if the "bolt" fails to work. In a result, medicine that can tonify and boost kidney and stomach should be employed in large dose across the process of treatment, which will greatly promote the digestion and absorption of food and medicine. Because better digestion of food determines a healthier body while better digestion of medicine will maximize the medicine efficacy . 

 

In TCM,  medicine specially refers to herbs. Typically, herbs are able to easily enter human organs like heart, small intestine, kidney, liver, and urinary bladder, which enables themselves to cure disease from its roots and then nourish the organs after removal of pathological changes so that the possibility of regaining disease slumps in the future. In herbs for endometriosis, Fuyan Pill has sufficiently fulfill TCM theory that is made of a palette of herbs like Bupleurum falcatum L., poria cocos, radices scutellariae, Gardenia, Atractylodes ovata, Dioscorea Batatas, Atractylodes sinensis, Talcum, Angelica, semen persicae, saffron, liquorice, etc. All those herbs serve as an supplement to each other in a reasonable allocation. 

 

 

For instance, Largehead Atractylodes Rh, the root of Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz, which is bitter and slight sweet in flavour, warm in nature, can promote Qi circulation, clear away dampness, preserve spleen, dissolve stasis, treat tumor, reduce blood sugar, and prevent miscarrage. Largehead Atractylodes Rh is used to treat weakness of spleen and stomach, diarrhea, edema on pregnant women, abnormal sweating due to general debility. Chinese Yam, slight sweet and salty in flavour, mild in nature, can preserve spleen, muscles, hair, and kidneys.Chinese Yam is used to treat anorexia, frequent urination, asthma, weakness of spleen and kidneys, and chilblain.

 

 

Quite different from western medicine, herbs are more natural and compatible to body, thus, causing no drug resistance and tolerance or side effect. Further, herbs are precious food material in cook and capable of expanding one's life span. Such merits explain why herbs in treatment of gynecological diseases like endometriosis is gaining widespread popularity while western medicine and surgery are increasingly a niche pursuit in women.