What Is Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture?
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been practiced for over 4,000 years and has a long tradition of clinically proven protocols. It has a similar philosophy as naturopathic medicine. Practitioners of TCM look for the root cause of disharmony in the body.
In Western medicine, individuals with the same disease will get very similar treatments. In TCM, individuals are viewed as unique and how dis-ease manifests is unique to them. This translates into different patterns for the same disease and different treatments. When treatments are individualized, there is better clinical success.
TCM practitioners usually don’t rely on the same diagnostic tools as Western medical practitioners. They use visual and palpatory skills as well as “The Ten Questions” to diagnose. Visual skills include tongue diagnosis, inspection of the complexion, general demeanor, and body language. Palpatory skills include pulse diagnosis and palpation of meridians and organs. The Ten Questions is comparable to the review of systems and are used to diagnose and to assess progress on subsequent visits.
TCM uses a variety of modalities to treat disease including acupuncture, Chinese herbs, cupping, moxibustion, acupressure, and nutrition. The terms used in TCM are much different than Western medical terms. In TCM the body is viewed as a reflection of the earth, so many terms in nature are used to describe the body.
Diagnosis and treatment is according to TCM principles.
There are more than a dozen channels or meridians that traverse the body and go to a specific organ. The channels are named for the organs they enter. Points along the channels are used to treat disharmony in the channels and organs. The organs in TCM are similar to, but viewed differently than Western medicine. They include: liver, gallbladder, heart, large and small intestine, spleen, stomach, lung, kidney, bladder, triple warmer, and pericardium.
As an example, TCM views the heart in the following way. The heart governs the blood and controls the blood vessels. This is similar to western concepts of the heart.
In TCM however, the heart also houses the mind. Mental function (consciousness, memory, thinking and sleep) and emotions are related to the heart. If the heart is strong, a person will think clearly with a good memory, be happy, and have good sleep. If the heart is weak and the blood poorly distributed, this will manifest as fuzzy thinking, depression or anxiety, and insomnia.
The other organs have similar functions as Western medicine but as with the heart, are viewed differently in some ways in TCM.
Terms in TCM
The terms used in TCM are much different than Western medical terms. For example, the channels of acupuncture points on the body are comparable to streams, rivers, and the sea. When the water flows freely, everything is in harmony. If something blocks the flow of water, it stagnates or is forced into another path. In TCM, qi is the motive force that flows in the channels. Similarly if the Qi in the channels flows freely, there is harmony. If this free flow is disrupted by stress or injury, for instance, it manifests as pain or organ disharmony in the body.
Basic terms used in TCM diagnosis include yin and yang. These two terms describe the inter-relatedness and inter-dependence of opposing forces. The characteristics of yin and yang can be compared in the following chart:
Yin and yang cannot exist without each other. One gives meaning to the other. Without day there cannot be night. Without activity there is no need to rest. Without rest there is no strength for activity. These two forces must be in balance. When they are out of balance, then disease takes hold.