Though there can be many varied causes for constipation, acupuncture can treat most cases successfully.

Efficient digestion is pivotal for good general health. In Chinese Medicine this was recognized so much so that centuries ago a whole School of acupuncture was dedicated to treating digestion in the belief that all internal ills came from poor digestion.

As in all aspects of Chinese Medicine, it is important to differentiate the pattern causing a problem. Constipation can arise out of 'deficient' factors (such as deficiency of blood or qi) or 'excess' factors (such as over-eating and retention of food). Therefore, treatment plans would be quite different depending on the causes.

Many people take dietary supplements to treat constipation. This is a rather 'hit and miss' approach; cooling foods such as aloe and kiwi fruit might be appropriate in cases of constipation due to excess Heat in the stomach and Intestines but might make the condition worse if the constipation is due to Spleen or Qi deficiency.

There are several different patterns that might cause constipation. Some of them include:

• Full Heat
• Food obstruction
• Qi obstruction
• Qi deficiency
• Blood deficiency
• Kidney Yang Deficiency