In this post I will introduce the gynecological ward to you, one of the legend doctors who works there and some more in depth analysis of some of the “interesting” techniques they use to help patients and also the pulse analysis for determining the sex of a baby…
Doctor Wang Qing outlined the ward for me. There are 18 beds for various gynecological conditions. Mostly infertility cases, covered by 3 doctors. Patients are admitted through the outpatients’ room downstairs and on to the ward. Here they may be treated by the same doctor seen in outpatients downstairs. The doctors rotate one day in outpatients and one day on the ward with inpatients.
The ward was in a lot better shape than the oncology ward I had witnessed. One experienced nurse in our group stated that all oncology wards can be a bit “rough”. The TCM Gynecology ward was painted in mostly pink and everybody was a bit more relaxed in pink pajamas too. It felt like it had a pleasant atmosphere. Patients spend a minimum of two weeks getting treatment.
Most patients were put on IV drip with saline and a base of Dan Shen ( Blood Activating herb) and Huang Qi (Qi Tonifying herb). This lends an orange colour to the saline, check out the picture soon (also notice the old style glass bottle saline holder). This combination helps the patients beat fatigue and apparently the tonifying effect is overall very pleasant and calming J
Also I have added a picture of an x-ray of the common situation of the ovaries being too high/raised upwards in the opposite direction for you to see.
Two interesting techniques, unique to TCM, came up which I will now outline. One was the use of electrical abdominal stimulation combined with herb use. Cotton pads were soaked in herbs and placed on the abdomen above the ovaries. TENS pads (electro stimulation) were used for 20-25 minutes above the herb pads. I saw two patients having this treatment, next to each other on the ward. One was diagnosed with menopause and the other I didn’t catch, but they used the same herb formula to soak the pads in.
Zhi Qiao 10 ( alternate name is Zhi Ke) See this interesting Blue Poppy post on the intricacies of naming herbs! http://www.bluepoppy.com/blog/blogs/blog1.php/2010/01/27/zhi-ke-or-zhi-qiao
San Leng 15
Bai Zhi 10
Zhen Zhu 15 (Pearl: this probably incorrect as I cannot see the public hospital system using loads of this?!)
Bai Jiang Cao 15
Hou Po 10
Mo Yao 10 (Myrrh)
Ru Xiang 10 (Frankincense) Love seeing these two herbs in formulas and they are well known for treating traumatic pain
Hong Hua 10
Dang Gui 10
Chi Shao 20
Gui Zhi 15
E Jiao 15
Another technique on the ward was the placement of warm bags containing cooked herbs on the patient’s abdomens. This was indicated for infertility for a range of cases from endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease, issues with fallopian tubes. It was avoided during period and was used for 3 months, on ward and also at home. After this time it was advised to try for pregnancy.
Bai Zhi 10
Chao Zhi Qiao 10 ( See above about Zhi Qiao)
San Leng 15
Gui Zhi 15
Dang Gui 10
Hong Hua 10
Cang Zhu 15
Su Mu 10
Bai Jiang Cao 15
Hou Po 15
Mo Yao 10
Mu Xiang 10
Huang Bai 10
Chi Shao 20
Tou Gu Cao 30 (this is not a very commonly used herb) Speranskia is acrid with a warm energy. It enters the liver, spleen, and kidney.
Also herb enemas are practiced, but I didn’t manage to get any information on that.
Finally it’s worth noting Dr Xu Run San. Xu is his family name, Run means nourishing and San translates as second brother I think. On the Wednesday I saw him do his rounds on the ward and on Friday I saw him in outpatients clinic. Two things: He’s one of the top doctors for Gynecology, in China! And he’s still practicing at 86 years old. When I saw him in the ward he came in holding hands with his wife. Anyway I took some pictures on ward and in outpatients. I think just by these few pictures you get an idea of his good humour and generosity.
This is where he practices when not in the hospital:
Oh yeah finally I had the chance to practice predicting the sex of an unborn child from the pulse. Left side is Blood and represents Yin (feminine quality). Right side is Qi and represents Yang (masculine quality). If the pulse of the mother is stronger on the Yin/left side it’s a girl. If it’s stronger on the Yang/right side it’s a boy. I got the prediction wrong (the mum knew from previous ultrasound). But this is all according to what theory you practice and the left and right can swap around with different theories-classic Chinese medicine, I just picked the wrong theory..!
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