Herbs for Kidney Stones and Gallstones
Kidney Stones SymptomsThe location of kidney stone pain can vary from kidney pain in the mid to lower back, to pain in the inguinal area, the side of the lower abdomen, or the central lower abdomen in the bladder area. Symptoms of kidney stones are almost unmistakable, as they involve pain that is so sharp and intense they have been compared to the pain of childbirth. Stones in the kidney, the urinary tract, or the bladder only cause pain when they are moving. When kidney stones are stationary, there is little or no pain at all. |
Gallstone SymptomsGallstone symptoms are not as obvious as kidney stone pain. Gallstone symptoms can easily be misdiagnosed as liver pain, or stomach pain. The most common symptoms of gallstones are steady, severe pain on the right side of the upper abdomen that lasts from 30 minutes to several hours, pain in the back between the shoulder blades, pain under the right shoulder, nausea or vomiting. |
Stones According to Traditional Chinese MedicineStones appear in both the Kidney and Gallbladder as a result of accumulation. In fact, stones can be called accumulations. Accumulations are a consequence of poor flow and dietary excess. Gallstones are made of Cholesterol. Kidney stones can be composed of calcium, oxylates, or uric acid crystals. Lysimachia, Jin Qian Cao, “Gold Coin Herb” is used for gallstones and for kidney stones. To optimize its use for gallstones, combine this herb with Artemisia Capillaris (Yin Chen), Bupleurum (Chai Hu), and Gardenia seed (Zhi Zi). Ingesting mixtures of oily and acidic foods, such as olive oil and lemon juice are said to act as solvents to dissolve the fatty gallstones. |
Treatment of Kidney Stones with Chinese MedicineKidney stones containing oxalic acid are treated by restricting intake of foods high in oxalates. Rhubarb, spinach, strawberries, chocolate, wheat bran, nuts, beets, and tea have been shown to be most at fault for raising urine oxalate levels. Kidney stones high in calcium indicate that calcium is being leeched from the bones, according to traditional Chinese medicine. This is called Kidney Deficiency and requires the use of herbal Kidney Tonics such as Liu Wei Di Huang to strengthen the kidneys. The herbal medicine Shi Lin Tong is used to dissolve the stones. Kidney stones high in uric acid are likely caused by too much meat in the diet.
Shi Lin TongDesmodium based tablets, effective in large doses for dissolving and preventing kidney stones. Also used for bladder and other urinary infections, |
Gallstone Treatment with Herbal MedicineThe Chinese herbal patent medicine, Li Dan Pian, uses Chinese herbs as a solvent. It is far easier to use than olive oil and lemon juice and probably works better. Li Dan PianTo dissolve and remove gallstones. Likely course of use is 4 weeks.
ACUPUNCTURE FOR GALLSTONESExcerpted from "TREATMENT OF GALLSTONES WITH
CHINESE HERBS AND ACUPUNCTURE" It is unclear whether acupuncture, by itself, can cause expulsion of gallstones, but acupuncture is used to treat symptoms of gallstones, such as biliary colic. The two acupuncture points mentioned in this article, qimen (LV-14) and riyue (GB-24), are the main ones mentioned in the literature. These points lie over the liver on the right side, and are located one rib apart and directly below the nipple. Only the right side is treated. An extensive analysis of the value of these points was presented in an article on treatment of biliary colic (6), along with brief mention of the nearby point juque (CV-14). In the discussion of their treatment, the authors stated:
Other points frequently mentioned in the literature for treating gallstones include the lower leg points yanglingquan (GB-34), qiuxu (GB-40), and zusanli (ST-36); in addition, there is an extra point known as the gallbladder point (dannangxue), just below GB-34 (about 1-2 cun lower). The nausea and pain associated with cholecystitis and with biliary blockage is treated at neiguan (PC-6) and zhigou (TB-6), above the wrist. In explaining the use of these points, the Advanced Textbook of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Pharmacology states:
Ear acupuncture developed a reputation for being a method for expelling gallstones during the 1980s. It was reported to be especially effective for the damp-heat type and less so for the stagnation-stagnation types of patients, but not effective for those with Qi deficiency. Over 60 auricular points have been used in the treatment of gallstones, making it difficult to pick out points that might be particularly effective. Not surprisingly, the most commonly used points were those associated with the liver, gallbladder, bile duct, pancreas, duodenum, stomach, spleen, and small intestine. A course of treatment would be thirty days with pressure applied to the point using various kinds of pellets, especially vaccaria seeds (which have a sharp point and may be substituted by the small "ear tacks"). Pressure would be applied for 20-30 minutes after meals (about 15 minutes after eating). Despite the high efficacy of the therapy in alleviating symptoms, the number of cases reported to have complete elimination of stones was usually only about 10%, sometimes as high as 20%. During treatment, stone expulsion would yield a sensation of distention or pain in the region of the gallbladder. Unfortunately, it was found that in patients who had only a portion of the stones expelled, new stones appeared very rapidly, sometimes leading to a worsened condition after treatment. One researcher, Shang Cen Ruo of the Nanjing College of TCM, cautioned that a higher efficacy of ear acupuncture for stone expulsion should be attained before recommending wide spread use of the technique. Other researchers noted superior effects when ear acupuncture was combined with herbal therapy. |
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