When your body creates an inadequate amount of RBCs or red blood cells, then you are suffering from a condition known as anemia. Red blood cells supply the other cells with oxygen that helps them to normally function. Fatigue or tiredness is the most common symptom of anemic people. This obviously occurs as the body cannot function in a healthy strong state. This symptom has led some people to refer anemia as “tired blood.” Anemia actually has a number of forms and they range from being quite mild to being severely acute. It may occur for just a short while or may last for the rest of a person’s life. Allopathic treatment is chosen based on the kind of anemia the patient is diagnosed with. With regards to traditional Chinese medicine or TCM and other forms of alternative medicine, practitioners of these types of medicine often utilize acupuncture, different types of bodywork, herbal remedies and others forms of alternative and/or complementary therapies .
TCM Uses for Anemia
Doctors trained in allopathic medicine can identify many types of anemia, including thalassemia, aplastic anemia, hemolytic anemia, sickle cell anemia iron deficient anemia, and vitamin deficient anemia, to mention just a few of them. There is a specific cause for each type of anemia and therefore a distinct type of treatment as well. TCM practitioners, on the other hand, agree that all anemia forms are signs that a person’s flow of essential life energy (qi) that keeps the body healthy flows poorly or is inadequate or that a person’s body is not creating adequate amounts of good quality blood. To treat this condition, these practitioners apply a number of techniques to stimulate the affected organs to boost qi flow and create more and much better quality blood. The symptoms manifested by the patient will determine the treatment to be used.
Acupuncture for Anemia
TCM often utilizes acupuncture to treat anemia. Acupuncture is a therapy in which an acupuncturist inserts very slender needles into certain points in the body under the skin to enhance qi flow all over the body. The Spleen meridian is one of the meridians that are needled to treat anemia. The needles are pricked into affected meridians (meridians are vessels where qi travels) to aid in the better flow of qi into the spleen and stomach meridians. Acupuncture needles are also inserted into the meridians of the liver. The liver is the organ system where blood is stored and it helps regulate blood circulation throughout the body.
Acupuncture points commonly used to treat anemia:
Stomach 36 – This point is found on the Stomach meridian which is also called Foot Three Mile or Hsu San Li. The Foot Three Mile sobriquet of this acupuncture point implies that needling this point dispels fatigue giving you more energy to walk some more distance like, say, three more miles. Stomach 36 tonifies blood and qi and betters the digestion and nutrient absorbing capacity of the body.
Spleen 10 – This acupuncture point is associated with the spleen meridians and is sometimes named Sea of Blood or Hsue Hai. This point can tonify and invigorate the blood as well as resolves all types of blood conditions.
Liver 8 – Also named Spring at the Crook or Qu Kwan, this acupuncture point is a common point used to treat Liver deficiency that is always related to blood conditions. Liv 8 tonifies the blood and yin and invigorates the blood.
Anemia Chinese Herbal Remedies
Chinese herbal medicine uses herbal formulas as well as single herbs that are prepared to treat anemia.
A varied mixture of herbs can likewise be prepared to boost and/or enhance the supply of qi and blood in the body. These herbal remedies include:
White peony rhizome (Bai Zhao) – astringe yin and nourish blood.
Rehmannia (Zhand Di) – generates fluids and nourishes yin. Zhu Di is the processed form of this remedy.
Deer antler (Lu rong) – tonifies qi and blood and strengthens yang.
Atractylodis macrocephalae or white Atractylodes rhizome (Bai shu) – improves the quality of (tonifies) and supplements the Spleen.
Archangelica spp.; angelica (Dang gui) – dispels cold, tonifies blood, and harmonizes and invigorates the blood.
Radix codonopsis pilosulae (Dang zhen) – nourishes body energy and the blood.
Astragalus propinquus (Wang qi ) – tonifies spleen qi and blood.
Glycyrrhiza uralensis or licorice root (Gan cao) – tonifies stomach and spleen qi.
In several instances, treating of a condition using Traditional Chinese Medicine entails the use of herbal concoctions along with complementary modalities. Four Ingredient Decoction (Si Wu Tang) is the most classical herbal remedy used for deficiency in blood. This remedy contains Chuan Hsiong, Dang Gui, Bai Zhao, and Zhu Di. Angelica Tonify the Blood Decoction (Gui Bu Hsue Tang) is another popular formula for generating blood. This remedy contains just a couple of herbs: Wang Chi and Dang Gui. Volumes of different formulas are available that can address certain aspects of anemia along with the patient’s clinical presentation. Other popular formulas for anemia include Shou’s Anemia Formula, Shang’s Anemia Formula, Yi Hsue Zheng, Ye Hsue jing, Hsue Bao Hau Jia, Zheng Hsue Jiao Nang. All these remedies have been scientifically tested and have been found as valid remedies for one or some other form of anemia.
Anemia Treatment Using Tui Na Massage
One other component of Traditional Chinese Medicine is Tui Na massage therapy which has been practiced for thousands of years. This therapy follows a principle that is the same with that of acupuncture. This principle is the manipulation of meridians to help balance yin and yang and enhance the flow of qi throughout the body. There are Tui Na practitioners who, for example, will concentrate on hand and foot massage to boost blood creation in the spleen as well as better qi flow throughout the body.