What Is Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)?
TCM is comprised of acupuncture, Chinese herbology, massage, exercise and nutritional therapy. TCM originated roughly 3000 years ago, and today is used by a quarter of the world's population.
TCM is based on the concept of Qi (pronounced chee) which is the life force or vital energy. Qi is the animating force that serves to warm us, protect us from external pathogenic factors, promote the functions of the body and hold our organs and tissues in place.
In a broader sense, TCM is also based on the idea of yin and yang. These terms refer to a conceptual framework that come from observing and analyzing the natural world. They relate to an opposite but complementary relationship between phenomenon.
Examples of yin/yang are cold/hot, night/day, dark/light. In traditional Chinese medicine, there must be a harmonious balance between yin and yang and a smooth flow of qi throughout the body for good health to exist. Simply put, a disharmony between yin and yang and a disturbance in the flow of qi may result in disease.
The goal of traditional Chinese medicine is to guide the body back into balance. Traditional Chinese medicine is holistic; it treats the whole person (mind, body, spirit), not just the illness.
TopAcupuncture
Qi travels along specific pathways that cover the body called meridians. Each pathway is associated with a particular physiological system and internal organ. Acupuncture allows qi to flow to areas where it is deficient and away from where it is in excess. If qi is blocked or obstructed in its flow, pain will occur.
Acupuncture regulates and restores the harmonious energetic balance of the body, therefore pain or illness will be resolved. Acupuncture points are places along the meridians near the body's surface where qi can be manipulated by the insertion of acupuncture needles.
There are hundreds of acupuncture points and each point has a predictable therapeutic effect. Problems can be addressed by needling points close to and distant from the problem being treated, because the meridians run throughout the body. For example, a headache may be treated by placing needles in the head, hands and feet.
Acupuncture needles are very thin, smooth and flexible—about the thickness of a human hair. They have no resemblance to an injection with a hypodermic needle, since the main source of pain from injections is from the large bore hollow needle and the medication being forced into the tissues by pressure.
Ordinarily, upon insertion of an acupuncture needle, people will experience varying sensations. This ranges from no pain at all, to a slight pinch, a feeling of heaviness, warmth and achiness or possibly tingling and an electric sensation during a treatment. The needles are retained for 20-45 minutes and people often become deeply relaxed and sometimes even fall asleep. After needle removal, you may feel energized, sleepy or lighter. You may notice immediate improvement of your symptoms.
The needles used at San Francisco Natural Medicine are high quality, individually packaged, disposable and sterile. Every needle is used only once and discarded after a treatment.
The number of acupuncture treatments depends on the duration, severity and nature of your problem. An acute condition may require only a single treatment. A series of 5 to 15 treatments may be necessary for many chronic problems. Some degenerative conditions may need many treatments and long-term maintenance.
An acupuncture treatment can be accompanied by other modalities, such as:
- Moxibustion—the burning of mugwort leaves, held a few inches from the body to bring warmth to the body.
- Cupping—glass cups that create a suction on the skin.
- Electroacupunture—a mild electrical stimulation of acupuncture points that reduces pain and speeds recovery from injuries.
- Massage—Tuina or Chinese massage, shiatsu and acupressure.
TopChinese Herbology
Chinese herbal medicine is as ancient as acupuncture and is a major aspect of traditional Chinese medicine. Acupuncture treatments are best combined with Chinese herbs. Herbs enhance and augment the therapeutic effects of an acupuncture treatment. They are something you can take at home to support your healing between acupuncture treatments. Of course, herbs can be prescribed and taken on their own without having to have acupuncture treatments.
Herbs are used especially to strengthen and build the body's constitution in deficient, weakened conditions. In addition, they also have many other actions on the body, such as helping to quickly fight a cold or stop bleeding, eliminate abdominal bloating or relieving constipation, as a few examples.
There are thousands of herbs in the Chinese pharmacopia, consisting of plants, minerals and animal products. Chinese herbs are usually combined into formulas containing anywhere from 3 to 20 herbs. These combinations are designed to augment the actions or to ameliorate adverse effects of certain herbs in the formula.
