Acupuncture & Sexual Health: An Interview with Juliette Aiyana, LAc

Acupuncture—the stimulation of certain points on the body, performed with the intention of stimulating energy—is one of the oldest medical practices in the world, with origins in China dating back over 2,000 years. In recent years, acupuncture has become more accepted and common in the U.S., particularly as studies have emerged demonstrating its efficacy—whether by itself or as a complementary treatment—for ailments and conditions including nausea and vomiting, various types of pain, addiction, menstrual cramps, stress and asthma. The acupuncture technique that is probably the most familiar to us is the use of thin needles in specific points of the body. This is also the technique that has been the most commonly studied according to “Western” medical standards. To find out more about the use of acupuncture and Chinese medicine for sexual health, we spoke with Juliette Aiyana, a licensed and nationally board certified acupuncturist and Chinese herbalist. Aiyana has worked in the natural healthcare profession for over 14 years and is founder of the Aiyana Center for Acupuncture & Chinese Herbs in New York City.

SexHerald: Juliette, I think we all have our own ideas about what acupuncture is. How would you describe it?

Juliette Aiyana: In acupuncture, we use needles to stimulate points on the body that, in turn, stimulate energy. We may redirect the energy because it may be moving in the wrong pattern. If you think about our body energy like traffic, it is supposed to move in a particular way, in a smooth way also. And, there are stoplights and green lights and yellow lights. They are normal. But sometimes our energy gets stuck in a traffic jam and we have to clear up the stagnation. We would consider that an excess of energy. And, sometimes there’s a deficiency of energy, so we want to create more movement.

SH: What drew you to acupuncture and Chinese medicine? How do you explain it to someone who might be a little skeptical?

Aiyana: There is an anecdote about Thomas Edison. Someone asked him, “What is energy? Where does it come from?” He answered, “You know, we really don’t know where it comes from. But we do know that it exists, so use it.” I feel the same way about what we in Chinese medicine call qi, or energy. I think part of what drew me to this medicine was a biomechanical understanding of energy, because I was a biological science major in college. I found Chinese medicine because I had ovarian cysts. I tried acupuncture to avoid surgery, and it worked for me. I said, “This is where I want to go with my career.”

SH: Speaking of ovarian cysts…What are some of the complaints that someone might come to you with that you can treat?

Aiyana: I ask questions about libido in the first visit. I have a lot of women who come to me with low libido and we’re able to help that. There are a few reasons that women might have low libido. One may be menopause. Some postmenopausal women find that their sex drive decreases. Then there are some younger women—most women who come see me are younger women in their 30s—and these women tend to be extremely stressed out, overworked, and fatigued. Some women have five kids running around the house and that’s draining... and they’re working a full-time job! Some women have hypothyroidism and that’s very fatiguing. What I try to do is adjust the energy so that they feel more sexual. No matter what someone is coming in here for, what happens during treatment is that they become more aware of their body and aware of what is stressing them, how it feels and where it manifests in their body. When we are more in touch with our body, I think we feel more sensual. When I speak to women in my office, we talk and get to know each other. I try to listen and find out, does this woman feel like she doesn’t deserve to orgasm? Does she feel she doesn’t deserve to feel good in general? It could be something very specific about orgasm; it could be something about her religious background or maybe some sexual abuse in the past. All this really does affect our system and our libido. What I can do is not only provide acupuncture treatment but help ease their feelings, or at least get them to realize for themselves what might be going on emotionally.

SH: So, there’s a bit of the psychotherapist in this job.

Aiyana: There’s a lot of that in this job actually! [laughs] But, I love that. It’s a lot of girl talk too actually. You would be amazed at what I hear in here. A lot of it is giggly. Some of it may even be something that the patient would not share with a friend, but does share with me because she feels a comfort level with me as a woman, and a comfort level with me as a practitioner.

SH: What do you think are some of the most common complaints you see, sexual or otherwise?

Aiyana: I see a lot of menstrual pain and other menstrual complaints. The patient’s period might be early, late, or they get it every two weeks then won’t get it for three months. I have some people who specifically come into me for low libido. I also see a lot of anxiety disorders, bowel problems and other digestive disorders.

SH: What about men? Do you tend to treat more women than men?

Aiyana: In my practice, I do treat more women than men. I tend to shy away from treating male sexual dysfunction. I usually refer them to another practitioner who specializes in that. I tend to focus more on women’s healthcare in this center.

SH: Even though it’s not something you intend to treat, where would you put the needles in a man with sexual dysfunction?

Aiyana: [laughing] We don’t use “local” needles for male sexual dysfunction. Where we put the needles depends on why they have the dysfunction. If the energy is blocked and not reaching the genital area, we would probably be working mainly from the knee down to the toes and from the elbow down to the fingertips. Maybe one needle in the middle of the chest and one on the very top of the head to raise the energy upwards, which could be very helpful. Part of the reason I tend not to treat men is that, in the past, I’ve had men come to me claiming they have male sexual dysfunction, but really what they wanted were, shall we say, needles in the local area! [laughing] If I had the name of a dominatrix, I might refer them out, but I don’t know any personally. Those men were just barking up the wrong tree.

SH: In general, what are some of the thoughts about sex and sexuality in Chinese medicine?

