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by Richard Clear, Ric

In Chinese medicine there are at least five different primary methods of healing and there are numerous other lesser known methods of healing. The main five methods of healing are acupuncture, herbology, Chi Kung, bone setting and tuina massage. Each of these methods has many subcategories, methods and different schools of thought.

YIN & YANG

BALANCE = UNITY OF POLAR OPPOSITES

TCM utilizes Chi and Yin and Yang theory. The basic idea as applied to Chinese Medicine is that balance is the proper state of health. Yin and Yang are polar opposites that are partly defined by each other such as big and small, fast and slow, hot and cold, action and stillness, light and dark, up and down, wet and dry etc.. If there is imbalance in the body, mind or spirit such as to much heat or to much cold then it is unhealthy and sickness will result. The goal of healing with TCM and healing Chi Kung is to restore, regulate and maintain Chi balance to the mind, body and spirit.

Yin and Yang theory is one of the least understood aspects of TCM by most Westerners because it is variable and not fixed. For example: Earth is Yang and Water is Yin. However, either can be yang/hot or yin/cold. Compared to hot water steam is Yin or light even though it is in a hotter (more yang) temperature state than the liquid hot water. Ice is more yang than cold water because it is harder than liquid water even though by virtue of the temperature it is in a colder (more yin) state. Fifty degree air temperature is yin compared to 100 degrees but is yang compared to 10 degrees.

ACUPUNCTURE MERIDIANS AND POINTS

The largest and most common school of thought in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) utilizes meridian and pressure point theory. Meridians are invisible pathways in the body much like the nervous system that carries electrical pulses and stimuli except the meridians are thought to be channels or pathways that Chi energy flows through. Where the meridian lines can easily be accessed from the body surface is where most of the pressure points are located. Quite often pressure points are located in the same vicinity of the body where a blood artery or large vein and large nerves or nerve bundles are near the surface of the body.

Continued in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM Part 2)

TCM treatment is more holistic. It is about balancing the body's system (Ying/Yang) and increasing it's immunity to fight against diseases.

Unlike Western medicine which relies on a host of equipments and machineries to help the doctir in diagnosis and treatment, TCM relies simply mostly on the pratitioners' skills, experience and power of observation to detect and treat health problems.

Observation
The first aspect of TCM is observation. By looking at a patient's complexion, posture, appearance and movement, the TCM practioner is able to guage from first impression if a person is healthy or make initial diagnosis of his problem.

Smell and hearing
A TCM practitioner can diagnose also from the smell of a sick person's breath or by listening to the sound of his cough. Internal problems are often manifested through external symptoms.

Question and Answer
The TCM physician will also ask the patient a series of questions including their area of discomfort, diet, sleep and physical conditions.
Through a series of questions and answers, he will be able to further narrow down the patients problem.

Physical examination
Lastly, the patient's pulse is read, his tougue, throat and eyes are examined to arrive at a full diagnosis.

Treatment
Once a diagnosis has been arrived at, the patient is treated with one or more of treatments including accupuncture, TuiNa (Massage) or herbal prescriptions.These are the more common treatment methods and they are natural, holistic and non invasive.

In Chinese medicine, many discomfort are believed to be due to energy channels or meridian points in the body being blocked or misaligned. Accupuncture will unblock or re-direct these clogged or misaligned channel by stimulating energy flow within the appropriate meridians of the body.

Herbal remedies are more suited for internal problems such as kidney, diabetes or liver problems. In olden days, herbal prescriptions are brewed for many hours to get a liquid herbal drink. Today, similar effects is achieved through pills or syrup.

Article Source : list of herbal remedies

About Author

Both Richard Clear & Ken Cheong are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Richard Clear has sinced written about articles on various topics from Family, Family and Culture. has over 30 years of continuous study in. Richard Clear's top article generates over 49500 views. to your Favourites.

Ken Cheong has sinced written about articles on various topics from Arthritis Signs, Detoxification and Binding Machines. Ken Cheong worked, lived and travelled in China for the last 7 years. Please feel free to email him. You may distribute this article as long as mention is made of