Chinese medicine is the oldest, professional, continually practiced, literate medicine in the world. The written literature stretches back almost 2500 years. Currently one quarter of the world’s population makes use of it. Chinese medicine works by re-establishing balance and harmony within the body. This means balance between yin and yang, balance between the five phases, balance between the viscera and bowels, and balance between the Qi, Blood and Body Fluids.

Four basic examinations are used in Chinese medicine to diagnose what is out of balance in a person’s body. The first is questioning about one’s signs and symptoms, medical history, and course of disease. The second is visually inspecting one’s face, body, and especially one’s tongue and its coating. The third is listening to one’s voice and the sound of one’s breathing as well as smelling any odors emanating from one’s body or excretions. And the fourth is palpating the various areas of the body and especially the pulse at both wrists. The practitioner can determine the pattern of disharmony that requires re-balancing.

The main professionally applied methods of re-establishing balance are Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture/moxibustion. Chinese herbal medicines may be prescribed internally or applied externally. Acupuncture and moxibustion seek to regulate the flow of Qi and Blood within the body by inserting fine, sterile needles at certain acupoints or warming certain acupoints by various methods. In addition, Chinese medical practitioners may also use tui na style of Chinese massage, they may prescribe remedial or preventive exercises and they typically counsel their patients on diet and lifestyle, all according to the theories of Chinese medicine.

Chinese medicine is a complete medical system that attempts to treat the full range of diseases, acute and chronic, traumatic, infectious, and internally generated. However if a disease is extremely virulent or far advanced, and especially if there are serious changes in organic tissue, Chinese medicine by itself is sometimes not powerful enough or too slow. In particular, Chinese medicine is an excellent and effective choice at the beginning of any disease or for diseases which modern Western medicine either does not understand or for which it has no effective treatment.

Sierra Shan and Hwa S. Lee-Newman, O.M.D., L.Ac., R. N. can help you find a more balanced and healthy lifestyle though Traditional Chinese Medicine.

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