Friday, May 23, 2008

So your uterus dropped down....

I know this image wasn't pretty, but sometimes bladder or uterus slipped out of the body whether you like it or not. One patient of mine recently experiences just that. Her uterus dropped down from lifting some flower pots from her yard. She can touch the uterus every time she is in the shower.

In Chinese traditional medicine, body functions are governed by Yang qi. So when an organ is not staying in the right position, the yang function of the organ (which is lifting) is weak. As a Chinese medicine practitioner, my goal is to help patients regain their yang qi, specifically Spleen and Kidney.

Her MD wants to take out the uterus, so it won't sag down any longer (no kidding!), but the patient doesn't want to go through this procedure. I teach her Mayan Abdominal Massage (MAM) so she can do this at home on a daily basis. I also give her Chinese herbs: Yang Qi Shi, Bu Gu Zhi, Ba Ji Tian, Xu Duan...etc. Acupuncture points such as Bai Hui, Guan Yuan and San Yin Jiao were used every time she came to see me.

I saw her last week, and she told me that she couldn't feel her uterus during showering anymore. This is good news because this means her uterus has been lifted. Considering the patient's age, I thought it would take more than 5 treatments to make any changes. Fortunately, we are able to make some shift within a fairly short period of time. More work still needs to be done to help the uterus stays lifted, but this is a good beginning! :-)

More later,

Thursday, May 22, 2008

My study trip with Dr. Ni, a Shang Han Lun master

I had a great fortune in April to study with Dr. Ni, a Chinese medicine master from Taiwan for 3 weeks. Dr. Ni's clinic is based in Meritt Island, Florida. During the 3 weeks, I have witnessed Dr. Ni treating many patients with late-stage cancer that were sent home to die. A few of them were supposed to die a few years ago, well, guess what, they are still alive and well. So what the magic here?

Dr. Ni is a Shang Han Lun master. For those who are not familar with the book, this book was written by Dr. Zhang Zhong Jing a few thousand years back. The book teaches practitioners to treat people from a simple common cold to cancer. Modern practitioners often think that Shang Han Lun is just for common cold, little do they know it covers a wide range of imbalances that modern medicine still baffles. The applications of Shang Han Lun is based on what a patient presents. A patient may be averted to wind with slight fever/chill and sweat, we call it "Gui Zhi Tang" syndrome, and an herbal formula called Gui Zhi Tang is indicated. When a person presents tiredness all the time and couldn't get out of bed (Dan Yu Mei), and their pulse is very thin and forceless (Xi Wei), they may be presenting "Shao Yin" symptoms. Ma Huang Fu Zi Xi Xin tang may be indicated. Formulas are always modified to fit each individual's unique needs.

Whether you believe in Chinese medicine or not, a good advice from Dr. Ni can benefit you greatly: if you can eat, drink, eliminate and sleep normally, you will be OK. If you take your medicine and then you lose your sleep or become constipated, you really want to think twice about what you are doing. In addition, your hands and feet should be warm all the time. If you are currently taking medication or do any alternative modalities but your hands and feet are very cold, you may want to change whatever you are doing because they are not serving you well. Yang qi (yang energy) should be abundant to ensure health and longevity. When yang qi is abundant, hands and feet will be naturally warm. When body is cold all the time, that's when excess water idles within, tumors and cancer cells grow in this kind of environment.

Dr. Ni is approaching his retirement, and he is so generous to share his knowledge with people like myself. When I see him, he is like a reincarnated Dr. Zhang Zhong Jing to me. He is doing such a great service to the human race to hand down this ancient wisdom. I owe him a great debt.

More later,