If you've been diagnosed with ovarian cysts or uterine fibroids, you're far from alone. In fact, up to 70-80% of women will develop fibroids by age 50, and ovarian cysts are incredibly common during reproductive years. While these benign growths rarely pose serious health risks, they can significantly impact your quality of life by causing pain, heavy bleeding, fertility concerns, and emotional distress that rivals other chronic conditions.

The frustrating reality is that Western medicine options in treating cysts and fibroids are confined to watching and waiting, managing symptoms with pain medication, and surgery. But what if there was another approach? In this blog post I want to bridge the Western and TCM approaches to evaluating and, more importantly, treating cysts and fibroids.

Pelvic ultrasound image on a screen showing a round ovarian cyst on the ovary

What Are Cysts and Fibroids?

Ovarian cysts are fluid-filled or semi-solid sacs that develop on the ovaries. Most are functional cysts related to the menstrual cycle, like follicular cysts (what develop when the follicle doesn't release an egg) or corpus luteum cysts (when the post-ovulation follicle structure doesn't dissolve properly). Other types include dermoid cysts (containing tissue like hair or fat), endometriomas (chocolate cysts associated with endometriosis), and cystadenomas that develop on the ovary's surface.

Uterine fibroids (also called leiomyomas or myomas) are non-cancerous tumors that grow from the smooth muscle layer of the uterus. They're the most common solid pelvic tumors in women, with an average of six to seven fibroids in affected uteruses. These growths can be as small as a pea or as large as a basketball, and they're classified by location: subserosal (under the outer uterine layer), intramural (within the uterine wall), or submucous (in the uterine cavity).

Why Do They Form?

Although Western medicine has identified several contributing factors, the exact reason cysts and fibroids form is still not fully understood. Ovarian cysts are often linked to hormonal imbalances that influence the menstrual cycle or to the body’s difficulty breaking down the normal materials that accumulate each month.

Fibroids, on the other hand, appear to grow in response to a combination of influences: estrogen and progesterone can stimulate their development (which is why they frequently shrink after menopause), unique genetic changes set them apart from normal uterine muscle cells, and various growth factors (such as insulin-like growth factor) can further promote their formation. Researchers have also found that fibroids contain an increased amount of extracellular matrix, the “glue” that surrounds cells, which not only thickens the tissue but also stores growth factors that encourage continued growth.

Woman holding her lower abdomen in pain to depict pelvic pain and heavy bleeding from fibroids and ovarian cysts

The Treatment Gap

Here's where many women feel stuck. For cysts, standard treatment options typically include watching and waiting, administering pain medication, or surgically removing the cyst via a cystectomy or oophorectomy. For fibroids, women are offered hormonal medications (which can cause side effects and only work temporarily), uterine fibroid embolization, myomectomy (with 25-50% recurrence rates), or hysterectomy. These are harsh interventions that don’t address the underlying imbalances giving rise to these abnormalities.

Changing the Landscape with a TCM Perspective

Traditional Chinese Medicine takes a fundamentally different approach than Western medicine in evaluating these pathologies. Rather than viewing cysts and fibroids as isolated growths to be removed, TCM sees them as physical manifestations of deeper disruptions in the body's internal environment.

Think of it this way: if your garden keeps growing weeds you could keep pulling them out, but wouldn't it be more effective to change the soil conditions that are allowing the weeds to flourish in the first place?

TCM treatment is highly individualized based on your specific pattern of imbalance. While several distinct presentations may arise, the core TCM strategy remains the same: change the internal landscape so these growths can no longer thrive.

Artistic interpretation of dark red flowers symbolizing blood stasis and stagnation in Traditional Chinese Medicine

Blood Stasis and Phlegm - The Root of It All

In TCM, cysts and fibroids are primarily associated with blood stasis and phlegm accumulation in the uterus. Keep in mind this isn’t literal phlegm like you'd cough up, but rather thick, stagnant fluids that accumulate when qi and blood can't flow properly through the body.

Blood stasis occurs when circulation becomes impaired. Imagine a river becoming sluggish and developing stagnant pools where debris accumulates. When this happens within the channels leading to the lower abdomen, blood stasis in and around the uterus can result.

Phlegm forms when the body's fluid metabolism becomes disrupted, often due to weakness in the Spleen or Kidneys, creating thick, sticky substances that obstruct normal flow.

