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"An ounce of prevention is equal to a pound of cure!"
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What is Oriental
Medicine?
Oriental Medicine is a distinct and comprehensive system of primary health care practices, based upon theories and
traditional practices that originated and evolved from ancient China, which utilizes various systems
of disease prevention, diagnosis, and intervention, and which emphasizes the maintenance of good health.
The principle goal of Oriental Medicine is to identify and harmonize the opposing forces in nature that cause disharmony,
dysfunction, and disease. Practitioners utilize numerous constructs of symptomatic differentiation, both ancient and
modern, to diagnose illness, to identify causative factors, and to identigy the most appropriate measures to restore physiologic,
structural, and functional health. Individualized care, a holistic perspective of the entire person which views the
nature, spirit, mind, and body on a continuum, and continually seeking positive and effetive results are identifiable tenants
of Oriental medicine.
Oriental Medicine treatment modalities and procedures include acupuncture, herbal medicine, dietary and lifestyle recommendations,
physical manipulation (e.g. TuiNa, Shiatsu), breathing and exercise techniques (e.g. TaiJi Quan, Qi Gong, meditation).
Some practitioners encourage forms of spiritual practice in order to provide truly comprehensive and complete health care.
Oriental Medicine includes a diverse variety of healing
arts and sciences that developed in Southeast Asia from the historic principles and practices
of Traditional Chinese Medicine,the foundations of which were recorded in the Yellow Emperors Classic of Internal Medicine
in about 300 BC. Oriental Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine are based upon the general principle that illness
results from disharmony, such as disharmony between the internal organs or disharmony with the fundamental laws of the universe
(the Tao) and the environment, and that health can be restored by harmonizing the internal physiology, promoting circulation
in the organs and tissues of the body, and achieving balance with nature and the environment. Such a dynamic state of
equilibrium where health is constantly being adjusted and maintaied is called homeostasis. Homeostasis is a common goal
of all healing arts.
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Examination
and Assessment Methods...
Oriental
Medicine examination and assessment methods include the use of questioning (history taking),
observation, and physical examination. Oriental Medicine assessment is often uniquely identified by its observation of the
tongue's coloration, shape, and coating, the palpation of the pulse for its quality and strength, the palpation of the
abdomen and other areas of the body, and also by extensive questioning about subtle signs and symptoms. Truly traditional
practices would include inspection of urine and stool, but modern practitioners rely upon the observation of their patients
and the use of laboratory tests when necessary.
Based upon a comprehensive examination and assessment,
a diagnosis is made by attributing the specific signs and symptoms to historically established patterns of ill health.
These patterns of imbalance can include organ disharmony, imbalances in fundamental substances, invasion by pathogens, imbalanced
emotions, inappropriate lifestyle, diet, exertion, stagnation, trauma, pestilence, and/or other factors. Some "classical"
Oriental medical diagnoses may seem strange, like Blood or Qi Stagnation, or Kidney Yin Deficiency, but an Oriental
medicine diagnoses may also include modern technical terms, such as "carpal tunnel syndrome" or "bulging intervertebral
lumbar disc with mild radiculopathy into the leg shaoyang channel."
Treatment Plan... An Oriental Medicine treatment plan seeks
to restore, maintain, and promote health and harmony through the administration of a variety of non-surgical interventions,
including lifestyle and dietary recommendations; ingestion of natural plant, animal, and mineral products; physical, mental,
and breathing exercises; external application of heat, cold, light, electricity, magnetism, and natural substances; acupuncture
and electroacupuncture; physical manipulation; and even subcutaneous injection of sterile solutions into acupoints.
Oriental
Medicine seeks to identify subtle yet recognizable patterns of disharmony, and to treat them with methods that have been proven through centuries of practice, and according to certain unifying principles.
While it is not a substitute for powerful drugs and advanced surgical techniques developed by modern science, Oriental Medicine
can often serve to treat, or at least to relieve some symptoms, including those of unidentified and newly "discovered" diseases
without having to wait for laboratory science to identify the exact causative agent of the disease. Oriental Medicine is very
practical, pragmatic, and yet can appear to be somewhat exotic or esoteric to those unfamiliar with its principles and practices.
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