What is it?
Chinese medicine is a complete system of medicine with its own forms of diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, and therapies. Chinese medicine views the body as an energetic system in dynamic balance. Qi, which can be translated as energy or life force, flows in a regular pattern through a system of channels — or meridians — to all parts of the body.
When the flow of Qi is unimpeded there is harmony, balance, and good health. When there are Qi blockages, too much or too little qi, there is an imbalance which can lead to disharmony and disease.
Chinese medicine helps restore the body to balance and works on an energetic level to affect all aspects of a person: mind/body/spirit. The beauty of Chinese medicine is that it can be used to correct imbalances that have become illness and pain, or even correct imbalances prior to the appearance of symptoms, preventing disease.
Chinese medicine treatments address imbalances using food therapy/diet, acupuncture, herbal remedies, Chinese exercise, and meditation along with Western therapies. Chinese medicine is the longest existing continuous medical system practiced in the world, with over 3000 years of history.
The primary goal of Chinese traditional medicine is to create wholeness and harmony within a person, allowing the mind/body/spirit to heal itself. Chinese philosophy states that there are two polar principles of life, yin and yang, and that are dialectically opposed to each other. Imbalances of yin and yang within an individual may be reflected as illness, because the body is considered a microcosm of the world.
Chinese traditional medicine defines the physiological components of illness using the concepts Qi (Vital Energy), xue (Blood), jin-ye (Body Fluids), jing (Essence), and shen (Spirit), as well as Organ Systems. Organ Systems are domains within the body that govern particular body tissues, emotional states and activities.
For example, as is the Western kidneys, the Kidney System manages fluid metabolism. In Chinese medicine, the Kidney System is also responsible for reproduction, growth and regeneration. The bones, inner ear, marrow, teeth, and lumbar area are all part of the Kidney System. Frequent urination, low back pain, and the emotional state of fear may be associated with the Kidney System.
Each Organ System has functions that are unique.
Chinese traditional medicine theory postulates that it is the internal ability of the body to remain strong that is the key to health. In this theory, people are born with a certain amount of Original Qi, which is easily depleted as energy is used by the body and not replaced. It is not easy to increase the Original Qi, and a person must work hard during life just to retain it. Chinese exercise programs — along with proper eating and sleeping habits — are highly recommended for maintaining Original Qi . According to Chinese medical philosophy, if a person consistently lacks sleep, lacks proper nutrition, abuses drugs or alcohol, or has excessive or unsafe sex, they become deficient in Qi and other substances. When weakened, the person is more susceptible to infection by harmful external pathogens.
Ancient Chinese Medicine did not recognize viruses or bacteria as triggers of disease or disorders. Of course, since Chinese medicine is a very pragmatic medicine, if the Chinese had know of viruses and bacteria it would have become part of the diagnostic system.
Instead, Chinese traditional medicine recognizes influences, which cause disharmony in yin/yang, the Essential Substances, the Organ Systems, and the Channels.
The Six Pernicious Influences — Heat, Cold, Wind, Dampness, Dryness and Summer Heat — are External climatic forces that can invade the body and create disharmony in the mind/body/spirit. For example, if you are exposed to excess Heat or Cold or Wind for a long time, or if you are exposed to such Influences when your body is already weak, you may develop an illness. This illness, triggered by External Influences, can migrate inward and become more serious — as a slight cold may become pneumonia. This happens when the External Pernicious Influences overpower the body’s natural protection against disease.
The various therapeutic modalities of Chinese traditional medicine include dietary therapy; massage therapy, heat therapies, exercise, meditation, acupuncture, and herbal medicine. Heat therapies include the use of moxibustion, which is the burning of the common herb mugwort (artemesia vulgaris) over certain areas of the body to stimulate or warm these areas. Exercise therapy ranges from martial arts to more subtle forms of movement such as t’ai chi and qi gong. Acupuncture, perhaps the most well known form of Chinese traditional medicine in the United States, is the art of inserting fine sterile metal filiform needles into certain points in order to control the flow of energy in the meridians.