How Does Traditional Chinese Medicine Treat Cystitis?
Cystitis is a common urinary tract infectious disease. Usually, patients will experience symptoms such as frequent urination, urinary urgency, painful urination, discomfort in urination, and pain in the lower abdomen, which have a great impact on their life and work.
To relieve these symptoms quickly, many people choose Western antibiotics for treatment. However, due to drug resistance and other side effects, the therapeutic effect could be more satisfactory.
In this article, we will introduce the traditional Chinese medicine treatment of cystitis from the traditional Chinese medicine perspective.
Recognizing Cystitis in TCM
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) recognizes that the bladder is the main organ for storing urine and is connected to the kidney, small intestine, and San Jiao, and its functions are closely related to these organs. The cystitis is related to various factors, the most common of which is the invasion of dampness and heat. The evil of dampness and heat can easily invade the kidneys and bladder, leading to this disease.
At the same time, liver depression and stagnation of qi and blood can also lead to the occurrence of cystitis. Therefore, the TCM treatment for cystitis is to remove dampness-heat, dredge the liver, regulate qi, and activate blood circulation to remove blood stasis.
Regulating Cystitis in TCM
1. Traditional Chinese Medicine Conditioning
Herbal conditioning is the core method of TCM treatment for cystitis. Commonly used Chinese herbs include common Polygonum aviculare, plantain herb, honeysuckle, etc. Polygonum aviculare is a natural herb; its flavor is bitter and cold, mainly to the bladder meridian. It effectively induces diuresis for treating stranguria, which has a better therapeutic effect on cystitis.
Plantain can clear away heat and induce diuresis, as well as anti-inflammatory and pain relief, which can clear away heat, detoxify the body, and unobstruct the watercourses, helping to eliminate inflammation and inhibit bacterial growth. Honeysuckle removes heat, detoxifies the body, relieves the surface and dissipates heat, and can regulate the body's immune system and improve resistance.
In addition to these three ingredients mentioned above, the proprietary traditional Chinese medicine Diuretic and Anti-inflammatory Pill has perfected its formula by adding other Chinese herbs to give it a more complete function. These herbal ingredients make their use of antidotes fully meet the Western medicine broad-spectrum antimicrobial effect, which can effectively kill a variety of disease-causing bacteria. It also has the efficacy of promoting blood circulation and relieving pain.
Therefore, Diuretic and Anti-inflammatory Pill can not only target cystitis but also help patients regulate the whole body to achieve the effect of consolidation and cultivation to prevent recurrent attacks.
2. Food Therapy
Traditional Chinese medicine can also use dietary therapy to treat cystitis. Common dietary therapies include mung bean porridge, lotus root juice, cucumber juice, etc. Mung bean porridge clears heat and detoxifies the body, inducing diuresis and reducing swelling, which can help clear away the evil of dampness and heat. Lotus root juice can remove heat, detoxify, induce diures, reduce swelling, and help regulate urinary tract infections. Cucumber juice can clear heat and induce diuretics, moisturize the lungs and dryness, and has a certain auxiliary effect on treating cystitis.
3. Acupressure Point Massage
Acupressure points can also be used in TCM to treat cystitis. Commonly used acupoints are Guanyuan, Qihai, and Sanyinjiao. Guanyuan acupoint is located in the lower abdomen and is the main acupoint for treating cystitis. Massaging this acupoint can help improve the symptoms of cystitis. Qihai acupoint is located in the lower abdomen.
Massaging Qihai acupoint can dredge qi and blood and help eliminate the evil of dampness and heat. The Sanyinjiao point is located on the inner side of the calf. Massaging the Sanyinjiao point can regulate qi and blood, helping to relieve the symptoms of cystitis.
4. Dietary Precautions
Patients with cystitis also need to pay attention to their diet. First, avoid tobacco, alcohol, coffee, strong tea, and other spicy and stimulating food intake to avoid irritating the bladder mucosa and aggravate the inflammation. Secondly, they should drink more water and increase the frequency of urination, which helps to clean the bladder and eliminate the evil of dampness and heat. Also, pay attention to keeping the vulva clean to avoid bacterial infection.
Traditional Chinese medicine seeks the root cause of illness and excels at applying a holistic concept, emphasizing dialectical treatment. When a person has cystitis, traditional Chinese medicine focuses on the systemic pathological changes caused by the local lesion. That is, it unifies the pathological changes in the bladder tissue with the pathological responses of the entire urinary reproductive system to make a correct diagnosis and thus provide appropriate treatment.
Traditional Chinese medicine has been effective in treating cystitis, and patients may consider exploring and trying this approach.
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