Herbal formulas are available in a number of forms. We have a fully stocked pharmacy of herbal tinctures, capsules and tablets.
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Chinese Medicine, Heavy Metals, Prop 65
If you’ve purchased Chinese herbal medicines recently, you may have seen a sticker attached to the label warning that “This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects and/or reproductive harm.” Needless to say, this can be alarming to the health care consumer, reinforcing the perception that Chinese-made products are all tainted and feeding fears that these herbs may do more harm than good. You’ve probably also noticed a large warning sign using similar language every time you walk into your grocery or department store.
At San Francisco Natural Medicine, we want to reassure our patients that we carefully choose all manufacturers and suppliers of herbal medicines and nutritional supplements based on product safety, quality assurance, reliability of dosage, and cost effectiveness. Our primary goal is the improvement of our patients’ health and wellness, and we filter the products we use through these standards.
In 1986, Californians passed Prop 65, The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, designed to address public concern about toxic chemicals, a very worthy cause. Unfortunately, Prop 65 allows lawyers and law firms to act as private enforcers, and some law firms have targeted specific industries with Prop 65 lawsuits. A few years ago, the Chinese herbal medicine industry in California was targeted, and many companies settled suits in part by agreeing to put this language on their products. Two of the suppliers we use at SF Natural Medicine have agreed to add these labels to their products.
Unfortunately, for many reasons, these labels can be very confusing to the consumer. The labels say that there are unsafe substances in the products when in fact there may be none at all. Even if only a few of a company’s products show any lead, for example, all that company’s products must be labeled.
In addition, Prop 65 levels are set very low. International levels for lead in herbs is 10 parts per million (ppm). The strictest standard outside California is 3 ppm. The lowest lead level that can be tested is 0.5 ppm. However, according to Prop 65, any herb product sold in California containing more than 0.08 ppm must carry a warning label—making the Prop 65 standard unreasonably lower than the levels allowed anywhere else in the world and not even based on scientific analysis of actual risks.
It is ironic that while the makers of legally imported Chinese herbal medicines are forced to put these labels on their products, the vast majority of herbs, vitamins and supplements do not have this requirement simply because those industries have not been targets of lawsuits. Additionally, Prop 65 warnings are not required for herb companies with 10 or fewer employees.
It is of the utmost importance to us that we provide our patients with the safest and most effective natural therapies available, and we trust all the vitamin and herb companies that we work with. There is more information on Prop. 65 labeling on our web site at www.SFnatmed.com, on the page on Chinese Medicine. We also have a more detailed document at the front desk for your review. Your doctor is also happy to answer any of your questions.
More information about Prop 65 warning labels on chinese herbs can be found at itmonline.org/arts/prop65.htm.
TopOther Considerations of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine is a general medicine. This means it is beneficial for a wide range of conditions. It is a catalyst for your body's innate healing ability.
What conditions does traditional Chinese medicine treat? Below are some examples:
Colds and flu- Addiction: smoking/alcohol/drugs
- Allergies/asthma
- Arthritis/back pain/sciatica
- Digestive disorders
- High blood pressure
- Immune enhancement
- Infertility/menopause
- Pain and injury
- PMS/menstrual problems
- Skin disorders
- Stress/anxiety/depression/insomnia.
TopA traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis is arrived at by interviewing the patient, checking the pulse, looking at the tongue and inspecting the body. From these procedures, the practitioner discerns patterns of disharmony and determines a course of treatment.
Each person is unique and gets his or her own unique diagnosis. Therefore, the acupuncture treatment and herbal prescription will be tailor-made depending on your diagnosis. Ten different people can present with a migraine headache and each one may be treated differently, depending on their other signs and symptoms and health history.
Where Western medicine is often at a loss, traditional Chinese medicine excels at treating chronic or degenerative problems. At the other end of the spectrum, traditional Chinese medicine can be used preventively to keep you in balance. For instance, if you have a tendency to catch colds or the flu frequently, regular acupuncture treatments and supplementing with specific Chinese herbs can lead to a reduction or cessation of those episodes. For health maintenance, some people like to come in for a "tune-up" anywhere from 2 weeks to every 3 months, around the change of the seasons.
