Herbal Intern Reflection 3: J.F. 6/15/16

J.F. is a female in her mid-30s. She reports a "tearing" pain in her LLQ that began 3 weeks prior during intercourse. She visited an ER 10 days prior and they found she had a ruptured cyst. Pain has remained around a 4/10 but can get to 8/10 when she moves in specific ways. No pain during or after BMs, nor any change in BMs. Patient has a history of uterine fibroid surgery.
     After prolonged questioning Dr. Shen, myself and the other herbalist came to the conclusion that her pain is most likely caused by old scar tissue adhesion that was torn or pulled. We informed the patient of our thoughts on the case, but encouraged her to visit a gynecologist as soon as was convenient.
     The patient was open to using powdered herbs but stated she only wanted herbs to support her underlying deficiencies and not to treat the pain or the "tear." We discussed this with Dr. Shen and came to the conclusion that treating the pain was of primary concern. Despite this Dr. Shen reminded us that J.F. was our client and we could not simply disregard her wishes. Our resolution was a base formula for dispelling blood stasis in the abdomen, especially when related to the female anatomy and modifying it with herbs that tonify KD, LV while also working with blood and yin.
    Before we filled the script we realized we had to convince the patient that what we were doing was the best course of action, without discounting her own desires. Luckily, she was amenable and we were able to explain to her the benefits of our formula choice. The final addition to our prescription that we would call her in one weeks time to see how things were going.