Traditional Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine is an Asian system of healing that focuses on achieving internal balance. Practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine use methods such as acupuncture, heat application (moxibustion), herbal preparations and exercises to restore the flow of vital energy and the balance of yin and yang. Diagnosis is based on examination of the pulse and tongue.
Four Examinations are usually done: inquiring, looking, listening/smelling (in Chinese they are the same word) and touching. This process reveals which of the Eight Fundamental Patterns of disharmony are at work and what type of disharmony you may have. Body language is important because every gesture, word and attribute provides clues to a person's health and well-being.
Basic questions focus on:
Your reaction to heat and cold
Your patterns of perspiration
If and when you experience headaches or dizziness
What type of pain, if any, you may have
Your bowel and bladder function
Your thirst, appetite, and tastes
Sleep patterns
Your sexual functioning, sexual activity, and reproductive history
General medical history
General physical activity
Emotions
Traditional Chinese Medicine implements Looking
The tongue is the mirror of the body. Harmony and disharmony are reflected in the tongue's color, moisture, size, coating and the location of abnormalities. A healthy tongue, which is pinkish red, neither dry nor too wet, fits perfectly within the mouth, moves freely and has a thin white coating. Symptoms of the tongue help to reveal overall states of health in relation to specific organs and disharmonies, especially in the digestive system. Not all tongue irregularities are indications of disharmony. Food and drugs may change the coating or color of the tongue. Coffee yellows the coating and Pepto-Bismol turns the tongue black. Some people have cracks on their tongue, which are considered normal. Others are born with a geographic tongue, which is covered with severe cracks and covered with hills and valleys. This is considered normal by some, but a sign of congenital disharmony by others. The way a tongue appears, when taken as part of an overall pattern that includes a complete evaluation, offers clues to the location of disharmony.
In traditional Chinese Medicine, body language is important as well as signs of heat or cold influences, excess or deficiency, Yin or Yang disharmonies. A heavy-footed walk, loud voice and sloppy, spread-out posture, may indicate excess. If a person acts frail and weak, sits with shoulders slumped and is shy and receding, that may indicate a deficiency. Fast, jerky, impulsive movement and an outgoing personality indicate heat. If combined with a full, red face, high energy and a loud voice, then both heat and excess may be at work. Cold is associated with slow but not sloppy movements and a pale face. Along with a low voice, shortness of breath, or passivity, cold and deficiency may be at work.
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Traditional Chinese Medicine teaches if facial colors are off, it can be an aid in determining the nature and severity of the imbalance.
If facial color is bright and fresh, the disease is on a superficial level.
If the color is moist, the disease is not severe and will be easy to treat.
If the color is shallow and scattered over a large area, the number of days of the disease will be short.
If the color is dark the disease is sinking into the inner organs.
If the color is dark, cloudy and dry, the disease is severe and will be difficult to cure.
If the color is deep and located in one spot, the disease will be long-term.
Five colors appear on the face: red, green, yellow, white and black.
Red is the color associated with the Heart, Green is associated with the Liver,
Yellow is associated with the Spleen, White is associated with the Lungs and Black is the color associated with the Kidneys.
Traditional Chinese Medicine implements Listening and Smelling.
Listening to the sound of a person's speech, breathing and cough can help identify a disharmony. A loud voice or violent cough indicate excess. A weak, low voice that doesn't project and a weak cough indicate deficiency. Losing your voice or hoarseness can indicate either deficiency or excess. Wheezing arises from dampness.
A strong stench from secretions or excretions indicates excess and heat. A weaker odor indicates deficiency and cold.
The smells used in Five Phases diagnosis are: goatish, associated with wood; burning, associated with fire; fragrant, associated with earth; rank, associated with metal; and rotten, associated with water.
Traditional Chinese Medicine implements Touching
There are 28 pulse qualities that are essential to Traditional Chinese Medicine's process of evaluation and diagnosis. The most common descriptions are: floating, slippery, choppy, wiry, tight, slow, rapid, thin, big, empty and full. The normal pulse is usually about four or five beats for each complete inhalation and exhalation of breath.
Disharmonies of the pulses indicate: the condition of Qi, Xue and Fluids; Organ System imbalance(s); the location of the imbalance(s); and the nature (Heat or Cold) of the disease, along with many other qualities.
They contribute to a diagnosis only when considered along with other diagnostic techniques.
Traditional Chinese Medicine utilizes palpation of acupuncture points to trigger, increase, or reduce pain and indicate disharmony in organs.
If you have a pain you can't pinpoint, that indicates Stagnant Qi. Stagnant Qi is also indicated by a pain that moves around.
If the pain is fixed, it may indicate Stagnant Xue.
Pain that feels better with pressure is due to Deficiency.
Pain that feels worse with pressure is due to Excess.
Pain that feels better with warmth is associated with Cold.
Ear acupuncture points are also powerful tools for diagnosis, providing clues to the sources of disharmony. They are also useful for self-massage.
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