Considering a Positive, Balanced Alternative Treatment for Crohn's Disease

After bottles of medication that make you sick, prednisone that swells you up like a blowfish, and bouts of Crohn's flare-ups in and out of the hospital, life with Crohn's can get frustrating. Chinese medicine offers non-traditional treatment for Crohn's. The symptoms of Crohn's can be treated through a variety of Chinese medical treatments, herbal derivatives, and nutritional supplementation.

When traditional treatments of 6-MP's, Remicade, or Humira fail to put your Crohn's in remission you may want to throw up your hands and give up. You know you can't.

When you suffer from Crohn's the best thing you can do is keep a positive attitude and allow your spirit and body to follow. Chinese medicine takes this into account and tries to help Crohn's patients achieve a balance of mind, body, and spirit.

Chinese Medicine & Crohn's: What's Involved?
Most Chinese Medicine and treatments for Crohn's have no side effects. I've seen Chinese medicine successfully aid pain management of Crohn's patients. It required multiple weekly visits at the beginning. Chinese medical treatments were then tapered down to one visit a week, with the option of more frequent visits as needed.

Experts in Chinese medicine may use a combination of any of the following treatments: acupressure, acupuncture, cupping, herbal supplements, and other traditional Chinese medical supplements. I am familiar with the use of Golden flower, pulsatilla intestinal formula, yan fan Crohn's formula, and Corydalis. The two former were suggested to assist digestive health, while Corydalis is a natural way to treat pain. Herbal formulas didn't seem to help or exacerbate the Crohn's condition. Corydalis was effective for mild pain, but when significant inflammation and pain set in Corydalis was not as effective as western pain medications.

Chinese Medicine & Crohn's: Principles of Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine treatments (TCM) focus on treating symptoms, rather than the identification or treatment of a specific disease.

Crohn's patients suffering from abdominal pain and inflammation will be treated to "cool" what is considered in Chinese medicine to be too much "heat" in the digestive system. The aim of Crohn's treatment in Chinese medicine would include relaxation and stress therapy, as these seem to be key factors in a Crohn's flare up.

Chinese medicine would seek to help the Crohn's patient achieve a greater state of balance, based on the ancient eastern understanding of Yin and Yang. The body's balance of Yin and Yang play a significant role in all aspects of Chinese medicine.

According to Yin and Yang theory the principle of Yin and Yang is the foundation of the universe. As applied to Chinese medicine, yin and yang must be balanced to treat symptoms of Crohn's and have any chance at curing such diseases. Believing the body receives life and nourishment through the senses acupuncture, cupping, and acupressure are used to treat body systems and the flow of energy in the body.

Theories of Chinese medicine state that cold injures the body, but heat injures the spirit. When the spirit is hurt it will manifest itself as pain in the body. Following the theory of Chinese medicine when the body is hurt there will be swelling. The disharmony in the spirit manifests itself in the body. Overstimulation of emotions, good or bad, also create disharmony that will manifest as pain in the body.

This makes sense when applied to Crohn's and other autoimmune disease because the correlation between stress and flare-ups of Crohn's and other autoimmune disorders is well established. In a vicious cycle, when the body is in pain the spirit is hurt. For Crohn's patients this means a cycle of physical and spiritual damage. Chinese medicine seeks to interrupt the cycle and restore balance through the use of traditional eastern treatments mentioned above.

Chinese Medicine & Crohn's: Additional Information
For additional information on the use of Chinese medicine to treat Crohn's disease please read "Crohn's Disease: Western and Oriental Perspectives, Part II," and "Gastrointestinal Disorders." Healing Digestive Disorders: Natural Treatments for Gastrointestinal Conditions is a book by Andrew Gaeddert, is an easy to read book and workbook which will help you as you determine whether Chinese medicine is an appropriate course of treatment for your Crohn's condition.

Chinese Medicine & Crohn's: What to Look for in a Doctor
When searching for a practitioner of Chinese medicine it will be in your best interest as a Crohn's patient to search online for board certified doctors of medicine trained in eastern and western medicine, specializing in Chinese medicine. Check references and consult with your regular G.I. doctor before trying Chinese medicine as an alternative treatment for Crohn's.

Sources:
Chen, John, PhD, Pharm D, OMD, Lac, "Crohn's Disease: Western and Oriental Perspectives, Part II,"
Acupuncture Today.
Coyle, Mark, translator "Yin and Yang in Medical Theory," The Meaning of Yin-Yang
"Gastrointestinal Disturbances." Herbldoc