A 19-year-old young man presented to my clinic with concerns about his Anxiety, Raynaud's (cold hands and feet) and chronic hay fever. He will be known as Tom (a pseudonym). A thorough breakdown of his condition, associated symptoms and rate of improvement shown below.
Tom found that his anxiety was constant. He developed low confidence in sharing his emotions, which negatively affected his social connection with others. This issue caused him to feel stressed in his relationships with friends, family and colleagues. Onset was ten years ago. Other symptoms included nervous ticks, tightness in shoulders when conversing with others, intermittent tightness in the chest. After a month of herbal treatment, he reported feeling 40-45% better. Now, he can connect with friends and family with ease. After three months, he declared he was feeling 80% better in this area.
Tom had been unable to sleep until 6 am. Each night, he averaged about 3 hours per night. In 2-3 weeks into treatment, Tom was averaging 5-6 hours a night. Now, he averages 8-10 hours per night.
In Chinese Medicine, Insomnia coupled with anxiety, when treated simultaneously, yields the best results. Sleep is the foundation for physical and mental wellbeing, and any form of disturbed sleep, or lack of sleep, will affect mental wellbeing. Herbal sedatives, hypnotics and tranquilisers are a non-addictive way to restore healthy sleeping habits.
Raynaud's is characterised by constriction of small blood vessels in hands and feet, resulting in cold hands and feet. The issue had been ongoing for as long as Tom can remember. But, much to Tom's surprise, his Raynaud's resolved entirely within one month of herbal treatment. The treatment principle was straightforward. Vasodilators, anticoagulants and blood thinners will restore cardiovascular circulation to the peripherals.
Travelling to see his parents in North West Sydney was an agonising experience. He would experience a constant runny nose, blocked sinus, postnasal drip, watery eyes, scratchy throat, difficulty breathing, consecutive sneezing of 3-5 times and wheezing. He has had this problem since a child. He used to rely on a nebuliser to live like a baby. However, it took about three months to feel 75% better. This issue required more time as we needed to work in stages. The root cause of hay fever in Chinese Medicine is an underlying weak immune system. As a result, it leads to a hypersensitivity reaction in the respiratory tract where the body's typical responses to pathogens become exaggerated to compensate for the innate weakness. The herbal strategy is to treat by inhibiting the mechanism of excessive mucus production and inflammation. Only then can we slowly strengthen the immune system with immunostimulant herbs that will benefit the production of white blood cells.
In summary, Tom had responded enormously well to Chinese herbal therapy for ailments he had been suffering from for most of his life. We were also pleased with the results and ecstatic to have contributed to his quality of life.