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Premenstrual Syndrome

Basics

Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) refers to a collection of emotional and physical symptoms that typically occur 5 to 11 days before the start of a woman's menstrual period. These symptoms may include bloating, headaches, constipation, joint pain, abdominal cramps, nausea, weight gain, breast tenderness, food cravings, anxiety, irritability, depression, fatigue, and changes in sex drive. In Chinese Medicine, PMS is often attributed to liver qi dysfunction. Commonly used acupuncture points for treatment include LV3 (Taichong), GB34 (Yanglingquan), and BL18 (Ganshu). Frequently prescribed herbal formulas include Chaihu Shugan San and Jia Wei Xiaoyao Wan.