Imbued with the spirit of Chinese civilisation and culture, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is one of the world’s oldest medical systems – having developed over thousands of years – but is still widely practiced today. It is a unique and independent medical system that originated in China, and for thousands of years it has played a major role in maintaining the health of Chinese people.
No medical system survives this long unless it is effective, so what are the strengths of TCM?
In TCM, diagnosis is based on how a person reacts to an ailment – for example, a flu virus may cause a fever and a sore throat in one person, whilst in another it may cause a chill and the body to ache.
Because diagnosis is based on “weaving” all of a person’s symptoms into a pattern of how that person reacts to an ailment and their environment, TCM can treat medical problems that can’t necessarily be ascribed to a particular ailment – for example, many people suffer from feelings of being unnaturally tired or other vague medical problems that are difficult to diagnose using Western medicine, but that can be diagnosed, and treated, using TCM.
The whole spectrum of physical and mental factors is assessed in diagnosis and treatment, based on the principle that good health is the natural state of being.
In TCM, treatment aims to activate the innate healing ability of the body and mind, and although treatment can also be aimed at relieving the symptoms of a medical problem, TCM is always focused on treating the “root” of a medical problem.
The two basic components of TCM are acupuncture therapy and herbal medicine therapy.
Acupuncture Therapy
Acupuncture therapy works by stimulating the body’s healing response or/and immune system, its effectiveness in treating different medical problems having been learnt through many centuries of clinical practice, and in recent years its usefulness having been verified, and its use refined, by modern scientific methods.
“Acupoints” lay on lines or channels in the body, and in acupuncture therapy these are stimulated by the insertion of fine, thin needles at various points and combinations of points.
Chinese Herbal Medicine Therapy
Chinese herbal medicine therapy involves the use of herbs in raw or processed forms, each herb having its own particular characteristics and medical use; these herbs are used to rectify any hyperactivity or hypoactivity of yin and yang, and to help restore the body to its normal physiological state.
Chinese herbal medicine therapy must be given by a qualified TCM practitioner, who will conduct a diagnostic interview, including asking the patient questions relating to the problem(s) with their health, taking their pulse, and examining their tongue, before making a prescription.
Chinese herbal medicine comes in three different forms:
- loose herbs – roots, leaves, fruit, et cetera, which are decocted (boiled up) to extract the pharmacologically active ingredient(s)
- powders – dried preparations of decoctions
- pills