What is Chinese Medicine?
Chinese medicine is the practice of bringing the body back into balance. Treatments can include a variety of techniques and tools, including acupuncture, herbal medicine, moxabustion, gua sha, and cupping. While Western medicine tends to focus on disease and getting rid of it, Chinese medicine focuses on using the body's innate healing system to optimize health.
"Dis-ease" is viewed as imbalance. Sometimes, elements need to be removed from the body and sometimes the body just needs nourishment. Many times, the body needs a mixture of both. For instance, let's look at cancer. An acupuncturist can work with your primary care physician. While a MD will work at removing the cancerous cells, Chinese medicine can help at improving your body's functions to prevent future metastasis while strengthening your system, improving your response to chemo and radiation while reducing their side-effects, and increasing your body's ability to fight the cancer.
In many ways, acupuncture and East Asian medicine listens to the body, then sends suggestions to help guide the body to a state of balance. For this reason, treatments are more effective when regularly and frequently administered. For acute illness, treatments are typically administered 1-2 times per week for several weeks. Results are typically seen within 6-10 treatments. Some illnesses take much longer to treat, such as Lyme disease, PTSD, or mental illness. Once a state of balance has been achieved, patients may occasionally return to maintain the healthy balance.
"Dis-ease" is viewed as imbalance. Sometimes, elements need to be removed from the body and sometimes the body just needs nourishment. Many times, the body needs a mixture of both. For instance, let's look at cancer. An acupuncturist can work with your primary care physician. While a MD will work at removing the cancerous cells, Chinese medicine can help at improving your body's functions to prevent future metastasis while strengthening your system, improving your response to chemo and radiation while reducing their side-effects, and increasing your body's ability to fight the cancer.
In many ways, acupuncture and East Asian medicine listens to the body, then sends suggestions to help guide the body to a state of balance. For this reason, treatments are more effective when regularly and frequently administered. For acute illness, treatments are typically administered 1-2 times per week for several weeks. Results are typically seen within 6-10 treatments. Some illnesses take much longer to treat, such as Lyme disease, PTSD, or mental illness. Once a state of balance has been achieved, patients may occasionally return to maintain the healthy balance.
What can Chinese Medicine help with?
In 2003, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a list of conditions that acupuncture has been proven effective at treating.
The following list of conditions shown through controlled trials to be treated effectively by Acupuncture:
Low back pain, Neck pain, Sciatica, Tennis elbow, Knee pain, Periarthritis of the shoulder, Sprains, Facial pain (including TMJ), Headache, Dental pain, Acute and chronic gastritis, Rheumatoid arthritis, Induction of labor, Breech birth presentation, Morning sickness, Nausea and vomiting, Postoperative pain, Stroke, Essential hypertension, Primary hypotension, Renal colic, Leucopenia, Radiation/chemo reactions, Allergic rhinitis, hay fever, Biliary colic, Depression, Acute bacillary dysentery, Primary dysmenorrhea, Acute epigastralgia, Peptic ulcer.
The report also contains three other very important lists of conditions:
• Diseases, symptoms or conditions for which the therapeutic effect of Acupuncture has been shown but for which further proof is needed.
• Diseases, symptoms or conditions for which there are only individual controlled trials reporting some therapeutic effects, but for which Acupuncture is worth trying because treatment by conventional and other therapies is difficult.
• Diseases, symptoms or conditions for which Acupuncture may be tried provided the practitioner has special modern medical knowledge and adequate monitoring equipment.
The following list of conditions shown through controlled trials to be treated effectively by Acupuncture:
Low back pain, Neck pain, Sciatica, Tennis elbow, Knee pain, Periarthritis of the shoulder, Sprains, Facial pain (including TMJ), Headache, Dental pain, Acute and chronic gastritis, Rheumatoid arthritis, Induction of labor, Breech birth presentation, Morning sickness, Nausea and vomiting, Postoperative pain, Stroke, Essential hypertension, Primary hypotension, Renal colic, Leucopenia, Radiation/chemo reactions, Allergic rhinitis, hay fever, Biliary colic, Depression, Acute bacillary dysentery, Primary dysmenorrhea, Acute epigastralgia, Peptic ulcer.
The report also contains three other very important lists of conditions:
• Diseases, symptoms or conditions for which the therapeutic effect of Acupuncture has been shown but for which further proof is needed.
• Diseases, symptoms or conditions for which there are only individual controlled trials reporting some therapeutic effects, but for which Acupuncture is worth trying because treatment by conventional and other therapies is difficult.
• Diseases, symptoms or conditions for which Acupuncture may be tried provided the practitioner has special modern medical knowledge and adequate monitoring equipment.