I just remembered: this book, which I bought in 1976 and which was published earlier than that, fell apart and I must have thrown it out.
In any case, I have looked up the topic of varicocele as treated by trad. oriental medicine. Some acupuncture doctors advise to have the minor surgery. (I also blanch at the thought of surgery down there and I am a woman and we also have much evil committed against our genitals, I think, but that is another topic).
Others point to successful treatment such as described here:
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"Most men with diagnosed varicocele that I treat respond to improvement with the formula Cinnamon and Poria decoction or Gui Zhi Fu Ling Wan, which consists of Ramulus Cinnamomi Cassiae, Sclerotium Poriae Cocos, Radis Paeoniae, Cortex Moutan Radicis, and Semen Persicae. This formula, which is traditionally used for gynecologic disorders of blood stasis in the uterus, has proven very promising in treating morphologic sperm abnormalities resulting from varicocele. The formula invigorates the blood, inhibiting the pooling mechanism which causes the poor sperm quality. A study from the American Journal of Chinese Medicine, 24, 1996, on The Effects of Guizhi-fuling-wan on male infertility with varicocele was conducted by Ishikawa, Ohashi, Hayakawa, Kaneko & Hata at the Department of Urology, Ichikawa General Hospital in Japan. The abstract reported that 37 infertile patients with varicocele were treated with Gui Zhi Fu Ling Way, (7.5 g/day) for three months. Semen qualities such as sperm concentration and motility were graded. A varicocele disappearance rate of 80% was obtained with 40 out of 50 varicoceles, and sperm count and motility improvements were found in 71.4% and 62.1% of patients, respectively.
Journal of Chinese Medicine, Number 54, May 1997, entitled Xu Runsan's Experience in Treating Sperm Abnormality, stated the main causes of sperm abnormality are deficiency of the kidney yang or kidney yin, or deficiency of the kidneys which affects the liver and spleen and leads to stasis of qi and blood or downward flow of damp-heat.
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The way I interpret this, the appearance of varicocele seems to be a marker for low fertility.
In chinese medicine they look at the patient as having a "pattern of disharmony", which means that not all patients with varicocele (or any other condition) would be treated the same way.
Long story short: No one herbal formula is right for everyone, so how about consulting with a Dr. of trad. Chinese medicine? In the meantime, advice to do cleanses might not be far of the mark for starters.