Improve Your Health With Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
Traditional Chinese medicine techniques like acupuncture and tai chi help you improve your health by treating both mind and body. A natural approach, it can reduce stress and provide physical benefits such as increased flexibility and faster recovery after injury.
Unlike Western medicine, which often relies on pharmaceuticals, TCM seeks the root cause of ailments to restore the body’s natural ability to heal itself. Read on to learn more about some of the top benefits of chinese herbal medicines. Visit https://gardenacu.com/ to learn more.
If you’re suffering from pain and inflammation, Chinese herbs may help. Chinese medicine practitioners use herbs, acupuncture, and changes in diet and lifestyle to help relieve pain. They believe that pain is the body’s way of alerting you to an imbalance.
Traditional Chinese medicine is different from Western medical practice in that it uses the idea that an energy, called qi (say “chee”), flows along pathways in the body, called meridians. The belief is that when the qi is blocked or unbalanced, illness can occur. The premise is that every person’s qi and yin-yang balance are unique. This means that, even if two people have the same illness, they might receive very different treatments for it based on their own qi and yin-yang levels.
Several studies show that some Chinese medicines can help reduce inflammation and pain. These include:
Corydalis Root (Yan Hu Suo): This herb is known to increase circulation which helps manage pain. Research has found that it contains a compound, dehydrocorybulbine (DHCB), that is effective in reducing both inflammatory and nerve pain.
Chinese Skullcap (Huang Lian): This herb has been shown to have anti-inflammatory and immune system modulating properties. It helps prevent inflammation by blocking pro-inflammatory cytokines and by inhibiting the action of enzymes that promote the inflammatory response.
Goldthread (Lian Qiao): This herb is used to treat inflammation. It has antiviral, antipyretic, and antioxidant properties. It also suppresses mast cells that are activated by substances that cause an allergic reaction.
The National Institutes of Health, through the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine, fund ongoing research of acupuncture and many other complementary therapies to determine whether they are safe and effective. If you’re considering acupuncture or other Chinese therapies, talk to your doctor before beginning treatment. They can tell you if these techniques are safe for you, and if they’ll interact with any prescription or nonprescription medications or supplements that you take. Founder of Makari Wellness, Mike Woodworth is an experienced holistic practitioner and acupuncturist that uses Chinese medicine to help his patients manage pain and inflammation.
Increased Flexibility
TCM isn’t a replacement for Western medicine, but it can help strengthen your health and prevent and treat illness. It focuses on whole-body wellness and healing. You may be familiar with practices like acupuncture, the insertion of thin, sterile needles into specific points on your body to relieve pain and other symptoms. Chinese herbal remedies, dietary counseling and movement therapies are also part of TCM.
Acupuncturist Yaser Abdelhamid explains that TCM focuses on balance and the underlying energy of your body called “qi.” Qi is a force that travels through the pathways of the body, known as meridians. It’s made up of two opposing forces: yin, which is associated with coldness and negativity, and yang, which is associated with warmth and positivity. Acupuncturists say that a balanced qi can keep you healthy and prevent disease.
Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the government has placed great importance on uniting TCM with modern medicine and vigorously promoted its development. TCM has become one of the three main guidelines for China’s medical work, and it has its own distinct characteristics.
The TCM system includes a complete set of theories, diagnosis and treatment methods and provides an overall framework for health care. The foundation of TCM is a series of traditional Chinese medical textbooks that have been developed over many centuries. Some of the most famous are The Classic of Internal Medicine (Xiao Er Yao), The Essentials of External Medicine (Wai Ke Jing Yao), Treatise on Disease Patterns and Formulas Related to the Unification of the Three Etiologies (San Yin Ji Yi Bing Zheng Fang Lun), Chen’s Formulas for Childhood Pox (Chen Shi Xiao Er Dou Zhen Fang) and more.
The TCM industry has also made remarkable progress in the areas of standardization and professional training. The TCM standardization system has been basically established, and five national technical committees for acupuncture and moxibustion, TCM drugs and integrated Chinese and Western medicine have been formed. In addition, local standards committees have been set up for TCM, and the ISO/TC249 Traditional Chinese Medicine has been founded.
Faster Recovery After Injury
Aside from acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine has also been shown to accelerate recovery from injury. Studies have found that herbs such as Astragalus, Radix Codonopsis and Shiitake are effective for boosting the immune system and alleviating fatigue. These herbs are often taken by athletes as part of their training routine to prevent injury and aid in recovery from sport related injuries.
Using herbal medicine to speed up healing is especially important after an injury as it moves stagnant blood and fluids around the area, which can cause pain and discomfort. Aside from taking the prescribed herbs, it is important to use acupressure and massage to improve circulation to the injured area and help the body heal itself.
For example, acupressure can be used to strengthen the tendons and ligaments around an ankle or knee injury. Tui Na massage is a powerful form of Chinese therapeutic bodywork that involves pressing, stretching and manipulating the body to relieve tension. The massage can also be combined with moxibustion, which is the burning of a herb (like moxa grass or mugwort) over specific acupoints on the body to promote healing.
Traditional Chinese medicine is based on the belief that the body, mind, and spirit are connected and that health is dependent on balance of opposing forces known as yin and yang. The ancient Chinese believed that all living things are microcosms of the surrounding universe and are subject to its forces. A disruption to the yin-yang balance is thought to lead to disease. TCM doctors are trained to assess the yin-yang imbalance and determine how to restore balance.
TCM is also a holistic medicine, meaning it treats the whole person and looks at all aspects of their life to understand the root cause of the illness. This is unlike Western medicine which only considers the symptoms and treats the disease.
Another aspect of TCM that makes it unique is the Five Element Theory. The theory states that the body is made up of elements such as wood, fire, earth, metal and water. Each element is represented by a color, flavor and direction and plays a key role in the way your body functions.
Reduced Stress
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been successfully helping people cope with stress for thousands of years. According to TCM theory, stress causes the energy flow in your body to be disrupted leading to a variety of symptoms including digestive issues, chronic pain, sleep problems and emotional or mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.
The 3,000 year old medical system of TCM looks at the body as one whole with many parts working harmoniously together. If one of the systems becomes clogged or breaks down it will affect the entire body, just like an oil leak will cause the entire car to break down. TCM uses acupuncture and herbal medicine to restore balance to the body, calm the mind and alleviate stress.
Acupuncture works by introducing thin needles into predefined pressure points on the body that trigger neuroendocrine responses to relieve your stress. Acupuncture also helps to clear qi stagnation from the body caused by stress. Chinese herbs are also a great way to ease your tension and anxiety. Some great herbal formulas to treat anxiety include biota seed, poria, chrysanthemum flower, oyster shell and thinnleaf milkwort root.
Unlike Western medicine where there are only a few options for treating the same condition, traditional chinese medicine offers many different treatment modalities to help you find your own personal solution. Rather than prescribing the same medication for everyone, your practitioner will take into consideration how you are feeling and which areas of your body are affected by stress in order to choose the best treatment for you.
TCM practitioners believe that yin and yang are two opposing but complementary forces that should be in harmony, similar to how earth and sky are balanced or winter and summer are balanced. When these energies are out of balance it can lead to disease. TCM utilizes a variety of modalities to bring your body back into balance and calm the mind including acupuncture, herbal medicine and cupping. Consult our physician today to see how we can help you manage your stress this holiday season! Call us at +65 8742 2163.