Women walk into Selby Acupuncture with all kinds of stories. The 34-year-old whose periods have become unpredictable and exhausting. The 50-year-old who hasn’t slept through the night in two years and is anxious all the time. The woman who describes herself as “not herself anymore” — short-tempered, foggy, wired and tired all at once. These stories are different, but they often share a common thread: the body is asking for something.
Chinese herbal medicine has been responding to these stories for over two thousand years. And in my eighteen years of practice, it remains one of the most powerful tools I have for helping women feel like themselves again. In fact, it is my go-to, number one most powerful tool in the Chinese medicine toolbox for the all-encompassing ‘women’s health’ issues.
It’s Personal
One of the things I love most about Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is that it doesn’t start from a place of pathology. Your hormones aren’t broken. Your body isn’t failing you. It has an unmet need. Our job is to provide for the need, bringing you back into balance. In Chinese medicine, we refer to this as determining your pattern diagnosis. A pattern is literally what it seems it would be, the collection of symptoms you personally are experiencing that we attribute to ‘hormones’? Is it poor sleep, irritability, cramping, long or short cycles, hot flashes, vaginal dryness, lack of libido, fertility issues? These symptoms, when collected, will present the pattern, where things have gotten stuck, depleted, or out of balance. We then just want to restore flow and nourishment so the body can do what it already knows how to do.
This matters especially for women, because female physiology is beautifully cyclical and complex. The same symptom, like fatigue, might come from very different root causes in two different women. That’s why Chinese herbal formulas are so powerful, they are individualized. We’re not handing you a bottle off a shelf for PMS or Hot Flashes; we’re building something that fits your pattern.
Hormonal Balance and Cycle Regulation
For women dealing with irregular cycles, painful periods, PMS, or the kind of premenstrual mood shifts that feel completely out of proportion, Chinese herbs offer remarkable support. Let’s look at a few of our most used, powerful formulas, and the dig into some of the specific herbs they contain.
Dang Gui (Angelica sinensis) is often called the “female ginseng” — it nourishes and moves Blood, supports the uterus, and is a foundational herb in many formulas for cycle regulation. It rarely appears alone; in classical Chinese medicine, herbs work in relationship with one another. A formula like Si Wu Tang (Four Substance Decoction) pairs Dang Gui with Bai Shao (White Peony), Chuan Xiong, and Shu Di Huang to build and circulate Blood, addressing the root of many menstrual irregularities. Si Wu Tang also happens to be the Blood-nourishing half of Ba Zhen Tang (Eight Treasure Decoction), one of my most-used formulas for women who are both Blood and Qi deficient. It has a common name of ‘Women’s Precious’ because it is so effective in women’s health. Ba Zhen Tang adds Si Jun Zi Tang (Four Gentlemen) to the mix, bringing in Qi tonics like Ren Shen, Bai Zhu, Fu Ling, and Zhi Gan Cao. The result is a formula that nourishes and moves Blood while building the Qi that gives Blood somewhere to go. It’s particularly useful after heavy periods, postpartum, or any time a woman is running on empty.
White Peony (Bai Shao) deserves a special mention. It’s one of the most widely used herbs in gynecology — it softens what’s tight, nourishes what’s dry, and has a particular affinity for supporting estrogen metabolism and smooth hormonal transitions. When I see someone, whose symptoms fluctuate wildly through their cycle, Bai Shao is almost always in the formula.
And for PMS, specifically the kind with irritability, breast tenderness, bloating, mood that turns on a dime in the week before a period, Jia Wei Xiao Yao San is often the first formula I consider. It’s a modification of the classical Xiao Yao San, with the addition of Mu Dan Pi (Moutan) and Zhi Zi (Gardenia) to clear heat that builds from stagnation. Where Xiao Yao San smooths and moves, Jia Wei Xiao Yao San does all of that and also cools, making it ideal for the woman who may get agitated premenstrually. I’ve seen it be genuinely life-changing for women who had resigned themselves to just suffering through their cycle.
