針灸治療痛經

針灸治療痛經

 

什麽是痛經

痛經是指婦女在行經前後或行經期間出現的周期性的小腹及腰骶部疼痛。疼痛劇烈者可伴有麵色蒼白，頭麵冷汗，惡心嘔吐，手足厥冷等症，給患者帶來很大痛苦。痛經在年輕女性中多見。

痛經的原因及分類

痛經可分為原發性痛經和繼發性痛經兩大類。原發性痛經也稱功能性痛經，是指經過仔細的婦科檢查，生殖器官並無器質性病變者。繼發性痛經是指由於某些生殖器官器質性病變而發生的痛經。常可繼發痛經的病變如子宮發育不良，子宮過於前屈和後傾，子宮頸狹窄，子宮內膜異位症，急性盆腔炎等。

中醫學理論認為不通則痛，因此本病的發病機製為衝任氣血的運行不暢。其原因有虛有實，實者可因氣滯血瘀，寒濕凝滯；虛者可因氣血虧虛，肝腎不足引起。經前經期腹痛多為實證，經後腹痛者多虛證。疼痛拒按者多實，痛時蜷縮喜揉喜按者多虛。

痛經的治療

無論原發性還是繼發性，均可采用針灸療法進行治療。針灸對原發性痛經，不僅能製止疼痛，還常可根治。至於器質性痛經，也有一定的止痛作用，但難以根治。

針灸治療痛經優先選用毫針刺法，一般針刺中極、三陰交、地機、次髎等穴，再根據證型不同配伍其它穴位。對寒濕凝滯和氣血不足者可以加灸。

   （1）耳穴壓豆

對於懼怕針刺的患者也可以采用耳穴壓豆（用王不留行籽或其它植物種子壓在耳朵上的響應穴位），常選內分泌、內生殖器、肝、腎、皮質下等穴位，每次3~5穴，每次壓豆可保持2-3天。

（2）皮膚針叩刺

取腰骶部、下腹部、腎經和肝經的相關穴位，循經叩刺，以皮膚潮紅為度。

1. 穴位貼敷

取神闕穴，用吳茱萸、白芍、元胡、艾葉等，共研細末，用白酒調成糊狀貼敷。

針灸治療痛經的療效和治療時機

針刺治療痛經的療效不僅被兩千年的中國針灸實踐證實，也已經在世界多個國家進行的現代臨床試驗所證實，並被世界衛生組織列為針灸治療有效疾病之一推薦使用。
針灸治療痛經有非常好的及時止痛效果，尤其是對原發性痛經，在痛經發生時針刺，可以很快減緩疼痛甚至使疼痛消失。針灸治療痛經不僅有很好的止痛效果，如果按規律進行治療，還可以根治痛經，尤其是對原發性痛經。
痛經是周期發生的，所以要想根治痛經需要遵循一定的治療時間。痛經的最佳治療時間為經前一周和行經期，發作期每天治療1次，非發作期隔日治療1次，一般連續治療2~4個月經周期。

其他建議

注意經間期衛生和保暖，避免過食生冷，精神刺激和過度勞累。

醫案

女，20歲，學生

每於月經第一天和第二天小腹部和腰骶部疼痛難忍，坐臥不安，飲食減少，睡眠不安，飲薑糖水稍有緩解。就診時為月經第一天，疼痛難忍，神情疲憊，原本預約來做針灸治療胃痛的，因痛經難忍於是為其針灸治療痛經。取雙側次髎及十七椎下。針刺後10分鍾，疼痛緩解。繼續留針30分鍾，疼痛消失，起針。患者高興異常，熱烈擁抱醫者。遂建議其注意休息及保暖，以防受涼勞累引發疼痛。第二天上午詢問其痛經有無再發，答曰基本沒有再痛，非常感謝。

 

 

Acupuncture for Dysmenorrhea

What is Dysmenorrhea

Dysmenorrhea, also known as painful periods, or menstrual cramps, refers the pain in the lower abdomen and lumbosacral region prior to, during or after the menstruation period. The It is commonly seen in young women.

Types and Causes of the Dysmenorrhea

There are two types of dysmenorrhea: Primary and Secondary. Primary dysmenorrhea, also called functional dysmenorrhea, refers to a condition without pathological changes of the genitalia. Secondary dysmenorrhea is caused by diseases such as endometriosis, acute or chronic pelvic inflammation, tumors, blockage or cervical stenostomia.

In Chinese medicine, Dysmenorrhea is due to stagnation of qi and blood. The factors may be emtion change, cold and dumpness, deficiency of qi and blood. Emotion changes cause blockage of qi, then cause pain; cold cause contraction of vessel, also cause pain; deficiency of qi and blood, on the one hand could blockage of qi and blood, on the other hand, could not nutrish the muscles and internal organs and cause pain.

Treatment Dysmenorrhea with Acupuncture

Primary and secondary dysmenorrhea can be treated with acupuncture. For primary dysmenorrhea, acupunture not only can stop the pain instantly, also can stop pain forever after several sessions of treatment. For secondary dysmenorrhea, after stop pain with acupuncture, we’d better to treat the diseases that causes Dysmenorrhea.

Primary treatment

Usually we use body acupuncture to treat dysmenorrhea. The common points for treating dysmenorrhea are Zhongji, Sanyinjao, Diji, Ciliao. We will add some points according to different patterns and we may use moxibustion for dysmenorrhea caused by cold and deffiency of qi and blood.

Other treatment

Some people may be afraid of body acupuncture. There are other options for treating Dysmenorrhea with acupuncture, such as seven star acupuncture and auricular acupuncture. Seven star needles does not get into the skin. We only tap the skin until it becomes red. We also use auricular acupuncture to treat Dysmenorrhea. We put some plant seeds on some points of your ears, keep it for 2 to 3 days and you press them until you feel a little bit pain.

The effective and the best timing of treating Dysmenorrhea with acupuncture

All above methods can help you relieve your pain during your periods. Treating Dysmenorrhea with acupuncture not only has been practiced by Chinese people over thousands years, it also has been proved -through controlled trials -to be effective. WHO has already listed acupuncture as an effective treatment for Dysmenorrhea.

Acupuncture usually relives pain just after treatment. For some case, it may need more times. For primary Dysmenorrhea, In order to cure it, the treatment should begins 5 to 7 days prior to menstruation, approximately 5-7 treatments are administrated in one course and a continuous treatment should be administrated for 2-4 months.

For secondary Dysmenorrhea, symptoms may be relieved after acupuncture treatment, but the primary disease should be treated properly.

Other advices

The patient should avoid strong physical exertion and mental irritation. Maintaining good hygiene especially during the menstruation, avoiding the cold and not eating too much raw and cold food is important for the patient.

Case 1:

Female, 20, university student. 2pm

She has had pain in the low abdomen and low back on the first and second day of her menstruation for several years. Her period came in the morning and she had sever pain in her low abdomen and low back from the morning. She looked pale and she put her hand on her low abdomen when she was in clinic. She was very tired, blue and no appetite. After several questions, i inserted three needles into the Ciliao and ashi, . Around 10 minutes, she began to feel comfortable. 30 minutes later, she had no pain at all. She was so happy and gave me a big hug. Next morning i called her and she said she just had a little bit uncomfortable but no pain any more.