Oriental medicine (OM), also known as Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a healing art that existed in some form or other for more than 3,000 years. Some of the earlier texts date back from the Han Dynasty (206 BCE to 220 ACE). In the western world, it is commonly known as acupuncture. However, acupuncture is only one of several modalities that physicians of TCM use to treat patients. TCM emphasizes the role of the body in the healing process and uses herbs and natural agents to maintain health. It is an effective form of treatment and a particularly safe form of therapy.

 

TCM is a complete medical system that takes into account every aspect of human life to promote health and well-being. It sees the body as one whole entity like a “Garden” and encompasses its physical, emotional, energetic, as well as its spiritual aspects. It emphasizes on the “Vis medicatrix” the “healing power of nature” better known as “the inborn ability of the human body to respond to the insult of illness or injury and restore itself to health in most episodes of disease or trauma.”

 

The goal for treatment is boosting the ecological condition to favor self- regulatory capacity. Physicians in the eastern world are trained to examine skin, complexion, bones, channels, smells, sounds, mental state, preferences, emotions, tongue, pulse, demeanor, and body build to discern patterns that underlie a patient’s complaints. TCM uses a wholistic approach to healing to address the underlying cause of disease and allows the body to heal itself naturally.

 

TCM thrives in preventive medicine and in the treatment of chronic and idiopathic disorders. Physicians are taught to treat the root cause of the disorder rather than just the symptoms using an individualized wholistic approach to healing focusing on the whole person (body, mind and spirit) when formulating a diagnosis and treatment. It uses many different modalities of treatment such as: acupuncture,

herbal therapy, acupressure, acupoint injection, tuina, nutrition, homeopathy, tai chi, Qigong etc.... to address a variety of medical conditions from colds and flus to diverse painful conditions (neuro-musculoskeletal pain, headache, gynecological/menstrual pain, fibromyalgia, immune system-related disorders, especially those disorders that are referred to in medical terminology as

idiopathic conditions to psycho-emotional disorders (depression, anxiety, PTSD, ADHD, etc.) also regulates the internal organs ensuring their more efficient functions to help in the management of respiratory, gastrointestinal, urological disorders, etc.

 

Although all the mechanisms of action involved in TCM/acupuncture have yet to be completely studied, plenty of evidence currently exists in the literature along with proof of symptoms reliefs, positive changes in diagnostic imaging and biochemical markers testing making the case that TCM/Acupuncture do offer affordable and lasting health benefits.