Are You Ready to Thrive?

A female patient in her late 20s came in with heavy periods.  She'd had heavy periods for as long as she could remember, but they'd gotten worse after having her 2 children.  She bled approximately 300 mL/month (with normal being 10-80mL) since having her last child.

She'd been to her biomedical doctor and it was found that she wasn't anemic (which surprised the doctor) and that her thyroid function was normal.  Her doctor could find no other causes for the abnormal bleeding.

We used acupuncture and Chinese herbal formulas to stem the flow, and treat her underlying Qi deficiency.  Her energy levels had risen some (she'd been experiencing extreme fatigue), but found no changes after 9 months of treatment, trying many different formulas and acupuncture treatments.

What I have found when patients don't seem to respond to Chinese medicine is that there is often some sort of underlying nutritional deficiency occurring.  So we started looking into what sorts of nutritional deficiencies may be present.

This patient also has a gluten intolerance and has been gluten-free for 7 years.  Upon doing some research into Celiac disease, I found that many nutritional deficiencies are common because of the changes that occur in the bowels in Celiac Disease.  Most common are the fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamins A and K.

We started by supplementing with vitamin K because of it's role in clotting, but after 2 months found only minimal changes in her flow amounts.  

Next we tried supplementing with vitamin A.  After only one month, her flow has decreased by approximately half.  We looked into the other symptoms of vitamin A deficiency and found that she has experienced many of those as well!

Food IS medicine.  Unfortunately for this patient, because of an absorptive issue, even eating a healthy diet wasn't helping to rectify her health complaint.

Auricular acupuncture, acupuncture that is done in the ear, is a common system for treating almost any health complaints.  It's most known for its use in treating drug addiction, but it can be used for so much more!  Even the military is starting to use it to help ease PTSD and pain.

Auricular acupuncture is considered a microsystem.  Much like reflexology (which is also a micro-system - of the foot), the entire body is reflected in the ear.  Take a look at the picture above.  If you use your imagination, you can see the human figure.  (The picture I chose even has a skeleton superimposed to help with those of us with a little weaker imagination skills ;)  )  The ear lobe represents and treats the head, the middle ridge of the ear treats the spine and the deep part of the ear near the ear canal treats our internal organs.

I've used the ear to treat many conditions, including assisting with weight loss, addiction, quitting smoking, back pain, labor pain reduction, stress reduction, anxiety and depression.  I've even used it to help a cat with cancer who had no appetite and hadn't eaten, except when force-fed, for almost 2 weeks.  I needled his ears and within 10 minutes he was scarfing down a bowl of canned cat food!

In addition to needles, we have what are called "ear seeds."  Ear seeds can be an actual seed (often a mustard seed that has been treated so it won't sprout) or a tiny metallic ball that is placed on the point in the ear and then held in place with a tiny band-aid.  The benefit?  They're a great way to extend your treatment between appointments!  Yep - feeling stressed?  Press on your ear seeds to help even your mood.  Experiencing back pain?  Press those seeds! 

For an over all pick-me-up, feel free to massage your ears!  It may look a little silly, but you'll be having the last laugh when you're feeling reduced stress and increased energy!