I did not set out to treat trauma when I started practising Chinese Medicine. The majority of my early cases involved using acupuncture to relieve neck and shoulder pain. But every now and again young female patients would arrive at the clinic complaining of multiple issues like stomach pain, irregular painful periods and insomnia. While these conditions are common having all of them at the same time is not. It points to a bigger underlying issue – their bodies while young, were not in balance. Drilling down further into their health history and mapping a timeline patterns started to emerge. These patients grew up in traumatic environments – alcoholic parents, divorced or separated parents and sexual abuse were just some of the commonalities they all shared.
The one thing that became very obvious and consistent in my findings was this – when there is unresolved trauma, the patient will start to suffer from health issues at a young age. Take for example Susan, a 21-year-old student (not her real name) presented in my clinic with hashimoto’s, hypothyroidism, IBS, migraines and irregular periods all at 21 years of age!!!!
Susan appeared healthy but somewhat guarded, friendly and very straight forward in her responses. She grew up with an alcoholic mother. Their relationship was now controlled by her social worker. When it comes to treating patients with these types of conditions and backgrounds my primary goal is always this – restore the patient to balance. Get them to calm. Often these patients and many of my patients arrive feeling anxious, overwhelmed, upset out of balance.
I use acupuncture to help regulate the Qi in their bodies and I use healing touch to reset their polyvagal nerve. Once a patient switches out of the autonomic nervous system – think flight, fright and freeze and back into their parasympathetic nervous system then their normal body functions like digestion can resume. They are no longer operating on fear induced adrenalin.
Acupuncture when combined with healing touch restores the body to calm. It gives people the capacity to cope and heal. If a patient does not have a clinical counsellor I will advise them to consider it. I treat the body and help support the mind but it takes a team to help heal the wounds of the past.