These pathological products can arise from several imbalances. The most common of which are:

✧ Deficiency of Qi and/or Blood: When the body's "upright" or righteous energy is too weak to maintain proper circulation

✧ Cold or Heat: Excessive cold slows circulation (like ice blocking a river), while excessive heat condenses fluids into thick accumulations

✧ Dampness: Poor fluid metabolism creates a swampy internal environment where stagnation thrives

✧ Emotional stress: Prolonged emotional strain affects qi flow, which over time impacts blood circulation

At the heart of the TCM approach to treating cysts and fibroids is the concept of Fu Zheng Qu Xie, or, "Supporting the Upright to Calm the Pernicious." This means simultaneously strengthening what's weak while clearing what's stuck, and ultimately restoring balance so that cysts and fibroids can't continue to form.

Acupuncture: Powerful Clinical Evidence

Research on acupuncture for cysts and fibroids continues to grow, and the findings are consistently encouraging. Multiple systematic reviews and meta-analyses show that acupuncture, whether used alone or alongside Chinese herbal medicine, can reduce fibroid and uterine volume, ease heavy bleeding and pelvic pain, improve hormone regulation, and enhance overall quality of life. These conclusions are supported by several studies, including a 2023 systematic review and meta-analysis of 11 randomized controlled trials on uterine fibroids and a 2024 meta-analysis of 14 randomized trials on endometriosis-related pelvic pain, both of which found that acupuncture significantly reduced fibroid and uterine volume, pelvic mass size, pain scores, and serum CA‑125 while improving overall clinical response and quality of life, with no serious adverse events reported.

As outlined, acupuncture helps increase blood flow to the uterus and ovaries, supports more balanced hormone signaling, reduces inflammation, and calms the nervous system. It also influences angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels) which matters because cysts and fibroids often sustain themselves through increased vascular supply. By rebalancing the body’s regulatory systems, acupuncture interrupts the conditions that allow these growths to persist.

Chinese Herbal Medicine: Supporting from Within

Chinese herbal medicine works hand-in-hand with acupuncture to address the deeper patterns contributing to cyst and fibroid formation. One of the most well-known formulas is Gui Zhi Fu Ling Wan, a classical prescription designed to move blood, resolve stasis, and gradually soften accumulations. Modern research supports the influence herbal formulas have in reducing fibroid size, improving symptoms, and regulating hormone levels, all with very few side effects.

A recent randomized double‑blind trial and a 2023 meta‑analysis of Gui Zhi Fu Ling Wan–based formulas in women with uterine fibroids found that this classical prescription significantly reduced fibroid volume, improved bleeding and pressure symptoms, and regulated sex hormone indices, with only mild, transient side effects reported.

Importantly, herbal treatment is never one-size-fits-all. Your herbs will be selected based on your specific presentation and adjusted as your body responds to treatment. This tailored approach is what makes TCM so effective; the goal is not simply to shrink a growth, but to change the underlying terrain that allowed it to develop in the first place.

Lifestyle as a Core Part of Treatment

TCM also recognizes that lasting improvement depends on the broader context of your daily life. Even the most effective treatments can only go so far if the body is continually exposed to stress, poor sleep, irregular meals, intense exercise, chronic tension, or environmental factors that tax the system. Understanding your lifestyle helps create meaningful change. Addressing diet, stress response, emotional well-being, and rest creates the kind of internal environment where healthy function can finally take root.

Why Consider Acupuncture for Cysts or Fibroids?

For many women, TCM offers something they have not been offered elsewhere: a non-invasive approach that treats both the cause and the symptoms. Acupuncture does not compromise fertility; in fact, it can improve cycle regularity, ovulation, and pelvic blood flow, all of which support reproductive health. Many women find that as their cysts or fibroids improve, so does their energy, digestion, sleep, mood, and overall resilience. Because TCM works with the body's physiology rather than overriding it, it can also be safely used alongside conventional treatments, often reducing the need for more invasive interventions.

Acupuncture needles on a woman’s lower abdomen and hands to support pelvic blood flow and hormone balance

Moving Forward with Hope

Living with cysts or fibroids can feel overwhelming, especially when conventional options seem limited to "wait and see" or surgery. But the growing body of research on acupuncture and TCM offers genuine hope for a different path, one that treats you as a whole person, addresses root causes, and empowers your body's natural healing capacity.

Remember that approximately 11 million women in the U.S. are currently diagnosed with fibroids, and millions more experience ovarian cysts. These conditions have a profound impact not just physically, but emotionally and socially, affecting work performance, relationships, and overall quality of life. You deserve treatment that acknowledges this full impact and offers comprehensive support.

If you're curious about how acupuncture and TCM might support your healing, I welcome you to come in to Seed Acupuncture. My practice is dedicated to women’s reproductive health, and together we can explore a treatment plan that shifts your internal landscape and helps your body find its way back to balance naturally, gently, and with the support you deserve.

What Western Medicine Misses About Cysts and Fibroids