Traditional Chinese Medicine - a brief overview

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is over 5,000 years old, versus Western medicine, which is less than 200 years old.  TCM is based on the Daoist belief that the human body is closely related to, and often reflects, nature, and it addresses the physical, mental and emotional aspects of healing.  It encompasses acupuncture, herbs, tui na (Chinese massage), moxibustion, cupping, nutrition, and other treatment modalities to provide a holistic approach for restoring your health.  It also encompasses different components, such as Qi, Yin, Yang, Exterior Pathogens, Interior Pathogens, Excess, Deficiency, Acute Stage, Chronic Stage, and a person's Constitution (basic genetic health and body condition).  In addition to these, there are the Eight Principles, the Four Levels, the Six Stages, and the Three Jiao's.  These different components are used to form a diagnosis and a treatment plan.  (For more information, please click on Other Acupuncture Links.) 

Qi ("chee") is an invisible substance that is present in all living things, bringing them life, nourishment, energy, and balance.  It flows with the blood throughout the body, and is present in every cell.  It even emanates beyond the surface of the skin, which is where it is first pierced by the needle during a treatment.  It is further accessed as the acupuncture needle is inserted through the skin and toward the actual acupuncture point.

Full Circle Healing Center

heat, activity, noise, excess.  Of course, Yin and Yang each represent much more than that, and can be broken down even further.  For more information, please click on Other Acupuncture Links. 

A patient's illness or physical condition can be caused by an Exterior Pathogen or an Interior Pathogen.  A pathogen is something that causes disease or illness in the body.  In TCM, the exterior factors that can become a pathogen or illness are:  wind, cold, dampness, dryness, summer heat, and fire.  The internal factors are the emotions:  anger, fear, fright, shock, joy, excitement, pensiveness, worry, sadness, grief, melancholy, and depression.  These factors become pathogens when they hinder the health and balance of the body, mind and spirit. 

The onset and early stages of an illness/physical condition are referred to as the Acute stage.  If it persists after six months or more, then it enters the Chronic stage.  Generally, pathogens are easier to treat and quicker to resolve during the acute stage.  Once they become chronic, they are usually more difficult to treat, and may take longer to resolve.  I usually tell my patients:  "If you have an acute condition, you may expect an acute (short) treatment.  If you have a chronic condition, you may expect a chronic (long) treatment."  Of course, each person responds differently to acupuncture and Chinese medicine, and each person's general constitution varies.  Therefore, this is only a basic and general rule, and does not apply to everyone.  For instance, a patient with a chronic condition may respond very well to TCM, and may heal very quickly.  Whereas, a patient with an acute condition may have a weak constitution, and may heal quite slowly. The length of treatment can usually be determined after the first few follow-up visits, assuming that consistent and regular treatments are being administered.  Also keep in mind that the use of herbal formulas in conjunction with acupuncture or acupressure will bring about quicker results. 

Please note that acupressure is just as effective as acupuncture, and both utilize the same points.  Acupuncture points are points where the Qi is most abundant and most readily available, and they are located along the meridians, or channels.  These acupuncture points can be balanced, tonified, or sedated in a way that follows the prescribed treatment plan.  The meridians are channels throughout the body upon which the acupuncture points lie, and which directly relate to the internal organs.  In TCM, there are twelve primary organs, thus twelve primary meridians.  These organs and their respective meridians are as follows:  Lung, Heart, Spleen, Pericardium, Kidneys, Liver, Large Intestine, Small Intestine, Stomach, San Jiao, Urinary Bladder, and Gall Bladder.  Two additional meridians, the Ren and Du, also contain acupuncture points.  In addition to the points along these fourteen meridians, there are additional "special" points not pertaining to a particular meridian, that have specific applications for certain conditions or diseases.  As mentioned earlier, the points may be accessed via acupuncture, acupressure, or any of the other treatment modalities, such as moxibustion, cupping, or tui na.  (for more information on these treatments, please click on Moxibustion & Tui Na,  or  Cupping & Gua Sha)

It is also important to note that TCM not only treats the body, mind, and emotions in relationship to each other, but it also treats the internal organs in relationship to each other.  This relationship is a circular one that can be followed in a clockwise pattern, a counter-clockwise pattern, and an overlapping or criss-crossed pattern.  Inevitably, the imbalance of one organ can generate an imbalance of its paired organ, or the organ next to it following the clockwise pattern flow, or in severe cases, several or all of the other organs.

One of the reasons TCM has been successful for so many years, is because it takes into consideration all of these different factors - the type of pathogen, the person's constitution, the duration the pathogen has existed and its subsequent progression into other conditions.  As a result, TCM focuses on the root cause/causes of each condition, not just the symptoms presented by that condition.  This is an important differentiation between Eastern and Western medicine, since the latter focuses primarily on treating the symptomology, often without addressing the root cause of the problem.  Therefore, by addressing the symptoms and the root cause, TCM can more successfully treat and cure many different illnesses and physical conditions. 

Yin and Yang (pronounced "y-in" or "een" and "y-ong") are very complex, so for the sake of simplicity, I shall give just a brief explanation of them.  Yin represents female, left side, anterior/front, interior, below, moon, darkness, coldness, rest, quiet, deficiency.  Yang represents male, right side, posterior/back, exterior, above, sun, light,