TCM understands the importance of treating gynecological diseases for thousands of years. The earliest records of gynecological medical writings date from the Shang dynasty (1500-1000 BC); bones and tortoise shells have been found with inscriptions dealing with childbirth problems. The Yellow Emperor’s Medicine Classic (Huang Di Nei Jing), a famous TCM classic completed 2000 years ago, described the anatomy, physiology, diagnosis and diseases that were specific to women. For generations, TCM practitioners continued to explore and consolidate the knowledge of gynecological issues, which has developed into a particular form of healing.
Traditionally, TCM believes that women’s diseases usually develop from a congenital deficiency, marriage at a very young age, multiple births, excessive sex, overstrain, improper diet, or injuries and infections. These pathogenic factors impair the functions of Zang Fu organs and Qi (the vital energy of the body) and Blood circulation throughout the body, leading to different disease patterns.
In modern practice, TCM gynecologists also make use of the advanced diagnostic methods of Western medicine. By integrating Western diagnostic perspectives with TCM pattern differentiations for women, TCM has greatly expanded the range of treatable conditions to the diseases that TCM rarely treated before, including endometriosis, ectopic pregnancy, fibroids, and PCOS.
However, TCM treatment for gynecological diseases still depends on the pattern differentiation diagnosis. Under normal circumstances, TCM diagnosis do not follow the disease classifications of modern Western medicine. TCM diagnoses illness by identifying a complex pattern of disharmony in the body. Pattern differentiation involves identifying the nature, location, underlying imbalance of the body as the root cause(s), functional changes occurring from the disharmony, and the degree of body’s resistance. Pattern differentiation not only consider local pathology and its corresponding organs but also the influence on unaffected body parts, predicting the disease progression.
Because patients with same Western disease may have different TCM patterns, each patient with same Western disease may receive totally different TCM treatments. By using the pattern differentiation approach, TCM can treat various complicated conditions that may not be diagnosed or treated in Western medicine.
NOTE: The names of organs are capitalized when referring to the entire, functional organ systems in TCM perspective: Liver, Blood, etc. The names of organs are lower-cased when referring to the distinct, biomedical organs: liver, blood, etc.
Examples of Gynecological Conditions Treated with TCM
Menstrual irregularities
- Amenorrhea (no periods) / early, late, or irregular cycles / heavy or scanty periods / long or short periods
Painful Periods (Dysmenorrhea)
PMS
Menopause
Endometriosis
Uterine Fibroids
PCOS
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