Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis Through the Lens of Acupuncture + Classical Chinese Medicine

In a world where autoimmune diseases are on the rise, Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis has become a familiar yet often misunderstood diagnosis. While modern medicine recognizes it as the most common cause of hypothyroidism in iodine-sufficient regions, there’s a richer, more nuanced way to understand this condition—one that speaks to root causes, constitution, and the dynamic intelligence of the body.

Let’s explore Hashimoto’s through both biomedical and Classical Chinese Medicine (CCM) perspectives, and look at how acupuncture can be a profound support on this journey.

🌿 What Is Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis?

Hashimoto’s is an autoimmune condition where the immune system mistakenly attacks the thyroid gland, leading to chronic inflammation and gradual loss of thyroid function. Symptoms may include:

• Fatigue and brain fog

• Cold intolerance

• Weight gain

• Dry skin and hair thinning

• Constipation

• Irregular or heavy menstruation

• Depression or anxiety

• Goiter (thyroid enlargement)

Bloodwork often reveals elevated thyroid antibodies (anti-TPO, anti-thyroglobulin) and signs of low thyroid function (elevated TSH, low free T4).

✨ How Acupuncture Helps—Physiologically Speaking

From a biomedical angle, acupuncture offers tangible benefits:

• Regulates the immune system: It can modulate immune response and reduce inflammatory cytokines, calming the autoimmune attack.

• Balances the nervous system: Acupuncture soothes the HPA axis (stress response) and supports the HPT axis (thyroid regulation).

• Improves circulation and energy flow: It enhances blood flow to the thyroid, improves lymphatic drainage, and supports detoxification.

• Supports mood and metabolism: By regulating neurotransmitters and hormones, acupuncture helps address the anxiety, depression, and metabolic sluggishness common in Hashimoto’s.

🌀 The Classical Chinese Medicine View

In CCM, we don’t treat “Hashimoto’s” as a single disease. We ask deeper questions:

• What constitutional terrain allowed this to develop?

• What layer of the system is disturbed?

• Is this a loss of yang fire, an accumulation of cold, or a disconnection between fire and water?

Most often, Hashimoto’s points to a Shaoyin pattern: a breakdown between the Heart (Fire) and Kidney (Water) axis.

In Chapter Nine of Classical Chinese Medicine by Liu Lihong, this Shaoyin dynamic is explored in depth:

“The fire of the sovereign has lost its envoy. Without Water to anchor it, Fire flares upward or collapses inward, leaving the system cold, weak, and disoriented.”

This poetic image maps onto a real-world experience: cold hands and feet, fatigue, depression, dryness, night sweats, anxiety, and a deep inner sense of burnout or withdrawal from the world.

🔬 Common CCM Patterns in Hashimoto’s

1. Shaoyin Deficiency (Kidney-Heart Axis)

• Fatigue, fearfulness, poor sleep, low libido, cold intolerance

• Treatment: Restore the communication between Fire and Water (e.g., DU4, KI3, HT7, REN4)

2. Taiyin Dampness (Spleen involvement)

• Brain fog, bloating, loose stools, phlegm nodules, weight gain

• Treatment: Transform dampness, support Spleen Qi (e.g., ST36, SP9, REN12)

3. Jueyin Wind (Liver involvement)

• Fluctuating symptoms, mood swings, frustration

• Treatment: Harmonize the Wood element, anchor yang (e.g., LV3, PC6, GB34)

🌿 Acupuncture Treatment Strategies

Each case is unique, but common approaches include:

• Tonify Kidney Yang and Mingmen Fire: DU4, REN4/6, KI3, moxibustion

• Regulate the Shaoyin Axis: HT7, KI6, PC6

• Resolve Phlegm and Nodules: ST40, REN22, LI4, SP6

• Calm the Shen: Yintang, Anmian, HT7

• Support the Spleen: ST36, SP9, REN12 (especially in damp presentations)

This isn’t a one-size-fits-all protocol—it’s tailored, responsive medicine, rooted in observation, pulse and tongue diagnosis, and the story of the person, not just the labs.

🪷 Final Thoughts: From Diagnosis to Dialogue

Hashimoto’s is not the end of a conversation—it’s the beginning of a deeper one.

In the CCM view, the body is always speaking, always reaching toward balance. What we call “autoimmunity” may be an overwhelmed system crying out for restoration, rhythm, and reconnection. Acupuncture offers a powerful way to listen to that cry—not to silence it, but to respond.

If you or someone you know is navigating life with Hashimoto’s, know that there is a map—one that sees the body not as broken, but as beautifully complex and worthy of being understood.