Aiyana: The thinking is that having sex is very normal and natural. But there is this theory in the Taoist philosophy about oversexing—that if you ejaculate too much, you will use too much of your kidney essence and you might turn into an old man. This essence they consider the “jade fluid” because the color of really good, expensive jade is the color of semen fluid. Jade is also a very precious stone. The idea is to allow us to understand how precious these fluids are and that we need them. Another concept is that age will determine how often you should ejaculate. So, some men learn to orgasm without ejaculating. And as you know, most women don’t ejaculate fluid when they orgasm, so “losing essence” is less of a concern. Chinese medicine is usually pretty sex-positive. The only downfall in my opinion is that it doesn’t talk much about gay, lesbian and bisexual sex, and there is nothing about treating transgendered people. But, the ancient texts say that we should use the ancient methods as a basis and then modernize them for the modern patient. So, that’s what I do when patients come in to me—take the ancient idea and funnel it in a way that can be correctly used for today’s patient.

SH: Is there talk about any particular sexual positions?

Aiyana: Chinese medicine does talk about the use of particular sexual positions for healing. And, I think that they can really work if you are with a partner that you trust, as long as it’s a safe and healing environment and person. Because the energy is extremely strong that you move, and you’re kind of taking energy from your partner, regardless of whether they are male or female. There are even masturbatory techniques that can also help with healing. I’ll give you an example where sex can actually help a lot. I have women who have what we call liver qi stagnation—they may have painful periods and spotting between ovulation and their menstrual period. Having sex, whether it’s using a dildo or being with a partner, can help soothe and move that liver energy and stop the spotting. It can also bring on your period if you are stagnant and late.

SH: There are all of these different kinds of healthcare practitioners that someone might go and see—where do you think you fit in? And, how do you deal with people who might be embarrassed to tell their doctor that they are seeing an acupuncturist?

Aiyana: In New York, the majority of doctors tend to be open to acupuncture. My patients report to me that when they tell their doctor they are seeking acupuncture, their doctor thinks it’s great. With acupuncture, because there has been so much clinical research, doctors tend to be more open to it. Now when it comes to the herbs, it’s a different story. They may not be that happy about it or they may say, “Well, you can try it.” But overall, I think that we are becoming more mainstream, especially at the acupuncture end of it. Unfortunately, Western medicine can be very mechanistic. They break down Chinese medicine. For us, Chinese medicine is acupuncture, herbs, diet, exercise, and lifestyle. Part of lifestyle includes meditation and relaxation techniques to keep oneself healthy. We need to take relaxation time for ourselves. Even if that’s five minutes of the day, closing your office door, turning off your cell phone, and just breathing; or, taking a hot bath, going to the park, or to a friend’s house that is relaxing. I think that taking “down time” can be a big cure—and it’s cheap and easy

SH: What about the patient who comes in with the attitude of: “Sure, whatever, just stick a needle in me, I don’t want to hear about my liver qi?”

Aiyana: I can kind of get a sense of who wants to hear it and who doesn’t. With the people who don’t want to hear it, I just don’t get too into it. [laughs] I just try to gently persuade them to understand what’s going on with their body from a Chinese medicine perspective so that they can hold the power of their own healthcare in their hands. I try to introduce my patient education segment with saying something like, “I want to explain to you what’s going on with you from a Chinese medicine standpoint so that you understand what we’re doing and why, and as things change, you’ll understand why they’re changing. And, so that you can start learning how to take care of yourself.” There are a few people who just aren’t interested, and that’s fine. Usually they come in for pain, they’re here for a few treatments, we get them better, and they’re on their way. Some people come in not expecting to understand anything, and then they end up talking to their friends about their liver qi stagnation. When I first started hearing it, I didn’t completely understand it, of course. But, it really does make sense after so many years of study. [laughs]

SH: It might not matter what the person believes as long as it’s working.

Aiyana: It doesn’t matter what they believe, because it does work for many things. What people should understand is that this isn’t a religion or a spiritual belief. It’s the oldest professionally practiced medicine in the world. And. it stayed that way because it works. A lot of what I put on my website is: “Try acupuncture. It works.” However, we are not a cure all. There are things that Western medicine—industrial medicine as I prefer to call it—is much better at treating than we are. And, there are the things that we are better at treating. Really, we are at a point in time when medicine is very integrative. There are very view patients who come to me and do not seek healthcare anywhere else. Patients are seeing industrial practitioners, which I encourage.

SH: You said there are some things that Western medicine is better at and some things you are better at. Can you give me some examples?

Aiyana: Yes. Western medicine is definitely better at bacterial infections—it’s called antibiotics! But, we are better at viral infections. We have amazing herbs for that. I think we are better at treating anxiety and we are probably better at treating some types of depression. In some cases, we can treat urinary tract infections effectively, and yeast infections as well. Another example for Western medicine: If you have a broken bone, you’d better go to the emergency room; or, if you need your appendix out, that’s where to go. Extremely high blood pressure—Western medicine. If it’s borderline, we might be able to help. I think we can also help with some aspects of type 2 diabetes, especially with prevention. If you are using the precepts of Chinese medicine, you should probably never have to deal with it.

For more information about acupuncture, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), a division of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, has developed a resource including answers to frequently asked questions, issues to consider, and links to further resources.