The Basics of Traditional Chinese Medicine

In order to understand how acupuncture works, before we jump into terms and the actual “how to,” we must first understand the basic idea behind Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Everything in TCM has to do with your entire body being in harmony, which means that if even one thing is out of whack, it can really throw off your whole system.

Yes, sort of annoying in a way, isn’t it? If you think about it though, it’s just like many other things in life.

Say you’re driving around town with some type of car problem. Let’s go with having a near-empty gas tank (since I know next to nothing about cars and can’t offer a more exciting carburetor related analogy). If you run out of gas, your car will stop running. It doesn’t mean that your engine is broken, or your headlights won’t work; it just means that the entire system can’t run and function properly without all of the components in top shape. And, yes, you can run on fumes for a while, but inevitably you’ll break down on the side of some two lane highway at dusk when the bats start flying out of a nearby barn as you start to hear mysterious gunshots in the not too far-off distance (thankfully not a personal experience).

Ahem, back to TCM. So, when something, anything, is wrong with your body, it leads to a variety of seemingly unrelated problems. According to TCM, however, these problems make up what acupuncturists term a PATTERN OF DISHARMONY. Once they determine what makes up the pattern, they are then able to figure out a course of treatment appropriate for your specific symptoms. Everything is interconnected (your diet, exercise habits, how you deal with stressors, your environment and even your personality traits and how you deal with friends, family and social situations) and it is important to note though that acupuncturists do not treat symptoms, they treat you, the person, as a whole. Amazingly, if you are experiencing dizzy spells, you may have an array of other symptoms including: frequent urination, tinnitus, dry mouth and throat, severe exhaustion, weak legs and knees, fearfulness, lack of willpower and restless sleep; all of which are signs of Kidney Yin Deficiency (tune in to the next post for more on this topic).

In a way, it’s nice to know that when Western Medicine is baffled by a variety of what they may term unrelated symptoms; Chinese Medicine recognizes that there is something else going on below the surface that can offer an explanation.