Resolving Gynecological Symptoms with Chinese Medicine
Gui Zhi Tang, aka Cinnamon Twig Decoction-based Formulas
Gui Zhi Tang (Cinnamon Twig Decoction) is the first formula recorded in the classical Chinese medical text, Shanghan Lun, aka Treatise on Cold Damage. It is the No. 1 formula in history of Chinese medicine not just because it has been the most widely used formula to treat cold and flu, but also an important formula to treat gynecological issues. In Western natural medicine, cinnamon bark has been traditionally used for therapeutical purposes, while in Chinese medicine, smaller branches 枝 (Zhi) have been chosen in Gui Zhi Tang because, from an energetic perspective, the smaller branches have more "growing" and "moving" momentum than the bark, which is more stabilizing and tonifying in nature.
First, let’s look at all the functions of Gui Zhi Tang:
Expelling “Wind Stroke,” or exterior cold symptoms — the most well-known function of the formula. It treats a cold with the following symptoms: chills, fever, sweating, body ache, fatigue, nasal congestion, sneezing, headache, etc.
Tonifying the Spleen. Gui Zhi Tang is especially good for children with poor appetites, low calcium levels, under development, emaciation, hyperhidrosis (easily sweating), and who easily catch a cold. It is also effective in treating pathological thirst due to Spleen deficiency.
Regulating the Chong Mai (the Surging Vessel). Chong Mai is an extraordinary channel that runs through the axial center of the body, governing the deep upward and downward movements of vital forces (hormones and nutrients) between the upper and lower parts of the body. When Chong Mai is diseased, a person may experience symptoms such as vortex headaches, nausea, dry retching, heartburn, chest pain or discomfort, palpitations, nosebleeds.
Alleviating muscular symptoms. This does not limit to treating pain of the skeletal muscles, but also smooth muscles and cardiac muscles. This function is especially important in treating menstrual cramping as well as some cardiac diseases such as systolic heart failure.
Before discussing the treatment of pregnant women, we need to understand the physiology of pregnancy. A few prerequisites need to be fulfilled in a mature woman’s body before pregnancy can become possible. Uterus is enwrapped and stabilized by four extraordinary channels: Chong Mai (the Surging), Ren Mai (the Conception), Du Mai (the Governing), and Dai Mai (the Girdling) vessels.