My name is Rebecca, I’m 33 years of age and a Brit residing in Sydney, Australia. I work as a project manager at a NFP organisation, a job I love! In recent years, I’ve found myself interested in holistic medicine. I have been researching these practices due to growing up on pharmaceutical drugs for ongoing sinus problems, ear infections etc. I wanted to explore this area to gain control of my health now and moving into the future. As I’ll share here, I used acupuncture to address many menstrual issues I’d been experiencing for a while.
My menstrual issues led to imbalances which manifested as pains around ovulation, skin outbreaks around my jaw area and fatigue. These symptoms initially started with shooting pains around ovulation. Not painful enough to stop me from going about my daily life but noticeable. They progressed with fatigue and skin outbreaks around my jaw area which my acupuncturist informed me is hormonal.
I ignored the shooting pains around ovulation for a few months, thinking it was just a ‘phase’. For my skin issues, I purchased a whole new skincare routine, new products etc. I also looked at my diet, incorporated healthy fats, oily fish and vegetables, helping my fatigue and skin a bit. But my skin issues ended up getting worse after my new skincare routine. This led me to seek out advice / treatment from my acupuncturist. I’ve been seeing my acupuncturist for some years now, for relaxation purposes mostly. So thought that this would be a great opportunity to get advice.
I didn’t go to a GP as I’ve experienced this previously and I was told to go onto the pill. Instead, went to my acupuncturist, spoke through the symptoms and an action plan was put in place. This was a collaboration between my acupuncturist and I. I felt like I was involved with every step of the process. I could understand what was going on inside my body and what I could do to help myself. These things involved involved diet, meditation, movement, and conscious thoughts.
My treatment journey began with fortnightly acupuncture sessions and a Chinese dietary supplement called ‘Dang Gui Shao Yao San’ – to be taken daily. Combining the acupuncture with this supplement, I noticed the shooting pains disappear around ovulation. I started to have very ‘easy’ menstrual cycles, with no PMS and no cramping when on my period). Truthfully, the dietary supplement doesn’t taste the best, but the benefits are totally worth it!
I noticed that my skin was still breaking out and mentioned this was a pain point for me to my acupuncturist. She gave me a skin treatment (using needles and gua sha) and also prescribed another dietary supplement called ‘Si Miao Yong An Tang’. I needed to take this on top of ‘Dang Gui Shao Yao San’. Within a couple of weeks of taking both these dietary supplements daily, my skin had improved to the point of no outbreaks! I was so happy and surprised that acupuncture could address my menstrual issues so much in such little time.
Due to work commitments, the past few months have been hard for me to get my regular acupuncture appointments, although I’ve been religiously taking my herbs and getting back into my regular sessions which have been such a help.
For me moving forward, I’d always speak to my acupuncturist regarding any health issues I have from the get-go, rather than a GP. The reason being is that I want to investigate more holistic approaches to my health, limit any pharmaceuticals I put into my body and build a lasting relationship with my acupuncturist.
If I could provide any words of advice for anyone in a similar situation and looking to take a more holistic approach for their health and body, take that first step and try it out. Acupuncture was a godsend for all the menstrual issues I’d been suffering from. Also, I’ve never felt more supported and cared for by my acupuncturist. We live in an already toxic world and if there’s one element that we can control, it’s what we consume and put into our bodies.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.