TCM INFO
Overview
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a broad range of medicine practices, sharing common concepts which have been handed down and synthesised in China over the past 2000 years. They include:
Acupuncture
Dietary therapy
Heat therapy
Tui na massage
Cupping
Gua sha
Qigong exercise
Herbal medicine
Yin Yang theory is the philosophy at the heart of these disciplines and it has a scientific approach. Below you can see the renowned yin yang symbol which represents duality, or the idea that two opposite characteristics can actually exist in harmony and complement each other.
Another aspect of TCM is known as 5 Element theory which has a much more emotional and spiritual feel to it and is a way of connecting human beings to their surroundings. Below the 5 Elements symbol showing the interrelationship of Fire, Earth, Metal, Wood and Water.
From a medicinal point of view, the 5 Elements allows a framework where organs are paired and interact with each other in a balanced or imbalanced way.
Acupuncture
Dietary therapy
Heat therapy
Tui na massage
Cupping
Gua sha
Qigong exercise
Herbal medicine
Yin Yang theory is the philosophy at the heart of these disciplines and it has a scientific approach. Below you can see the renowned yin yang symbol which represents duality, or the idea that two opposite characteristics can actually exist in harmony and complement each other.
Another aspect of TCM is known as 5 Element theory which has a much more emotional and spiritual feel to it and is a way of connecting human beings to their surroundings. Below the 5 Elements symbol showing the interrelationship of Fire, Earth, Metal, Wood and Water.
From a medicinal point of view, the 5 Elements allows a framework where organs are paired and interact with each other in a balanced or imbalanced way.
How does Acupuncture work?
There is a powerful energy flowing in your body. It circulates everywhere and plays an important part in the functioning of all your bodily processes, including your major organs. The Chinese have known about this force for thousands of years and call it ‘Qi’ (pronounced ‘chee’). It is a force similar to electrical or magnetic energy. This energy flows in channels or Meridians that travel up and down your arms and legs and enter your abdomen, where they connect with all your major organs.
By needling certain points along the meridians, a practitioner can affect a patients signs and symptoms. Acupressure can also be used as part of the treatment process, if a patient requests an alternative to the needles. The diagram below shows where the meridians run throughout the body.
By needling certain points along the meridians, a practitioner can affect a patients signs and symptoms. Acupressure can also be used as part of the treatment process, if a patient requests an alternative to the needles. The diagram below shows where the meridians run throughout the body.
How is a diagnosis made?
In Asia it is said that an excellent practitioner of TCM can observe a new patient walking towards them along a corridor and that by the time they shake hands, the doctor will have a diagnosis and treatment plan already formulated without even asking any questions.
The reason this is possible is because in Asian medicine, we are taught to gather diagnostic information purely through observation. Using our senses, we pick up a lot of small clues and piece them together to create a larger holistic picture.
Distinguishing signs and symptoms can be gathered through sight, sound, smell, touch and emotional intelligence.
For example, if you see green around the mouth that shows a liver deficiency. If you hear the voice of a patient and it has a groan to it (especially towards the end of the day) it indicates that the kidneys are tired. If you enter a room and pick up a scorched smell, that can indicate heart deficiency.
The reason this is possible is because in Asian medicine, we are taught to gather diagnostic information purely through observation. Using our senses, we pick up a lot of small clues and piece them together to create a larger holistic picture.
Distinguishing signs and symptoms can be gathered through sight, sound, smell, touch and emotional intelligence.
For example, if you see green around the mouth that shows a liver deficiency. If you hear the voice of a patient and it has a groan to it (especially towards the end of the day) it indicates that the kidneys are tired. If you enter a room and pick up a scorched smell, that can indicate heart deficiency.
Pulse and Tongue diagnosis
Pulse and tongue diagnosis are two other ways that a TCM practitioner can pick up a lot of information from their patient.
With Pulse diagnosis, a TCM practitioner will feel the radial artery in both wrists, using the tips of their 3 middle fingers. There are 12 pulses (6 in each wrist). They are not only looking for the rate of the pulse, they are also considering the depth, strength, width and quality.
A disharmony in the Liver can be felt as a wiriness in the pulse (as if plucking a guitar string and feeling the vibration). Damp in a patient can be felt as a slipperiness on the pulses, as if there is extra fluid in the artery. Pregnant women will often have a slippery pulse as they accumulate fluid during their pregnancy. Blood deficiency will create a thin pulse.
Pulse diagnosis takes a lot of practice, whilst tongue diagnosis is much easier to learn and a quicker way to assess the condition of a patient.
When using Tongue diagnosis, the tongue is used as a microsystem revealing a map of the body. Different areas on the tongue represent different organs and substances of the body.
Colours can also be observed on the tongue, this is combined with the tongue’s shape, movement and coating. Sometimes the surface of the tongue can have cracks on it (much like a river bed when the water dries up). This can represent the drying up of our nourishing bodily fluids (Yin or Blood deficiency).
With Pulse diagnosis, a TCM practitioner will feel the radial artery in both wrists, using the tips of their 3 middle fingers. There are 12 pulses (6 in each wrist). They are not only looking for the rate of the pulse, they are also considering the depth, strength, width and quality.
A disharmony in the Liver can be felt as a wiriness in the pulse (as if plucking a guitar string and feeling the vibration). Damp in a patient can be felt as a slipperiness on the pulses, as if there is extra fluid in the artery. Pregnant women will often have a slippery pulse as they accumulate fluid during their pregnancy. Blood deficiency will create a thin pulse.
Pulse diagnosis takes a lot of practice, whilst tongue diagnosis is much easier to learn and a quicker way to assess the condition of a patient.
When using Tongue diagnosis, the tongue is used as a microsystem revealing a map of the body. Different areas on the tongue represent different organs and substances of the body.
Colours can also be observed on the tongue, this is combined with the tongue’s shape, movement and coating. Sometimes the surface of the tongue can have cracks on it (much like a river bed when the water dries up). This can represent the drying up of our nourishing bodily fluids (Yin or Blood deficiency).