The Natural Benefits Of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Steeped in thousands of years of development and based in esoteric beginnings, what has become known as “traditional Chinese medicine” (TCM) is widely accepted around the world today. TCM uses unfamiliar methods of assessing physical illness and is grounded in theories that seem more philosophical than scientific. But even though many Westerners don’t know how or why it works, TCM offers natural therapies that can effectively improve your health.

Three of the most common questions I am asked about TCM are:

• How does acupuncture work?
• What is qigong (chi kung)?
• Are Chinese herbs safe to take?

To understand these concepts, you need a basic understanding of TCM.

Modalities Of TCM

Until a few decades ago, there was no designated practice known as traditional Chinese medicine. Chinese medical practices were fragmented into the separate fields of acupuncture and moxibustion, qigong, tuina, herbal medicine, and diet therapy. These were different specialties based on different sets of information and skills.

Then, when China began focusing on growing into a world power, the country embarked on a cultural revolution that spurred the government to support the traditions of Chinese healing arts (along with martial arts and cooking) and introduced them to the rest of the world.

For simplicity, the government lumped all pre-Western-scientific Chinese healing arts under the term TCM. This sounds appropriate, but practitioners of acupuncture had to understand tongue diagnosis, usually employed by herbalists, while herbalists had to study energy meridians, which were the domain of acupuncturists, etc. Well, now, these are all nicely tied together.

The basics of the main branches of TCM include:

Acupuncture: an ancient Chinese system of healing in which fine needles are used to pierce the skin on specific points on the body to a depth of a few millimeters and are then withdrawn after a period of time. Each needle is like an antenna drawing energy from the universe into a very small port on the body, which then regulates the functions of the meridian system. The meridian system connects each organ to the next in a specific cycle.

Moxibustion: an equally ancient healing method that uses heated mugwort and other herbs to warm specific acupoints on the body. Moxibustion can be applied directly to a point or above a point with the use of moxa cones or moxa sticks. The heat of the moxa draws out toxins and moves blood and fluids from an otherwise stagnant area of the body.

Qigong: energy healing that is a highly effective internal therapy using Qi (energy) for healing. In clinical qigong, intrinsic energy from the practitioner is emitted into the patient through specific acupoints. In self-regulating qigong, specific qigong exercises are taught to resolve the lack, excess or blockage of energy in the patient’s body to restore balance.

Tuina: a rigorous bodywork therapy that loosens muscles and joints, relaxes tendons, reduces swelling and relieves pain by promoting the circulation of Qi, blood and lymph. Tuina is especially well-suited to treating injuries from falls, fractures, contusions, strains or soft tissue damage to muscles, tendons and ligaments.

Herbal Medicine: the healing branch of TCM that uses Chinese herbs to impart healing benefits to the body through the meridians and the bloodstream. Herbs with similar functions are combined to reduce the danger of toxicity and increase synergistic effect. There are roughly 350 common or “patent” herbal formulas that have been derived over the centuries to address specific patterns of imbalance.

Unlike Western supplements or pain relievers, Chinese herbs are not traditionally used to treat specific ailments, like migraine headache or PMS, as such. Instead, they are used to correct an imbalance in the body which is considered to be the root cause of discomforts like headache or bloating. In addition, five women presenting with PMS may all receive different herbal formulas for their issues based on their overall cluster of symptoms and characteristics, not just the pain portion of their symptoms.

Chinese herbs are safe; those that are imported must first be GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) certified or they are not allowed into this country. Brands that are reputable with a long history include Min Shan, Plum Flower, KGS and others with the GMP seal on the boxes. Most can now be purchased on Amazon.com.

Diet Therapy: the use of food combinations with specific food characteristics to treat illness and disease. Chinese diet therapy is not dieting to lose weight. Rather, the practitioner performs an assessment of each patient before determining which foods or beverages are needed to help improve an individual’s health situation and which foods should be avoided to stop health from deteriorating.

For example, someone with a bronchial infection may be told to eat more ginger and foods cooked with ginger to break up phlegm. Avoiding phlegm- and mucus-causing foods like dairy and sugars is also recommended. A two-pronged approach is the key here. Taking something to help the infection accomplishes nothing if you don’t refrain from consuming items that make the illness worse or tighten its hold on the body.

Balancing Yin And Yang

The overall concept of yin and yang is a philosophical conceptualization, a means to generalize the two opposite principles that may be observed in all related phenomena within the natural world. They are not opposites, as many in the West believe, but are complementary forces that cannot exist one without the other. For example, there can be no concept of what is hot unless one first had felt something cold.

Water and fire are symbols of yin and yang, which means that water and fire represent two primary opposite aspects of a contradiction. In this manner, everything in nature may be classified as yin and yang. Those with the basic properties of fire — such as heat, movement, brightness, upward and outward directions, excitement and potency — pertain to yang; those with the basic properties of water — such as coldness, stillness, dimness, downward and inward direction, inhibition and weakness — pertain to yin.

Accordingly, within the field of medicine different parts of the body are classified as either yin or yang. For example, the upper and exterior parts of the body belong to yang and the lower and interior parts to yin; the hands belong to yang and the feet to yin; the five solid organs pertain to yin; the six bowels or hollow organs pertain to yang.

If yin and yang of the human body separate from each other and cannot aid each other, life comes to an end. That is why balancing hot and cold, tight and loose, sleep and wake, food and water, etc., is the main goal of TCM modalities. When the body or one’s actions are out of balance, there is pain, illness or disease. When balance is restored, symptoms dissipate. I’ll discuss these insightful ideas in more detail next week.