How successful is TCM in treating fibrioid and what is the average time

Comment by Chad J. Dupuis, L.Ac.

The hormonal imbalances underlying the formation of fibroids has to be dealt with completely, then if the body can absorb the fibroid it will. Chinese Medicine has good clinical effects on all hormonal issues and fibroids are commonly treated (and resolved). Generally speaking this takes 3-6 months of treatment. Now that said, I&#39m personally not a big fan of multiple treatments per week for things that simply take time to resolve and I also feel like acupuncture is very effective and an important part of the treatment. If you like your doctor and feel like everything is going in the right direction, then hang in there a few more months. If you have doubts, for example I do as acupuncture shouldn&#39t hurt at all when properly done, then I would find someone else.

Without knowing your case in its entirety I can only generalize, but in my clinic I would see you once a week at the most for the first 3-6 visits and then probably less frequently after that particularly if you are on herbs. There are, however, many ways to treat and many opinions on treatment frequency. I only mention this to point out two things, one I think acupuncture is very important in conditions like this and, two, you may be able to save money and enjoy the treatments more by seeing someone else.

Comment by Archived User

The acupuncture did not hurt originally and that is what we were doing. However, I was also diagnosed with anemia (b/c of fibroid bleeding) and since then became very sensitive to the needles. My dr explained to me that b/c of lack of enough blood (which was also shown by very cold hand/feet) I am too sensitive and moxibation might be a better approach. I am also diagnosed with liver chi stagnation (have all the textbook symptoms, such as bloating, elevated prolactin levels, sore breasts, etc).

I previously tried acupuncture in combination with medication with another doctor but it was a futile experience, as I had no changes. This added info re the liver and my current condition is any way changing your opinion re multiple forms of treatment in one week or you still consider it to be too much.

I respect your opinion and if it was not for the distance (I am in CA), I would most definetly see you. Thank you.

Comment by Chad J. Dupuis, L.Ac.

With regards to treatment frequency there really are a number of opinions on the matter. Personally the only time I treat more than once a week initially is in a very acute trauma situation. But that&#39s just myself and all of my close colleagues. Personally I feel that I get better results treating less often, particularly in things that take some time anyway, hormonal changes being an example. But that is just my opinion and experience - there are others that are equally as valid no doubt. My only point in explaining this is that it&#39s not about the additional costs, it&#39s about what prompts the body to change and I feel like many times the more heavy handed the approach the worse the results.

The anemia should be able to be brought back up to appropriate levels with herbs and moxibustion. The fibroid will need herbs and acupuncture (which you should be fine with the treatments so long as people know how to adjust accordingly - anyone who treats children and infants regularly should be able to do this).

It sounds like you are in decent hands overall, so I would just give it some more time to see the results. It can be difficult to fully resolve the situtation but patients should see noticable improvement around the 3 month mark with complete resolution taking somewhere between then and 9-15 months in some cases.

Comment by Archived User

I started the treatment on 10/10/13 and it has been a little over 4 months now that I am taking treatment (herbs, acupressure and moxa) for fibroid I have at 6.4 cm. I am generally feeling good until my cycles begin, where I hemorrhaging non stop for 7-12 days to the point that sometimes I can not even leave the house. I did blood work last week showing that I am anemic, which is not surprising however, I was thinking that the herbs and treatment will help me balance it.

My western doctor pushing me to have a surgery to remove the fibroid saying that the position of fibroid is such that it will be minimal invasive and will preserve uterus as we are trying to conceive. All my hormones are normal, except for the prolactin, it is slightly higher.

I feel tired and do not know which way to lean- eastern or western medicine. I put all my hopes in eastern and do not see any results. I bleed the same way as I used to do when I first started with the treatment.

To all experts out there- what should I do? I have been trying and trying without any luck. Should I change a dr? Is there a herbal prescription that will help me to dissolve fibroid, bc the current one does not seem to help. Please help!

Comment by Chad J. Dupuis, L.Ac.

I don&#39t think you need to divide between eastern and western approaches as much as you are thinking. The truth is even with a surgical removal of the fibroid you still will need and benefit from Chinese Medicine approaches towards balancing the deeper issues that caused the problems to begin with. Both systems have their place. If the surgeon can do the procedure cleanly, it&#39s worth considering. There are fibroids due to the location, the underlying causal factors in the patient and other reasons that can be harder than others for the body to dissolve so to speak.

All that said, and no judgement to your current practitioner, I would think that with the 4 months of treatment and herbs you should be doing better than you are. Certainly you shouldn&#39t be showing up as anemic as the herbs should have buffered that. It&#39s hard to generalize. From my mind you have two options - surgery and continue with acupuncture, or give acupuncture 3 more months and then re-evaluate then. You could consider a different practitioner - sometimes a different view on the symptoms and different approaches can make a huge difference.

Comment by Chad J. Dupuis, L.Ac.

Actually I just realized you said "acupressure" in your post. Are you getting acupuncture or acupressure with all the other modalities? If you arenot getting acupuncture - you need to. Acupressure will not be enough for this.

Comment by Archived User

The needles from accupanture hurt so much that I cry throughout the whole session so I stopped and can not force myself to go back. At this point I am willing to do anything needed to get well without the surgery. The underlying cause was stress and emotion that in turn caused liver qi stagnation, which I am still battling, of course.

Comment by Chad J. Dupuis, L.Ac.

You definitely need another practitioner then. You should feel next to nothing from the needles. I treat young children and all ages of folks and no one every complains of the needles. At most they should be about 1/5 of a mosquito bite - if that. Once they are in you should be falling asleep or at least very relaxed.