Chinese Medicine, Natural Transition, and the Gender Binary. A guest post on Tynan Rhea’s website (founder of postpartumsex.com).
A few excerpts:
Yin and yang are often associated with female and male energy respectively, which leads to the misconception that Chinese Medicine is inherently binary and therefore inappropriate for trans medicine. It is true that most diagnoses in Chinese medicine refer to the interaction between opposites: hot and cold, internal and external, excess and deficient, yin and yang, among others. However, yin and yang, though often associated with male and female energy, are more accurately represented by masculine and feminine.
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The great thing about Chinese Medicine is that we always work from a constitutional root. We look at the person’s tongue and feel their pulse to identify the root of a person’s pattern and work on that as well as the symptoms. The goal is always to bring the patient into alignment with their constitution, not to change them based on societal expectations of their sex and what their hormone profile will look like.
I see many trans men pre-testosterone present as yang (testosterone) deficient and many trans women pre-estrogen present as yin (estrogen/progesterone) deficient. Treatment in this case affirms their identity and assists their transition. Once folks have been on hormones for a while, sometimes testosterone depletes yin and spironolactone (a testosterone-blocker) depletes yang. In this case, it is appropriate to tonify the depleted energy to bring the person back into balance. This does not in any way counteract their transition, it gently balances and keeps them healthy and aligned with their constitutions. Similarly, an intersex person with yin deficiency would be treated differently than an intersex person with yang deficiency, regardless of their chromosomes or type of intersex diagnosis.
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All information in this blog is for educational uses only. Always consult your doctor before taking any herbs or supplements, or changing or discontinuing your medications.
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