Treating Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with Acupuncture and Herbal Formula

Tao Sun O.M.D. & L.Ac.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), also known as “post-military stress syndrome”, is a severe anxiety disorder that is developed after exposure to an event that results in either physical or psychological trauma.

PTSD is common among post-combat military personnel who were exposed to strong sensory stimulations in battlefield that had a damaging effect on their nerve systems and led to disorders of bodily functions, and imbalance of Ying and Yang. Often appearing months after exposing to traumatic events, the symptoms of PTSD include:

Chronic depression, insomnia, frequently awaking from nightmares, headache, dizziness, back or neck pain, fatigue, weakness, stomach discomfort, loss of appetite yet with weight gain, memory loss, inability to concentrate, loss of interest or possessing a persistently pessimistic outlook on life, becoming easily irritated and losing temper, attempting to hurt oneself, mood swing, and having suicidal thoughts.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), formed in a history of thousands of years, employs such treatments as Chinese herb medicine and acupuncture, which can help PTSD patients based on the principles of identification and differentiation of the symptoms and severances so as to form an individualized treatment plan. Each patient receives personalized care according to his or her balance of Ying and Yang, insufficiency or hyperactivity, cold and hot characters of key organs.

The aim of cure is typically achieved by adjusting one’s balance, treating the symptoms, and restoring body functions, by following the treatment principles of dispersing the stagnated liver energy, invigorating the spleen, coordinating Qi and blood, and eliminating phlegm so as to reactivate vital energy.

Based on the patient’s tongue color and pulse feeling, there are 3 groups of selected points that can be used for acupuncture treatment:

Group No.1: Zu-San-Li (ST 36), San-Yin-Jiao (SP 6), Bai-Hui (DU 20), Nai-Guan (PC 6), Zong-Jie (RN 3), Guan-Yuan (RN 4), Feng-Long(ST 40), Tai-Cong(LR 3).

Group No. 2: Bai-Hui (DU 20), Zong-Fu (LU 1), He-Gu (L14), Guan-Yuan (RN 4), Zu-San-Li(ST36), Tai-Cong(LR 3), Fen-Long (ST 40).

Group No.3: Yin-Tang (EX-HN 3), Zong-Fu(LU 1), Zong-Guan (RN 12), Qi-Hai(RN 6), Zong-Jie (RN 3), Nei-Guan (PC6), Xue-Hai (SP 10), Zu-San-Li(ST 36), Tai-Cong (LR 3).

Usually patients are treated with acupuncture twice a week for 4 weeks as one course.

The following two herbal formulas can also be prescribed for PTSD patients, the first one is the formula of Bu-Zong-Yi-Qi-Tang (Ginseng & Astragalus Compound) that has been confirmed by modern studies for having the effects of improving cellular immune functions, enhancing metabolism, stimulating the cerebral cortex, alleviating skeletal muscle tensions, and promoting digestion and absorption. This formula can be used for those who have deficiency in spleen and stomach, manifested as having hypotension, chronic headache, functional disturbance of the vegetative nerve, chronic gastroenteritis, myasthenia gravis, gastroatonia, prolapsed rectum or uterus, floating kidney, chronic bleeding, postpartum sub-involution of the uterus, menorrhagia, allergic purpura, chronic low fever, other chronic disorders, weakened bodily functions resulted from illness or surgery. On the surface, those patients usually have such symptoms as fever with perspiration, headache with aversion to cold, thirst with a desire for hot drink, short breath and disinclination to talk, or loss of appetite, lassitude of the extremities, pale tongue with a whitish coating, deficient and weak pulse.

The second formula is Xiao-Yao-Wan (Bupleurum & Dang Gui Formula) which has been clinically proven to have the remarkable effects of nourishing the liver, tranquilizing the mind, and relieving spasm, stagnation of the liver Qi, and deficiency of blood. Patients normally have symptoms such as depression, hypochondriac pain, headache, dizziness, bitter mouth, dry throat, mental weariness, poor appetite, irregular menstruation, distention in the breast, light redness in the tongue, and feeble pulse.