Stress!!!

You're fed up. The kids are bugging you, your job is demanding and the housework never ends. Tired, irritable and unable to sleep at night, you want relief. This is stress. If you are unable to cope with stress try to talk to our TCM doctors. They can help you to manage it.

The Causes & Effects of Stress Stress starts when your body is confronted with more than it can handle be it physical, emotional or mental. In terms of TCM, stress is linked with the function of the liver and kidney systems. One of the main physiological functions of the liver is to regulate mind and mood. When stress affects the liver it is unable to perform this function well, and the human body will fail to co-ordinate its mental and moral activities. This may be evident by dullness and anxiety depression, belching, sighing. In extreme cases, symptom may occur such as restlessness of the mind, irascibility, dizziness and sensations of distension in head, headache, insomnia and dream disturbed sleep. Stress is not terrible harmful in the short term, but prolonged stress keeps you in overdrive and can affect your health. It may, for example narrow blood vessels causing raised blood pressure, even angina or a heart attack. It may also provoke over or under eating, resulting in obesity or severe loss of weight. Chronic stress may also cause migraine, hair loss, asthma, impotence etc.

Managing Stress by TCM Most people treated by TCM claim acupuncture are one of the most effective alternative therapies for stress when they fail to cure their problems through conventional medicine. Many people know little more about acupuncture than that it involves having needles stuck into your body. But it is the positioning of those needles which is crucial. Acupuncturists believe their fine needles can help to stimulate the body's own healing response. Some patients are instantly relieved when the problems are stress-related. Chinese herbs can play a fundamental role in any stress management program. When used within the context of a program that addresses a range of factors, herbs can facilitate a dramatic change in the quality of life experienced by anyone under stress. Some herbs can disperse the liver which is suitable for emotional anger and depression. Others can nourish the kidney and calm the liver Yang which suitable for tiredness and dizziness. The most effective herbal products for stress are JIA WEI XIAO YAO WAN, YANG XUE AN SHEN WAN. AN SHENG JIAN NAO YE, XIAO YAO WAN, WU JIA SHENG JING. Other methods for management of stress include: a good diet (less caffeine, less alcohol), relaxation exercises such as Tai Chi, training yourself stress-free attitude etc.