Say "Chinese Medicine" and more likely than not, the first thing that comes to your mind is "acupuncture." Though acupuncture is a vital and integral part of Chinese Medicine, it is only one of several sub-modalities that comprises this ancient healing method.

Another more fundamental component, for example, is the use of herbs. They form a very early basis for treatment of illness in many cultures, but their use in China represents the longest unbroken herbal tradition extant today, said to be 5,000 years old.

Still a third component is a form of movement or exercises called Qi Gong. Though meditation is a part of it, qi gong is primarily a series of deliberate movements that stretch the tendons, ligaments and muscles while massaging the internal organs. But most importantly, it circulates the qi (also spelled "chi") energy through the body along specific pathways called meridians.

Let the Energy “Flow”

The concept of qi is a fundamental one to Chinese medicine. It is the vitalizing prin­ciple of life itself, the proverbial "life force." As it is common to all life, man is therefore also related to all things!

The meridian pathways, along which the qi energy flows, connect the internal organs to the surface of the body and to the extremities, the hands and feet. Though the pathways run mostly internal­ly, they also run along the surface for some portion of their span. Illness is said to occur when the qi energy is blocked in a meridian pathway.

Through hundreds of years of clinical experience, it has been determined that certain specific locations when stimulated will evoke a particular body response and break through this blockage of qi. These became known as the acupuncture points.

Interestingly, it has recently been discovered that there is a physically measur­able electrical differential in skin conduc­tivity at these very same acupuncture points determined literally thousands of years ago! Devices have even been created to help locate these points on the meridi­ans, based on this electrical differential.

Stimulation on these acupuncture points can occur in various manners. The first and obvious one is by the insertion of a very thin needle. Because acupuncture needles are solid as opposed to the much bigger hollow needles we're all familiar with when we get a "shot," they are not at all painful. Frankly, a mosquito bite hurts more!

Another method of stimulating the points is by pressing on them with the fin­gers. Known as acupressure, it forms the basis of yet another fundamental compo­nent of Chinese Medicine, a bodywork process called Tui Na. In addition to the acupressure, there are chiropractic and massage techniques that can be employed. The Japanese version of acupressure is known as "Shiatsu".

Other methods that have recently come to be used include electro-stimulation, either of an inserted needle or directly on the point, and also stimulation with a laser.

Chinese medicine maintains that there are 12 major "organs" in the body. They include the Heart, Liver, Lungs, Spleen, Kidneys, Pericardium, Stomach, Gall Bladder, Small Intestine, Large Intestine, Bladder and Triple-Warmer (or Sanjiao). Doctors of Chinese Medicine did not include the brain, the nerves, the uterus and others as major organs but "extraordi­nary" or "curious" organs. Neither did they recognize the nervous system or endocrine system, as such. Yet, they creat­ed an "organ" called the Triple-Warmer, said to be an organ that insures free pas­sage of qi to the other organ systems.

So, as they held that there were 12 major organs, consequently, there are 12 major meridian pathways. Some of the pathways can be quite long, traversing the length of the body. But all end up either on the hands or feet. This is why treating a stomachache may be accomplished by stimulating a point on the leg or foot, or a headache by a point on the hand. Seen in this context, such a treatment procedure is not as contradictory as it may seem.

There are several different forms through which qi energy manifests itself and from which it can be derived. One such way is through the food we eat. Nutrition therefore plays a major role and is the final component of Chinese Medicine.

But food is not thought of as only an energy source, but also as a treatment method. Use of certain types of foods under certain conditions of illness is well known to effect a cure, even without the use of other treatment modalities, such as acupuncture.

The most important point to be made about Chinese Medicine is that it is a com­plete, cohesive and comprehensive med­ical model, complete with explanation of the body and the way it works, the nature of illness, diagnostic methods and treat­ment protocols that take into account not only illness as it manifests itself, but also the underlying conditions that allowed ill­ness to take hold. Such conditions include climatic exposure or changes (i.e. cold or heat), external pathogenic factors (what we might call bacteria or viruses), emotional conditions such as stress or con­cealed anger, foods, lifestyle and so very much more.

Integrating Modern Medicine into Alternative Approaches

Though the Chinese system is very dif­ferent from the medical model of the West, I do not maintain that the two are mutually exclusive, but rather, are com­plementary. Still, as a healthcare con­sumer, I would rather explore as many alternatives to surgery, for example, as possible, before committing myself to such a radical procedure.

Nevertheless, in many instances such procedures save lives. In those cases, use of alternative approaches such as Chinese Medicine frequently eases discomfort and side-effects of the procedure and speeds recovery. Certainly not mutually exclu­sive.

In my view, this is true healthcare- the integration of medical models to provide the best in optimizing health and the treat­ment of illness. But this can only be accom­plished when the consumer takes back responsibility for his or her own health, so readily surrendered to the medical estab­lishment of our time. The rationale has been that as we, the general public, have not gone to medical school, what could we know about illness and its treatments? But the fact of the matter is, modern Western medicine does not have a lock on healthcare. Our own history is full of natural approaches to treating illness and promot­ing health, including the use of herbs, and we are now re-discovering them as effec­tive alternatives.

The key, as with everything else, is to take back responsibility for our own lives, to seek to prevent illness before it mani­fests and to question all procedures before accepting them.

Dr. Lev G. Fedyniak makes his home in Ukraine and continues to study new approaches to treating illness and optimizing health from traditions all over the world. He publishes articles and books in the hopes of bringing such information to all who need it. He can be reached at DrLev@IntegrativeMedicineOnline.com 

 

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