August 29th, 2017

I have been treating rheumatoid arthritis for years and I have taken note of a few things. First of all, I personally have only treated women who have it. There are most likely men with RA but I have not seen any, not one. Secondly a large portion of patients with RA that I have seen are menopausal or perimenopausal (I would estimate a good 90% or more). One of the tenants of Chinese medicine is the concept of yin and yang. The yang in our bodies is just the energy that runs things, such as what makes our heart beat or our muscles move. Any movement or activity in the body is yang in nature and also generates heat. Yin is the opposite of yang and is the fluid, soft part of our body. The yin is also our coolant, to keep the activity of yang from generating too much heat. Another name for heat might be inflammation. So our yin keeps our inflammation from getting out of hand. During peri or full menopause, the yin and yang in a woman becomes unbalanced. There is not enough yin to balance the heat generating yang and inflammation can become a real problem and in some can lead to the set of symptoms called rheumatoid arthritis. So how is this treated/cured using acupuncture? Acupuncture and herbs can cut inflammation and they can also boast the yin or coolant in the body, restoring balance and health. It can work, I have seen it.