Urinary System & Medical Acupuncture

What is the Urinary System

The Urinary System -also known as the Renal System- consists of the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra.

The function of the urinary tract eliminates waste from the body, regulates blood volume and blood pressure, maintains water balance, controls electrolyte and metabolite levels, and regulates blood pH. The Urinary System is the body’s drainage system for the final removal of urine.

Urinary System Disorders

Urinary tract disorders are generally caused by inflammatory processes of an infectious nature, affect the kidneys and often involve the bladder.  The most common disorders are cystitis, urethritis, kidney stones and cystic urethritis.  Among the symptoms identified, are problems with urination, blood in the urine, fever, lumbar or pelvic pain, as well as nausea. Some of the predisposition factors for the appearance of such disorders, are hypertension, diabetes, stones and obstruction of the Urinary system.

Treatment of Urinary System Disorders

If properly treated, urinary tract infections resolve quickly, but their recurrence is not uncommon and sometimes turns into very serious illnesses.

In the case of acute urinary tract infections, Acupuncture should be combined with antibiotic therapy to control acute inflammation.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the bladder and the kidneys which are closely connected to each other, represent the “water element” of our body, filter the blood and manage the water-electrolyte balance within the body.

At Medical Acupuncture Institute, the management of urological problems is based on Medical Acupuncturists with experience in Traditional Chinese Medicine. They are capable to identify fast the causes of urinary tract disorder and after a careful assessment of the patient’s medical history, they choose the most appropriate and personalized treatment for the problem.

In cases where this is deemed necessary, there may be close cooperation with specialized professionals of Conventional Medicine, in order to combine Medical Acupuncture treatments with those of Classical Medicine.

Our goal is to increase the effectiveness of each treatment and eliminate possible side effects. Acupuncture can treat these specific disorders, relieve symptoms and help reduce complications and possible relapses. It can also be used for therapeutic maintenance in long-term problems, as well as reduce the need for medication and surgery.

Cases that we can also successfully manage with Acupuncture are aseptic prostatitis, cystitis, urination disorders due to the prostate, infertility and erectile dysfunction.

Interpretations in the theory of Acupuncture

The kidneys and bladder are the organs responsible for the Urogenital System. In a normal state of the body, the Urogenital protects us from cold and fear, according to ancient Chinese books. Conversely, when it’s not properly functioning, our body becomes less resistant to cold, phobias, anxiety, we become vulnerable and we cry more easily. It may sound strange to the ears of a modern doctor who is familiar with blood test data, but according to Traditional Chinese Medicine, our mental state functionally affects our physical condition to a greater extent than is commonly accepted.

For the treatment of urinary tract disorders, Traditional Chinese Medicine uses therapeutic techniques that include multiple meridians (energy channels), often away from the painful source, but closely related to the affected organs, both physically and energetically.

This intervention process is a foundation of Traditional Chinese Medicine, where everything in the human body is considered interconnected.