When a woman goes to see a Chinese medicine practitioner, a frequently asked question is about the menstrual situation. The menstrual situation tells Chinese medicine practitioners about the general health and condition of the woman.  Most Chinese medicine practitioners know the importance of the normal menstrual situation for a woman's health, but not all of them know exactly "why" unless the practitioners have a deep understanding about how body mechanism works from the perspective of Traditional Classical Chinese medicine.

Traditional Classical Chinese medicine believes that the nutrients in the breast milk are the direct source of the "period". This can be proved by two observations. One is that a mother does not have a period when doing baby breastfeeding due to the milk given to the baby. The other is that most women experience the fullness and bloating of their breasts before their periods come. They feel released from the situation after the ending of their periods. From this point of view, the flow of milk nutrients through meridians to the ovary and uterus is crucial to avoid diseases. If the milk nutrients are not totally going down to the ovary and uterus and get deposited in the breast, combining with qi and blood stagnation, the breast lumps or cancer can be developed. If the breast milk reverts, the milk nutrients will be accumulated in other organs. This may cause other health problems or cancers in the future. Some of the cancers include lupus, liver cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, and lung cancer.

From the above explanation, you can see why having a normal monthly "period" is important for a woman's health. Through menstruation, the milk nutrients can be eliminated and won't be deposited in the body to cause future health problems. Women who no longer have menstruation need to have good daily bowel movements in order to eliminate milk nutrients from the body.

Regarding to a woman's menstruation, the heart plays an important role. Good heart yang energy will keep the good circulation in the breast and sending the milk nutrients down to the ovary and uterus. This will prevent breast milk nutrient from depositing, so no lumps or cancers can be formed with excessive milk nutrients.
 
A lot of women have "internal cold" that remains untreated. This will also lead to a lot of future health problems including breast cancer. Some symptoms of internal cold include having cold hands or feet and always feeling chilled. This internal cold is developed by physical constitution with the weakness of heart yang energy or other factors including never fully recovering from the common cold or flu and the diet with eating too much cold foods and drinking cold beverages. It should be obvious to know why people with "internal cold" are more susceptible to tumor growths. Because of the "internal cold", there is no good circulation in the body. It is easier for any toxin to stay in our body and for the blood to get clogged. With all un-eliminated toxins, excessive nutrients, and blood clots, tumors can be more easily formed.

Besides any physical condition that can lead women to have breast disorder problems, the emotional health will also play an important role about women's breast health. There are a couple of meridians connected to the breast including kidney, stomach, spleen, liver and pericardium channels. According to the five elements theory, Emotions such as joy, anger, anxiety, melancholy, sorrow, fear and fright, are related to different internal organs. Any excessive emotion will have an impact on the proper functions of related organs. In other words, any of those excessive emotions may disturb the harmonious vibration of energy channels. This will lead to energy blockage or even cause the malfunction of organs. Those subtle emotional energies could store in our body, which may not only cause problems in the physical but most of time also in the spiritual level.

Traditional Classical Chinese medicine offer very natural and effective way to deal with breast disorders including breast lumps or cancers. The treatment principles are unlocking the energy blockage with related meridian channels using acupuncture and strengthening the heart, eliminating excessive milk nutrient, attacking and melting out the lumps or cancers with herbal medicines. Besides the treatment for the physical level, people are encouraged to go for anything to bring their emotional and spiritual uplifting to enhance the healing process.