Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Treated with TCM 中醫治療火燒心

I wrote something about heartburn/acid reflux treated with TCM in Mandarin recently. Take a look!

中醫治療火燒心      三軍總醫院中醫部  謝宗運醫師 撰文

在現代人忙碌的生活中，您是否也曾感受過「火燒心」一般的胸口灼熱或胸悶感？嚴重時甚在至會嘔吐酸水？

其實不是有火在燒，而是您的胃酸從胃向上逆流，刺激食道所引起的！這就是門診常見的「胃食道逆流」(Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease)、或稱「泛酸」。

根據統計，每四個台灣人就有一個會發生這樣的症狀，好發因子包括男性、抽菸、喝酒、肥胖等等，且近年有年輕化趨勢。主要源自於生活上的壓力與不良的飲食習慣所導致。胃食道逆流的診斷，從患者的臨床表現就能確診，然而仍須排除感染或藥物引起的食道炎、食道運動功能障礙、消化道潰瘍與冠狀動脈疾病等等。

中醫認為胃氣在正常的情況應該要往下降，但當胃受到其他臟腑或外來的刺激而使得胃氣不降反升，此時就會出現胃食道逆流的症狀，如果沒有適當調理，許多人會出現長期乾咳的症狀，甚至是部分食道癌的成因。在確診為胃食道逆流的病人中有三分之一接受胃鏡檢查會查出食道潰瘍，且許多沒有症狀的人在定期健檢接受胃鏡檢查時也會發現程度不等的食道潰瘍。

中醫除了使用「和胃降氣」的中藥來調理，也會教導患者做「健胃功」來幫助腸胃氣機的條暢。患者本身也可以藉由飲食習慣的調整：先喝湯再吃固體食物、少吃油膩食物、每餐只吃七分飽、睡前兩個小時不進食、戒菸、戒酒、維持正常體重、適度調節生活與工作的壓力，來減緩症狀。

試試看這些方法，胃氣就可以順利和降喔！

Fibromyalgia Treated with Acupuncture

Pain Med. 2018 Sep 1;19(9):1862-1871. doi: 10.1093/pm/pnx322

Randomized Controlled Trial of Acupuncture for Women with Fibromyalgia: Group Acupuncture with Traditional Chinese Medicine Diagnosis-Based Point Selection.

Mist SD1, Jones KD1.

Full article here

Although the number of patients included in this study is not very big, it uses not some specific acupoints for all patients but chooses acupoints according to each patient's TCM diagnosis. I would highly recommend this kind of treatment since no two patients are the same in the eyes of TCM doctors.

For FM treatment, the combination of herbal medicine and acupuncture is usually more effective.

I'm a Licensed East Asian Medicine Practitioner in Washington, USA

I'm a Licensed Acupuncturist in Wisconsin, USA

For Patients Who Don't Speak Mandarin

If you plan to come by taking a taxi or bus, you can download this photo to your smartphone or print it out in order to show the driver either Neihu main facility or Tingchou branch that you want to visit. It will be easier for you to find the place. Taxi/bus drivers in Taiwan are usually very patient and polite.

When you arrived, tell the counter you want to see Dr. Hsieh in TCM department or show them this photo. It's better to email me first so that I can help you save some time with registration. Thank you!

Female Infertility Clinical Case

Earlier this year, I'm glad to hear that one of my patients has finally successfully conceived her first baby.

She was 28 years old. She came to my clinic room in November 2016. After more than 12 months of regular unprotected sexual intercourse, she couldn't get pregnant. She didn't go to modern medicine doctors to do regular check up because she thought she's relatively healthy and wanted to try acupuncture first. Although her parents are Taiwanese, she grows up in the southern hemisphere. Therefore, acupuncture is more easily accepted than herbal medicine for her. She came regularly twice a week for acupuncture and moxibustion, the acupoints I use is as follows:



However, in our daily practice, for the male/female infertility problem, we would often prescribe herbal medicine, even decoction, for our patients to adjust their body constitution back to balance with or without acupuncture.

After two times failure, which means her menstruation came twice, I suggested her to try herbal medicine combined with acupuncture.

Here's the formula I made for her, including 10 herbs. The formula may be partially adjusted according to her clinical condition each time she returned. Please don't copy this formula for anyone with female infertility. The spirit of TCM prescription is highly customized. Everyone gets their own formula according to their body constitution and current condition.

Her menstruation didn't come for the third time after we met. I was so glad when she told me that she got pregnant. It's worth the effort to make it possible for her to come twice a week. She has a full-time job in Taipei. The credit goes to her perseverance of non-stop trying since the body constitution needs some time to be balanced.

We've treated male and female patients with infertility problem, everyone's case is unique. We evaluate and determine their body constitution and treat them accordingly. Although it's hard to conduct a large scale clinical trial of the TCM effect on infertility or other diseases, I hope with the useful TCM theory and the accumulation of clinical experiences, I can help more and more people with their health issue. 😄

2017 February New Patients

39 New Patients / 246 total

Skin Problem

Seborrheic dermatitis   M

Acne   M

OBGYN Problem

Delayed menses   M

Postpartum weight gain    M / A

Postpartum depression   M / A

Internal Medicine problem

Abdominal distension   M
Abdominal pain   M
Benign prostatic hypertrophy  M
Dry mouth  M

Chest tightness / Palpitation  M
Constipation  M
Cough   M
Dizziness   M / A

Fatigue   M
Frequent urination  M
Headache   M / AC
Insomnia   M / A

Liver cirrhosis with ascites   M
Obesity    M / A

Sjogren’s syndrome     M / A

Musculoskeletal & Neural Problem
Carpal tunnel syndrome   M / A

Elbow pain & numbness   A / M

Low back pain   M / A / M+C
Neck stiffness (Torticollis)   A / C
Stroke with hemiplegia   M / A
Trigger finger   A / C

Thigh tightness / pain   A / C

Others

Bad breath / halitosis  M
Cold limbs  M
Delayed ejaculation   M
For better nutrition / Gaining weight for toddler   M

Mouth Ulcer   M

  

*The purpose of this list is to let people know when would Taiwanese come to TCM doctors for help, since TCM might not be so popular in some countries. To protect the privacy of patients, the patients' information is altered. 
M: herbal medicine   A: acupuncture  M: Manipulation  C: Cupping