Traditional Chinese Medicine
How are illnesses diagnosed?
Sight- This is comprised of body posture, tongue, pulse (see below) and eye analysis, and much more.
Questions- such as how is your urine and bowel movement, enough sleep, stress levels, and any other questions the doctor may have. It is always best to answer honestly. However, since there are more ways than one to determine an illness, even if you are not honest, the doctor can still know.
Smell-Illness’s usually have an unique body odor, also the breath can be a sign of what is happening inside the body.
Touch- TCM doctors can use the pressing the organs to determine how they feel, but also what is unique to TCM is reading the pulse.
This pulse is on the bone next to the wrist on both arms which determine the strength or weakness of organs such as the liver, kidney, spleen etc...
Right hand: lung, spleen, kidney
Left: heart, liver, kidney
What is acupuncture?
Acupuncture treatments are done by inserting very fine needles (26 acupuncture needles can fit into one hypodermic needle) into acupoints to correct the flow of qi for optimal health. Sometimes it is necessary to use small amount of electric stimulation for better effectiveness during a treatment. The stimulation is set to vibrate on a specific frequency to help move the qi and blood through the body.
What is gua sha?
Gua Sha is also known as scrapping. It isn’t as bad as it sounds. Gua means rubbing, sha can be translated as toxins, but also include heat and even dampness. When there is excess heat inside the body that is trapped, it needs to escape. So the TCM doctor only helps the heat escape by simply using a straight piece tool, like what’s in the picture, to open the pores on the patients back. Gua sha is used for pain related to acute or chronic disorders. The patient may feel aching, tenderness and/or a knotted feeling in the muscles. Gua sha is used to treat illnesses such as common cold or flu, asthma, bronchitis, , vertigo as well as chronic problems involving headache, neck/shoulder pain and stagnation of the qi and blood. It is especially useful when a person has or is recovering from a fever. Sometimes gua sha is useful to heal a lingering illness even if it has been a long time since the patient has believed to be over the problem.
After the treatment the patient will have “bruises” on the back. The color of the bruises will vary depending on the illness. THIS IS GOOD. It means that whatever was trapped in the body now is coming out. It looks bad, but it only lasts a few days.
What is cupping?
Cupping is the use of cups which had the air sucked out by a small flame then put on the patients back. The flame burned the air to create a vacuum to pull the sha out of the body.
Cupping is generally used in the treatment of Arthritic pain, abdominal pain, stomach ache, indigestion, headache, hypertension, common cold, cough, low back pain, painful menstruation, insect and poisonous snake bites.
The after affects of cupping is similar to gua sha. The toxins are pulled out and the back looks like a pepperoni pizza. THIS IS GOOD. The body is now more capable of healing itself back to good health. After treatments of gua sha or cupping it is important to stay warm. So take it easy and use the covers when sleeping.
What are herbs comprised of?
Chinese Herbal Medicine focuses on restoring balance of energy, body, and spirit to maintain health. It treats patients’ symptoms and the underlying causes. Chinese Herbal medicine has been practiced safely and effectively for centuries and has the greatest potential for beneficial results when prescribed by a trained acupuncturist who recognizes the benefits and risks.
Why pay attention to your diet?
Diets should be able to vary to each person’s personal needs. Therefore there are many different kinds of diet plans for people to find. One thing each diet must have is a balanced diet. But what does that mean? It means that nutrition, of some form, is found in all foods. But all not all nutrients are found in all foods. The body needs of a variety of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, enzymes, sugars, and much more. Sometimes our bodies are actually too weak to absorb the nutrients, so treatments are necessary to balance the body to bring it back to health.
Therefore illnesses are sometimes caused by a lack in one of the many things our body needs to perform well. With the help of acupuncture or acupressure, and a change of diet could be the saving force to your health.
What is tui-na (acupressure)?
Tui-na is translated into English as push-pull. It is a massage style that includes relaxing the muscles, adjusting the bone structure, pressing on acupoints, patting and a range of other techniques to get the body back on track to good health.
What is fa qi, fa gong, fa jing?
Fa qi, fa gong, and fa jing essentially means emitting qi. During a tui-na treatment, sometimes it is important to give qi to the patient. The wise method is to be a conduit of qi. This means that the practitioner takes qi from the surroundings and guides it through their body into their arms and out the hands directing the qi to an organ or area that needs help healing.