What is Chinese Medicine?
Chinese medicine is the longest existing continuous medical system practiced in the world, with over 3000 years of history. It is a complete system of medicine with its own forms of diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, and therapies. As an energy-based medicine, Chinese Medicine holds that in order to maintain health, the body’s energy or life force, called Qi, must be abundant and free-flowing throughout the channels (or meridians) of the body.
When the flow of Qi is unimpeded there is harmony, balance, and good health. When Qi blocks, or there is too much or too little Qi, there is an imbalance which can lead to disharmony and disease.
Chinese Medicine seeks to provide a holistic treatment that works on all aspects of a person: mind, body, and spirit. A core component of Chinese Medicine is correcting imbalances that have caused illnesses or pain, or even correcting imbalances before the onset of symptoms as a preventative to disease.
A skilled practitioner will diagnose the nature of imbalance and select different therapies that will best benefit the condition. Treatment can include therapy with acupuncture and moxibustion, Tui Na bodywork, herbal therapy, and diet/lifestyle changes.
When the flow of Qi is unimpeded there is harmony, balance, and good health. When Qi blocks, or there is too much or too little Qi, there is an imbalance which can lead to disharmony and disease.
Chinese Medicine seeks to provide a holistic treatment that works on all aspects of a person: mind, body, and spirit. A core component of Chinese Medicine is correcting imbalances that have caused illnesses or pain, or even correcting imbalances before the onset of symptoms as a preventative to disease.
A skilled practitioner will diagnose the nature of imbalance and select different therapies that will best benefit the condition. Treatment can include therapy with acupuncture and moxibustion, Tui Na bodywork, herbal therapy, and diet/lifestyle changes.
What kind of things can Chinese Medicine treat?
Treatments are individualized to patients’ needs, and can be used for a range of conditions, from pain due to injury or trauma, chronic fatigue, emotional problems, infertility, amongst others.
For a list of diseases that acupuncture can help that have been acknowledged by the WHO, click here. (evidencebasedacupuncture.org)
What is Qi?
Qi is the Chinese word for “vital energy,” or “life-force energy” and is one of the pillars of Chinese acupuncture theory. Qi can be both a movement and a substance. It is easiest to understand Qi as a metaphor for understanding changes in the body. For example, if there is an area of pain, it can be considered a “blockage of Qi” in a specific meridian or channel. The treatment then, would be to “unblock the meridian” and allow for proper Qi flow.
What are meridians?
Meridians, or channels, are regulatory systems that connect different parts of the body. These are the “paths” in which energy flows. Meridian theory has a goal to explain the interconnectedness between all parts of the body. New research has demonstrated the existence of anatomical structures called “Bonghan Channels”, which provide a scientific explanation to support and validate the theory put forward by Chinese Medicine meridians.
There are twelve main meridians whose routes run vertically in the body and ends at the fingertips and toes. Most acupuncture points run along these meridians, so using an acupuncture point on one end of a meridian can have an effect further down. In this way, the use of an acupuncture point on one end of the meridian can affect the region at the opposite end, or to an internal organ which meridian is connected. That’s why sometimes a person may come in for a headache, but a hand point may also be used – they are connected to the same meridian.
Treatments are individualized to patients’ needs, and can be used for a range of conditions, from pain due to injury or trauma, chronic fatigue, emotional problems, infertility, amongst others.
For a list of diseases that acupuncture can help that have been acknowledged by the WHO, click here. (evidencebasedacupuncture.org)
What is Qi?
Qi is the Chinese word for “vital energy,” or “life-force energy” and is one of the pillars of Chinese acupuncture theory. Qi can be both a movement and a substance. It is easiest to understand Qi as a metaphor for understanding changes in the body. For example, if there is an area of pain, it can be considered a “blockage of Qi” in a specific meridian or channel. The treatment then, would be to “unblock the meridian” and allow for proper Qi flow.
What are meridians?
Meridians, or channels, are regulatory systems that connect different parts of the body. These are the “paths” in which energy flows. Meridian theory has a goal to explain the interconnectedness between all parts of the body. New research has demonstrated the existence of anatomical structures called “Bonghan Channels”, which provide a scientific explanation to support and validate the theory put forward by Chinese Medicine meridians.
There are twelve main meridians whose routes run vertically in the body and ends at the fingertips and toes. Most acupuncture points run along these meridians, so using an acupuncture point on one end of a meridian can have an effect further down. In this way, the use of an acupuncture point on one end of the meridian can affect the region at the opposite end, or to an internal organ which meridian is connected. That’s why sometimes a person may come in for a headache, but a hand point may also be used – they are connected to the same meridian.