Perimenopause and Menopause
Perimenopause is one of the most undertreated transitions in women’s healthcare, and it’s an area where Chinese herbal medicine genuinely shines. Hot flashes, night sweats, sleep disruption, heart palpitations, mood swings, vaginal dryness, brain fog, these aren’t things you just have to white-knuckle through. Speaking from experience, these herbs can be life changing (or quality of life changing!).
In TCM, many of these symptoms point to a pattern called Kidney Yin deficiency, the body’s cooling, nourishing reserves are running low, and heat rises as a result. Herbs like Shu Di Huang (Rehmannia), Nu Zhen Zi (Ligustrum), and Han Lian Cao (Eclipta) replenish that deep reserve. The classical formula Liu Wei Di Huang Wan is the grandmother of this category, and the common variation on this formula, Zhi Bai Di Huang Wan, has been used for centuries and remains one of our most frequently prescribed formulas for menopausal women. It has additions to treat those ‘hot’ symptoms.
For women whose menopause is more characterized by Kidney Yang deficiency, feeling cold, exhausted, mentally flat rather than hot and irritable – the formula shifts accordingly. This is the beauty of individualized herbal medicine: two women walking in with “menopause” leave with very different formulas, because their bodies are telling different stories.
Stress, Sleep, and Mood
This is where I see some of the most dramatic results, and honestly, it’s where many women are suffering most silently. Chronic stress depletes the Heart and Liver in Chinese medicine. Sleep becomes shallow or elusive. Anxiety hums in the background. The nervous system is stuck in overdrive.
Suan Zao Ren (Sour Jujube Seed) is one of my favorite herbs for this. It’s the cornerstone of Suan Zao Ren Tang, a classical formula for anxiety, irritability, restlessness, and insomnia from deficiency. It’s deeply calming without being sedating, and many patients notice a difference within the first week. Tian Wang Bu Xin Dan is another, more geared toward high anxiety and restlessness. Gui Pi Tang is also worth mentioning. It is geared towards treating the mood (like depression or anxiety), fatigue, and digestive issues (like weight gain or bloating). It is the first formula I ever used, initially for post-partum depression, and one I have turned to again and again through life’s transition.
Chai Hu (Bupleurum) is another workhorse for women’s stress patterns, particularly when stress shows up as irritability, tight chest, irregular cycles, or that feeling of everything being slightly clenched. It moves Qi that has gotten stuck, and when Qi flows, so much else shifts. You will find Chai Hu present in many of the formulas we mentioned, and it is the cornerstone of the formula Jia Wei Xiao Yao San that we mentioned above.
A Word on Fertility
Fertility is its own deep conversation, one that deserves its own full article, but I want to name it here: herbal medicine is widely integrated into fertility treatment at Selby, and the reason is simple. A body that’s cycling well, sleeping, digesting, and managing stress is a body that’s ready to conceive. Fertility isn’t separate from the rest of women’s health; it’s the body expressing that it’s in balance. Our herbal work in fertility is a natural extension of everything described above. Often for fertility we will individualize a formula based on where you are in your cycle and adjust them a bit a few times in the month.
How It Works at Selby
Our herbal pharmacy at Selby carries both granule concentrates, raw herbs, and prepared patent formulas, so we can work with whatever fits your life. Some patients do beautifully on a simple patent formula, others need a custom-built granule formula. We talk through your symptoms, your labs if you have them, your constitution, and your goals, and then we find the right fit.
If you’ve been curious about Chinese herbal medicine, or if you’re already a patient and haven’t explored herbs yet, I’d love to talk. This medicine is old. It’s been tested by generations of practitioners and patients. And in the right hands, it works.
Interested in exploring Chinese herbal medicine for your health? Book an appointment online at SelbyAcupuncture.com, or call us at 651-224-6678 to learn more. We would love to help!
Julie McCormick
