Help for women's health is here at Evergreen Medical Acupuncture

Let's talk about women's health. Women have unique needs that can also lead to unique issues throughout every stage of their lives, from menarche to menopause. Whether it's teens first starting menarche (cycles), women transitioning off birth control to try to get pregnant, going through pregnancy and labor itself, or menopause, taking a holistic approach can be extremely helpful. In the western world, there seem to be fewer treatments that can really help break the cycle of some of these issues.

One of the main things I do with medical acupuncture is regulate hormones by getting the endocrine system to produce enough or fewer hormones at the right time. I can address a huge array of issues including but not limited to: regulating teen hormones, re-regulating the cycle after hormonal birth control or pregnancy, aiding in becoming pregnant, dealing with symptoms of PMS, decreasing menopause symptoms, any many more! Normalizing women's hormones is commonly addressed with acupuncture, herbs, supplements, diet and lifestyle adjustments. Medical acupuncture can help regulate estrogen, progesterone, LH (luteinizing hormone), FSH (follicle stimulating hormone), and more by stimulating certain nerves and blood supplies in the body, which helps to affect your hypothalamus-pituitary axis. This is your master control system in the brain, which ultimately determines how much of each hormone is made and distributed based on a positive and negative feedback system. I can also affect the activity of specific organs as well. I see a spectrum of complications and irregularities with hormones in all aspects of women's health.

A very common issue I treat is PMS (premenstrual syndrome). Unfortunately, many women think their symptoms are just psychosomatic, so they don't address them, but they're not at all! Serotonin is our "happy neurotransmitter." It makes us feel joy, positive feelings, pleasure and love. Serotonin drops along with estrogen right before the period begins causing low mood, irritability and sadness. Women benefit greatly by our drug-free treatments and therapies for this! By regulating hormones as well as boosting serotonin levels in the brain, the PMS blues start to fade with each cycle. Cramps can be another pesky problem before and during the period. The contraction of the uterus can put pressure on nearby blood vessels creating a lack of oxygen and circulation, which is what creates cramping. Prostaglandin plays a large role in creating these contractions and medical acupuncture works to regulate it in order to reduce the cramping. The severity of the cramping is something I always screen for. Disorders such as endometriosis, PID and fibroids need a medical diagnosis and respond well to the integration of treatment with a good OB/GYN.

It's truly my passion to treat fertility cases and help women and couples create their families through a variety of modalities, no matter whether it's becoming pregnant naturally, through IUI or IVF, donor eggs and sperm, or adoption. Acupuncture, in conjunction with herbs and diet, helps to increase the quality and quantity of eggs as well as create a supple lining for an embryo to implant regardless if this is for a natural cycle or with assisted reproductive techniques. Along with Chinese medicine diagnosis and treatments, I am also highly trained in reading and interpreting blood work and imaging reports to see more deeply what could be the cause of the fertility issues. I work alongside patients' OB/GYNs and reproductive endocrinologists to get to the root of the problem. Each situation is carefully evaluated based on all the information available, and there are many different ways to address what may be going on. I love empowering women and couples to take part in understanding what's happening and what they can do at home to complement my treatments in the clinic. Fertility is a group effort and being a part of it is incredibly rewarding.

I don't stop care once the (sometimes) long-awaited pregnancy happens. Continuing acupuncture during pregnancy can be very helpful in dealing with symptoms during every stage. From nausea to headaches, low energy to hip and low back pain, acupuncture is a safe and effective way to ease these not-so-great parts of being pregnant. Once women get to the later stages of pregnancy, acupuncture becomes very important in preparing the body and baby for labor! Whether it's helping to turn breech babies, softening the cervix, getting the baby to drop and get into position, or actually starting contractions, acupuncture addresses almost all aspects of the end of pregnancy and preparing for the birth.

Another very important aspect of women's health is the treatment of menopause symptoms. Did you know you can start strengthening your hormonal system and adrenal sufficiency decades before you hit menopause to help with symptoms? The stronger your system is, going into menopause, the less likely you are to experience things such as hot flashes, night sweats, fatigue, sleep changes, mood fluctuations, weight gain and metabolism changes, etc. Didn't start it years ago and are in the throes of all of this now? No problem. Acupuncture still works wonderfully to balance hormones and aid in the changes that are occurring in order to lessen and, many times, completely stop these annoying symptoms.

Regardless of where you are in your life, acupuncture is a gentle, safe and effective way to address any issues with women's health that may arise.