Diagnosis
Chinese Medicine offers a different approach to diagnose health problems. By collecting signs and symptoms, Chinese Medicine tries to determine the pattern of imbalance that is causing the current complaint.
The focus is on the collected group of symptoms, known as a syndrome, rather than a single problem. Therefore, many Chinese Medicine patterns can be considered the cause in a single disease in Western Medicine. As well, even if people come in with the same complaint, the treatment of a condition can vary depending on the root cause of imbalance.
Conversely, some people with different main complaints may have similar syndrome patterns, and thus receive similar treatments. This happens because the underlying cause can be reflected differently between people or times of people’s lives. An example can be treating some types of headaches or digestive upset – both can be caused from stress and tension.
Another helpful use of syndrome pattern recognition is predicting and possibly preventing other symptoms or worsening of current symptoms. Knowing the correct pattern can help the practitioner find imbalance before it has become a disease, and can prevent problems before they happen.
Thus the core of Chinese Medicine is proper diagnosis, correct acupuncture point selection and location/manipulation, and discovering the causes of the problems in addition to helping relieve symptoms. This focus requires that your acupuncturist have a high degree of training in order for treatment to be effective. At this time, New Brunswick does not have legislation for acupuncture; there are no minimum qualifications in order to provide treatment. Therefore, it is important to always ask the level of training of anyone offering acupuncture. In regulated provinces, such as BC, AB or NF, one must complete a minimum 3-year program in acupuncture and Chinese Medicine from an accredited institution and pass a licensing exam in order to be registered as an acupuncturist. This is to ensure that the public receives the best quality and safely provided acupuncture. For a list of acupuncturists in NB that meet this standard, see http://www.cmaac.com/
The focus is on the collected group of symptoms, known as a syndrome, rather than a single problem. Therefore, many Chinese Medicine patterns can be considered the cause in a single disease in Western Medicine. As well, even if people come in with the same complaint, the treatment of a condition can vary depending on the root cause of imbalance.
Conversely, some people with different main complaints may have similar syndrome patterns, and thus receive similar treatments. This happens because the underlying cause can be reflected differently between people or times of people’s lives. An example can be treating some types of headaches or digestive upset – both can be caused from stress and tension.
Another helpful use of syndrome pattern recognition is predicting and possibly preventing other symptoms or worsening of current symptoms. Knowing the correct pattern can help the practitioner find imbalance before it has become a disease, and can prevent problems before they happen.
Thus the core of Chinese Medicine is proper diagnosis, correct acupuncture point selection and location/manipulation, and discovering the causes of the problems in addition to helping relieve symptoms. This focus requires that your acupuncturist have a high degree of training in order for treatment to be effective. At this time, New Brunswick does not have legislation for acupuncture; there are no minimum qualifications in order to provide treatment. Therefore, it is important to always ask the level of training of anyone offering acupuncture. In regulated provinces, such as BC, AB or NF, one must complete a minimum 3-year program in acupuncture and Chinese Medicine from an accredited institution and pass a licensing exam in order to be registered as an acupuncturist. This is to ensure that the public receives the best quality and safely provided acupuncture. For a list of acupuncturists in NB that meet this standard, see http://www.cmaac.com/
What to expect in treatment
The first session will include the intake interview to evaluate the whole body and link how each aspect of the self may be contributing to the current problem. This helps determine the best methods of treatment as well as how many treatments may be necessary to properly treat the symptoms and rebalance the body.
The actual treatment itself is often a mixture of a couple types of therapy. For example, for head and neck tension we often start with cupping and then use acupuncture afterward.
Treatments are generally an hour to an hour and a half. For the first session, add about another 30 minutes for the intake interview.
The number of treatments needed to recover from a condition will vary. Recovery time is dependent on many factors including the seriousness of the condition, the energy level of the person, and other environmental factors in the person’s life, but most often there will be a notable relief of symptoms after only a few treatments.
The actual treatment itself is often a mixture of a couple types of therapy. For example, for head and neck tension we often start with cupping and then use acupuncture afterward.
Treatments are generally an hour to an hour and a half. For the first session, add about another 30 minutes for the intake interview.
The number of treatments needed to recover from a condition will vary. Recovery time is dependent on many factors including the seriousness of the condition, the energy level of the person, and other environmental factors in the person’s life, but most often there will be a notable relief of symptoms after only a few treatments.