Stress-Related Conditions

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) stress is best understood as a disruption of an individual’s homeostasis due to deleterious factors that eventually affect how we cope with our everyday functions. Whether at work or at home, our performance may be hampered due to physical stress on the body from repetitive movement and/or long-term emotional stress.

It is important that we do our best to take a preventative approach to our health, that is, address these ‘minor’ annoyances before they become chronic or develop into more complicated syndromes.

Note: italicized words denote translation of TCM defined words. Please contact us if you have questions. These pamphlets are for educational purposes on the TCM approach to treatment of disease.

TCM Exogenous Factors
Stress-related conditions may arise from environmental factors damaging the body’s Qi. That is, climatic conditions can be pathogenic when exposure is constant or in excess. Treating pathogenic influences is one of the basic preventative approaches of TCM. For example, it is important to completely expel the cold and wind from the body that typically cause symptoms of the common-cold before they impair the external protective Qi and cause further damage to the organs of your body. In TCM, joint pain, and paralysis with no evidence of physical trauma are common diseased conditions that may arise from untreated exogenous factors that cause damage at an internal level.

Miscellaneous Factors
Stress to the body may also arise due to an existing weakness of the body’s Qi. An existing weak Qi may be due to past or constant trauma to the body, a destructive lifestyle, poor nutrition and/or irregular diet, or over-exertion. In TCM, over-exertion is subcategorized as mental overwork, physical overwork and excessive physical exercise.

Mental overwork leads to the exhaustion of the stomach, spleen, and kidney Qi. Similarly, emotional stress may lead to damage to the organs of the body. (Please request for our last pamphlet ‘Emotional Health & TCM’ or refer to our website to obtain a basic understanding of how the organs of the body inter-relate with the emotions.) Physical overwork may lead to stagnation of Qi or exhaustion of the spleen (symptoms of general muscle fatigue and ache) and/or the kidney Qi (due to excessive lifting or excessive sitting). Excessive physical exercise is meant by an imbalance between exercise and rest. Exercising when you are ill or overworked will exhaust your Qi. Also, females that consistently over-exercise during puberty or menstruation may suffer from menstrual disease and other gynecological problems in a few years.

TCM Treatment
In TCM, ‘liver wind attacking the spleen’ is a common diagnosis that may be due to the stress. Typical symptoms are: hypochondriac distention and pain, headaches, migraines, fatigue, and gastrointestinal disturbances (poor appetite, diarrhea). In addition, women who experience long-term stress commonly suffer from irregular menstruation. (In TCM, a healthy menstrual cycle is primary to maintaining and understanding a woman’s health.)

Acupuncture alone does not cure stress, for treating stress usually requires a major lifestyle change (perhaps the nature of your job is not good for your health in general). However, with the demands of our everyday lives acupuncture does help to provide relief and treat stress-related conditions with the aim to aid you to function better without the annoyance of stress-related complaints. Acupuncture and herbs successfully treat stress-related symptoms and conditions (as described earlier) with significant improvement seen after three treatments if not immediately. However, improvement seen with treatment of menstrual problems due to stress is notable after two to three cycles for women who have suffered from menstrual irregularity over the last year.

If you are interested in incorporating acupuncture into your stress management program, Points of Life has a Corporate Plan Program rate that provides options for your business or employer to receive discounts and on-site visit options. Please call us or contact us via email for more information.

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