Discussion on Acupuncture in the Treatment of Female Stress Urinary Incontinence Based on the Theory of Channel Sinew / 中医杂志

ABSTRACT

Female stress urinary incontinence （SUI） caused by support structure damage or relaxation of the urethra and bladder belongs to the category of “channel sinew disease” in traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）. The pathogenesis of this disease is “loss of nourishment in the channel sinews， and failure to contract because of relaxation”， which can be divided into two situations： deficiency syndrome mainly refers to qi deficiency， closely related to the three zang （脏） organs including lung， spleen， and kidney； and the excess syndrome mainly refers to heat pathogen and blood stasis. Therefore， the treatment principle of “nourishing the channel sinews， regulating sinews and controlling fluid” is proposed. The acupoints in the lower abdomen， lumbosacral region， and lower limbs are mainly selected in the treatment of SUI with channel sinew needling， such as Qihai （RN 6）， Guanyuan （RN 4）， and Baliao. The selection of acupoints also emphasizes the pain area. Channel sinew needling includes floating needling， round-sharp needling， penetrating needling， and prickly needling， which reflects the integrity of channel sinew system， and emphasizes the local therapeutic effects highlighting arrival of needling effects at the location of disease. The theory of channel sinew opens up new ideas for treating SUI with acupuncture and moxibustion.