Women's Wellness




Women's Wellness


A large portion of what we treat at Greenleaf Clinic is Women's Health Concerns. Greenleaf Clinic supports women's overall health by increasing their awareness of nature's rhythms and cyclical patterns, and by restoring balance to the body. By emphasizing balance, various female hormone-related symptoms can be relieved with either acupuncture or herbal medicine, or a combination of the two.

Acupuncture is helpful in the treatment of menopause, PMS, nausea during pregnancy, menstrual cramps or other types of abdominal pain. Byoungjin Na has experiences in treating menopause and helping to balance women's hormones naturally.(These treatments are performed without pharmaceutical medications or other means of unnatural substance) Acupuncture and Chinese herbs are helpful with night sweats, hot flashes, irritability and depression.



Case Report


Endometriosis

A 42 year old woman complained of having severe menstrual cramps due to endometriosis. During her menstrual cycle, she often felt stabbing pain in her lower abdomen, so severe that she found herself crying from the pain. (Even the lightest touches would make her jump in pain) In addition, she has complained of frequent urination. This woman also noticed that she was bleeding between periods and felt cold all the time. She claimed that she had to wear socks at all times. These symptoms are very common to people who suffer from endometriosis.

We began her acupuncture treatment with moxibustion and herbs. She visited the clinic twice every week. After 4 treatments, she reported that one of symptoms, being thirsty but having no desire to drink, was gone. After two more treatments, she reported that 80% of her pain was relieved. After a month of consistent treatments, this patient noticed that her menstrual cycle has returned to normal. Furthermore She reported she felt minor pain on the first day of menstruation and no pain on the second day.



Fatigue & Coldness

"I went through several gynecological surgeries since 1997. I had been experiencing continual strong pain during my periods, each time thinking that it is the last day of my life. In addition I always felt coldness. My hands and feet were cold even in summer time. I had tried various remedies, but nothing worked. I tried acupuncture before with little success but decided to give it another shot. After two months of the treatment with Byoungjin, the coldness was gone completely and pain became less. I was surprised at the results and wondered whether they would last. Almost four months have gone by and the coldness has not returned. I am extremely impressed by Byoungjin technique and would highly recommend seeing him for both short-term and chronic pain management. Thank you Byoungjin for healing me!"

Her case is very common. Even though she complained various symptoms, main cause is just one. It's coldness. As far as I know, unlike eastern medicine there is no concept such as 'cold uterus' in western medicine. Coldness always cause severe pain in that specific area and blood stasis. She also complained of seeing lots of blood clots in her menstrual blood. Since warming is the best treatment method for coldness. We had applied moxibustion and asked her to have hot baths frequently. As a result, her menstrual pain and blood clots had decreased incredibly. Once she got warmer, she felt that she was more energetic. In turn, She does not complain about fatigue any more.



Morning Sickness

"Acupuncture was my saving grace in dealing with my first trimester pregnancy nausea. My treatments were drug free and effective. Dr. Na was thorough, patient and kind. He also showed me acupressure points so I could minimize any nausea that came between sessions. Without this medical care, I had difficulty eating, and was losing weight. Acupuncture worked to reduce my pregnancy nausea and allowed me to eat and remain healthy during those critical first weeks. Thank you for my care and treatment!"

Various studies show acupuncture as providing relief for those who suffer from morning sickness. One Australian study shows acupuncture bringing ease from nausea and vomiting for nearly 600 participants of expectant mothers. There are very famous acu-points, which are Stomach 36, Pericardium 6 and Ren 12, for treating morning sickness. We always teach patients where those points are, so they can massage themselves at home. Since they can semi-treat their condition themselves, patients are very pleased with this instruction.