Gynecology and Hormonal Health

What Is Considered A Heavy Period?

July 16, 2025

In the new patient intake form that my patients complete, there are a lot of questions regarding menstrual period details. How often does it come? Are there clots? Is it painful? And importantly- how heavy is it? You might have wondered what is considered a heavy period, after all, you only have yourself to compare with. In this article, I will give you some specifics to answer that question as well as information about what it could mean. Keep reading for more details. Read more

“I Wish My Period Would Start”- PMS, PMDD and Liver Qi Stagnation

July 10, 2025

So often, I hear from patients that they can’t wait for their period to start. If PMS or PMDD is a part of your experience, the immediate and very noticeable reduction in emotional and physical symptoms after your period arrives can bring a dramatic sense of relief. If this sounds familiar to you, read on to learn more about PMS and its much more intense cousin PMDD, and what your treatment options might be. Read more

Eating Seeds? Yes! Seed Cycling? Not so much.

July 06, 2021

What is Seed Cycling?

I remember first hearing about seed cycling over 10 years ago as a new acupuncturist. The idea of seed cycling is that you can eat different seeds at different parts of your cycle to optimize your hormone balance. Which seed depends on the unique micronutrients in each one, with certain seeds thought to balance estrogen in the follicular phase (before ovulation) and balance progesterone levels in the luteal phase (after ovulation). The concept of being able to truly use your food as medicine and take control of your own health is really appealing of course! Who wouldn’t want a DIY answer to things like irregular cycles, painful periods, or other hormonal symptoms like premenstrual bloating and acne? Not to mention a little help with fertility?

Seed cycling seems to have surged in popularity on social media, so I wanted to take some time to really dig into the research to see if this is worth doing. Also, as a practitioner of East Asian Medicine (TCM), I am excited to discuss our medicine’s view of seeds and how they’re used, as well as some information on how our medicine would approach hormonal health at different phases of the cycle. Read more

How The Wisdom of Chinese Medicine Can Help You Optimize Your Cycles

January 14, 2020

When your hormones are functioning and coordinating really well, you know it. Your skin is great, there’s no bloating, your periods come on time and are not a big deal. But when things are off balance? It can impact you in a big way.

Below, I’ve outlined what I feel are the most important concepts for helping your hormones to hum along like a well-oiled machine. None of these concepts are particularly groundbreaking, but they are each absolutely vital. Pick one or two suggestions from this article (not everything at once- too overwhelming!), focus on them for a few months then see how it feels. Last of all, show yourself compassion when you’re trying to make shifts in your habits- nobody expects you to adhere to these concepts 100% of the time, and remember that when making changes it’s NORMAL and EXPECTED not to! Shoot for 80% of the time and this will still be a huge change.

Know Your Cycles

Listen Up: Your Cervical Mucus Is Trying To Tell You Something

January 24, 2017

Vaginal discharge, cervical mucus, leukorrhea- it all refers to the same thing. Hereafter I’ll refer to it as “CM” (cervical mucus). It seems that generally speaking, women I see in my practice either are quite unaware of what changes in their CM mean or are worried that any CM is a sign of infection. I hope this article will help to de-mystify your discharge and, just maybe, make you feel a little amazed by it. Possibly even happy to see it? By knowing what to look for and what it all means, you can feel more empowered and make better decisions. Read more

Posts Categorized: Gynecology and Hormonal Health