Kidney and Bladder Diseases

CKD - If you suffer from chronic kidney disease, you know how all-encompassing CKD can be no matter what stage you are in. Controlling hypertension and fatigue can go a long way towards making you feel better. Since most physicians will not sanction the use of herbal formulas, I treat this exclusively with acupuncture. Proteinuria, elevated creatinine, nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, IgA nephropathy (Berger’s disease) and pyelonephritis can all be helped with acupuncture and especially with food therapy.

Kidney Stones - If you suffer from frequent kidney stones, we can treat you in clinic and put you on herbal formulas that help dissolve the stones as well as prevent them. In addition, you can add small amounts of apple cider vinegar to your diet for prevention. If you are beginning to feel the familiar colicky pains of a stone, let me know so that I can get you in quickly.

Kidney Infections - The hallmark sign of these is pain in the flank - the lowest ribs on the back that are tender to gentle pressure or knocking. Kidney infections call for urgent care by a physician as they can have very serious consequences.

Urinary incontinence, dribbling, interstitial cystitis, frequent urination, nocturia, and painful urination can all be treated with acupuncture, electroacupuncture and herbs.

CASE STUDIES

IBS-D, Anxiety, and Frequent Urination: 54 y/o female who worked in local government came to the office asking for help with her IBS-D, anxiety, and frequent urination because it was greatly affecting her work every day. Having sudden bouts of diarrhea made her very anxious, which made her experience more diarrhea. She found herself having to constantly plan where bathrooms were any place she went, drive herself everywhere she went just in case she had incontinence or had to leave suddenly, and was anxious all the time. It was limiting her ability to watch her daughter’s softball games, as well. This had been going on for a few years. When she came to the clinic, we decided to do three treatments a week for the first two weeks. Fortunately, after the first treatment she no longer had bouts of diarrhea—-a huge win for her. We regulated her nervous system so that it didn’t respond that way to strong emotion. We began work on the frequent urination. She had had heavy bleeding with menstruation and a uterine ablation procedure, meaning she likely had fibroids. A heavy uterus creates pelvic congestion, and it also often sits on top of the bladder, making complete bladder emptying nearly impossible. This leads to frequent urination as the bladder and uterus shift against each other. I recommended a pelvic ultrasound to see if this was the case. Meanwhile, I gave her home therapies to do to include hot spot compression therapy, breath work for anxiety, and bladder training. She did begin to see increased results with these therapies the more she did them.

A major component in the patient’s life (and what often leads to uterine fibroids) is a longstanding frustration and lack of joy. The patient admitted that she did not enjoy her work, wanted to retire, and felt pressured by her family to stay at the job . This congested emotion often leads to the formation of nodules in the body, whether on the thyroid, in the breasts, or in the uterus. I believe this was the case here. Clinically I find that patients who are trying to make a decision (or more accurately, know what they want to do but just cannot “pull the trigger” so to speak) have anxiety that is only relieved in the clinic but continues when they are home. These patients will not see an end to their anxiety without acting on their decision definitively. * —-JG

*All case studies presented on this website have personal details changed to protect privacy of patients.