Origin and treatment of gastric ulcers in Traditional Chinese Medicine
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, gastric or peptic ulcer is caused by emotional disorders, eating disorders, and insufficient stomach. Here are their causes and treatment, always from the point of view of this ancient practice.
Emotional disorders
Some emotional disturbances, irritability, obsessions and the blocking of the energy impairment, because the liver regulates the flow of energy, it ceases to flow normally and attacks the Stomach. The defect of energy circulation in the stomach causes an imbalance.
If the aggression to gastric liver for energy continues for a time, can trigger the following conditions:
Blockage of hepatic energy production because of fire that destroys the gastric fluids. Therefore, the stomach loses its moisture and it is therefore difficult for the stomach to play its role in digestion. If this situation continues ,peptic ulcer appears. Even if the fire destroys the capillaries, can cause bleeding.
The liver energy attacking the stomach causing gastric obstruction in the capillaries. When the disease becomes chronic, appears with bleeding peptic ulcer.
Liver energy attacking the Spleen, responsible for eliminating moisture, causing the formation of internal moisture. The same moisture and acidity produces heat that goes up the esophagus and throat causing acid regurgitation.
Eating Disorders
Excessive hunger or satiety, excessive food energy destroyed in stomach, creating a blockage in the stomach. If this situation continues peptic ulcer appears.
Excess food-cooling causes the accumulation of cold in the epigastrium and then the circulation of Qi and blood stasis slows down causing pain and cold in the Stomach. If this situation continues there is also the peptic ulcer.
The fatty, sweet, spicy meal or too much alcohol detriment the stomach, resulting in the production and stasis of heat and moisture in the stomach. This obstruction blocks the flow of Qi and blood causing peptic ulcers.
Stomach Weakness
The weakness of the stomach may be constitutional. On the other hand, chronic diseases and recurrent gastric or excessive intake of drugs tend to impair the energy of stomach causing it weakness. If the stomach is weak, it is more prone to such infections of Helicobacter pylori.
Important points
In peptic ulcer, is to distinguish whether a disease is energy, blood, cold, heat, or if failure is a syndrome or an acute crisis.
Energy: The pathognomonic sign is the congestion and pain. Congestion is more than pain or congestive pain may appear inconsistent with no fixed location.
Blood: The pathognomonic sign is the sharp pain. This pain has a fixed location and the patient refuses palpation.
Cold: This is usually due to insufficient cooling in Stomach Yang. Subacute pain relieved by increased heat and cold, hypothermia of the four members, pale tongue with white coating.
Heat: the most common form is the fire of the liver associated with gastric heat the following clinical signs: burning epigastric pain, desire for cold drinks, dehydrated and bitter mouth, dysphoria, agitation and irritability, constipation, oliguria, red tongue with yellow coating etc.
Failure: This form is common in frail or chronically ill with the following signs: pain without congestion, tenderness and heat relieves pain, ingestion of drinking increases the pain, the therapeutic act of spreading disease worsens.
Acute Crisis: This form is more robust, illnesses in people with the following signs: congestive epigastric pain, constipation, the patient seeks the cold and refuses to palpation, recrudescence postprandial pain, acute pain and sudden, strong pulse and respiration rattling , the therapeutic act of toning aggravated pathology.
Acupuncture Treatment
To address this issue, initially requires two weekly sessions of acupuncture, then a weekly, twice monthly.
In people with a chronic ulcer, to help reduce medication side effects, it is more useful to go back to the causes of the problem.
To be treated the cause, the Traditional Chinese Medicine has good therapeutic results in all types of ulcers, as long as the patient collaborate in the diet, avoiding stress … and all the other habits to be corrected.
Acupuncture can be done even if you are taking antibiotics and that TCM can be used alone as they do in China or in conjunction with conventional medicine.
In addition, another set of guidelines prescribed as diet, relaxation, etc.
The causes will determine the therapeutic measures: If it's cold, avoid foods that cause cold, if it’s heat you should avoid foods that cause heat.
Example of a real case:
A 50 year old man came to the office to remedy his peptic ulcer. For several months he had been diagnosed. The patient had epigastric burning pain, irritability, constipation, dry mouth and bitter taste in the morning.
The patient explained that he had had a labor problem for several months, also because of his work, he skipped meals. When eating out, he ate fried and many sweets.
After regular feeding, and 5 acupuncture sessions, the patient has noticed a major decrease in pain, at the 10 sessions, he was not suffering pain, constipation or irritability.
Source: TCM School Guang An Men Clinics