Menstruation Disorders - Dysmenorrhea - Causes of Blood and Qi Stagnation in TCM Perspective

All women experience irregular period sometimes during their child bearing years, before menopause. While Western medication has never viewed that irregular menstruation is a problem for a women's reproductive system, traditional Chinese medicine looks at this problem seriously, if untreated, it will dis-harmonize the women's ecosystem, leading to nervous tension and other health problems, including infertility. Girls in South East Asia have learned in their early life from their grandmother's wisdom that they do not engage in any activity that distort their regular period.

Liver is important for blood formation and the lung. It helps to regulate the movement of qi in the body. Obstruction of blood in certain organs may also cause qi stagnation, leading to menstrual cramps and pain before, during and after menstruation. Causes of blood and qi stagnation include:

1. Chronic inflammation
The prolonged period of inflammation causes blood static as a result of increasing blood flow to inflammation regions and distorting the immune system in fighting against foreign bacteria and virus function, leading to blood stagnation.

2. Liver function
Liver is vital for blood formation and waste removal. Abnormal function of liver causes old estrogen or other hormones as well as old blood remaining in the body's organs, leading to blood stagnation thus increasing the risk of menstrual irregularity and dysmenorrhrea.

3. Inability of respiratory function
If the lung is damaged for whatever reasons, it may affect the lung's ability to move qi in the pathway of the meridian, leading to blood stagnation in the reproductive region.

4. Stress and depression
Stress and depression caused by an unexpected event can affect the liver function in regulating the psychosocial symptoms of the nervous system and physical symptoms of blood formation, leading to liver qi and blood stagnation that contribute to symptoms of dysmenorrhrea.

5. Unhealthy diet
Unhealthy diet high in saturated and trans fat affect the blood and qi movement, because it causes the building up of cholesterol in the blood stream, thereby reducing the lung's function in regulating qi movement and the heart's function in blood circulation.