When the Body Forgets How to Regulate: How Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine Can Support Autoimmune Health
The 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine recognised research into how our immune system keeps peace within the body. These scientists discovered special immune cells called regulatory T cells that prevent our defences from turning against us.
When these “peacemakers” stop working properly, the body can begin to attack its own tissues, leading to autoimmune illnesses like Crohn’s disease or rheumatoid arthritis.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has long shared this understanding — that true health isn’t just about fighting disease but about keeping the body’s internal systems working in harmony. Both modern science and TCM agree: when the body loses its ability to regulate itself, symptoms appear, and recovery becomes harder.
How TCM Understands Immune Imbalance
In TCM, autoimmune conditions aren’t viewed as single diseases but as a loss of overall coordination. Digestion, sleep, circulation, and mood all play roles in how well the immune system behaves.
When the body is under long-term strain — from stress, poor sleep, inflammation, or digestive weakness — it can lose the ability to regulate its own responses. Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine aim to restore that regulation by supporting the body as a whole, not just targeting one symptom.
When qi moves freely through the body, the immune system works efficiently, bringing nourishment and repair to every part of the body.¹
¹ In this context, qi refers to the movement of blood, oxygen, nutrients, and immune cells through the body — the vital circulation that sustains all tissues.
How Acupuncture Can Help
Modern studies suggest acupuncture can help calm inflammation, improve circulation, and support the nervous and hormonal systems that influence immunity.
People with autoimmune conditions often describe feeling calmer, sleeping better, and having more consistent energy. Over time, the body becomes less reactive and better able to recover from flare-ups.
In practice, acupuncture helps restore rhythm — the balance between rest and activity, between stress and recovery — so that the immune system can find its natural equilibrium again.
How Chinese Herbal Medicine Can Help
Herbal medicine uses combinations of plants that work synchronistically to support repair and recovery. These blends can help digestion, ease inflammation, and improve strength and stamina.
Rather than “boosting” the immune system, the aim is to regulate it. For autoimmune conditions, that means gently calming inflammation while improving resilience. Each formula is tailored to the person — there is no one-size-fits-all approach.
Many clients also find that herbal medicine helps reduce fatigue and improve appetite, allowing the body to respond better to all other treatments.
A Client’s Story: Crohn’s Disease and Fatigue
One of my most rewarding clients was a 40-year-old woman with Crohn’s disease. Years of illness had left her exhausted. She had already undergone surgery and was considering new immunosuppressant medication but wanted to explore acupuncture and herbal medicine with her consultant’s approval.
At the time, she had very little energy for her family or her passion — horse riding. Her five-year-old daughter struggled with separation anxiety from her mother’s hospital stays.
We began weekly acupuncture alongside a gentle herbal formula to reduce inflammation, improve blood flow and support recovery. Within six weeks, she was able to walk to the paddock and feed her horse. A few weeks later, she was riding short distances again.
By the five-month mark, she enjoyed a two-week family holiday, full of energy, free from medication, and with her appetite restored. Her life began to feel normal again.
She later completed a shorter follow-up programme and has remained well. Her progress shows what can happen when treatment supports the whole person, not just the disease.
Working Alongside Conventional Care
Clients on medical treatments such as immunosuppressants or biologic drugs often need support for digestion, energy, or sleep. Acupuncture and herbal medicine can complement these treatments safely when there is open communication between all practitioners.
The aim is not to replace prescribed medication but to help people feel stronger and more resilient so that their medical treatments can work more effectively and with fewer side effects.
A Holistic Perspective on Healing
Both science and traditional medicine are pointing in the same direction — that lasting health comes from restoring communication within the body. When circulation, nutrition, rest, and emotional wellbeing are supported, inflammation often settles naturally.
Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine offer practical ways to help the body remember this internal regulation. For people living with autoimmune illness or chronic fatigue, it can mean renewed confidence, more energy, and a return to the activities that make life meaningful.
Your body knows how to heal. We help it to remember.