Breast disease is a highly prevalent disease among women, and the Qing dynasty “Gynecological Jade Ruler” said that “the disease of women has no greater relationship than the breast”. Therefore, since ancient times, breast diseases have been a serious threat to women’s health, and Chinese medicine has accumulated a wealth of experience and effective treatment methods in clinical practice for nearly 2,000 years, with traditional and powerful advantages. Cheng Xufeng, Department of Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan College of Traditional Chinese Medicine
According to Chinese medicine, breast diseases are closely related to the three meridians of Foot Shao-Yin Kidney, Foot Yang-Ming Stomach and Foot Turk-Yin Liver, as well as the Punch and Ren Channels. If these meridians are not smooth and the Chong Ren is out of tune, it will lead to breast diseases; therefore, TCM practitioners often use methods such as warming the kidney, harmonizing the stomach, draining the liver, and regulating the Chong Ren to prevent and treat breast diseases, so that these meridians can be regulated and give full play to the normal irrigation of the kidney, stomach, liver and other organs to the breast and maintain the normal physiological function of the breast.
In addition, Chinese medicine places special emphasis on external treatment methods in breast diseases, such as the external application of golden ointment, dispersion ointment, hard ointment with hot compresses, massage, acupuncture, Chinese herbal external bath, heat therapy, etc., forming its own unique style of external treatment, which is a characteristic advantage that Western medicine does not have at all.
The advantageous areas of Chinese medicine in treating breast diseases mainly focus on breast hyperplasia, plasma cell mastitis, acute mastitis, postpartum breast deficiency, recurrent breast nodules and benign lumps, prevention of recurrence and metastasis of breast cancer after surgery, reduction of toxicity and effectiveness with chemotherapy, effective prevention of breast cancer and interruption of precancerous lesions, etc.
Therefore, if TCM is combined with modern surgical techniques, it will be a good solution to all the disadvantages faced by pure surgery such as recurrence of postoperative lumps, continuation of postoperative hyperplasia, severe gastrointestinal reactions after chemotherapy, severe hair loss, severe bone marrow transplantation, etc., forming an advantageous specialty that can complement each other’s strengths and better solve breast diseases.