UNDERSTANDING OF CHINESE MEDICINE

Understanding of Chinese medicine



Understanding of Chinese medicine

The Chinese healing art of acupuncture is one that can be dated back at least two thousand years. Some authorities maintain that acupuncture has been practiced in China for even four thousand years. Though its exact age is vague, what is certain is that up until the recent twentieth century, much of the population of the world was uninformed about acupuncture, its origins, and its capacity to promote and maintain good health. Even today in relatively "advanced" nations such as the United States there are many who hold acupuncture under the stereotype of a new or radical medicine, one which would almost always be a second choice after more familiar Western approaches to handling illness.

Acupuncture (and its related Moxibustion) are practiced medical treatments that are over 5,000 years old. Very basically, Acupuncture is the insertion of very fine needles, (sometimes in conjunction with electrical stimulus), on the body's surface, in order to influence physiological functioning of the body.

The first record of Acupuncture is found in the 4,700 year old Huang Di Nei Jing (Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine). This is said to be the oldest medical textbook in the world. It is said to have been written down from even earlier theories by Shen Nung, the father of Chinese Medicine. Shen Nung documented theories about circulation, pulse, and the heart over 4,000 years before European medicine had any concept about them.

As the basis of Acupuncture, Shen Nung theorized that the body had an energy force running throughout it. This energy force is known as Qi (roughly pronounced Chee). The Qi consists of all essential life activities which include the spiritual, emotional, mental and the physical aspects of life. A person's health is influenced by the flow of Qi in the body, in combination with the universal forces of Yin and Yang.

Acupressure is the use of hands to create pressure (rather than needles) to regulate the flow of the Qi. It is probably the forerunner of acupuncture. While acupressure does not have the same level of success for treating acute ailments as acupuncture does, it is excellent for chronic illnesses. As it does not involve the use of needles, many westerners prefer acupressure over acupuncture.

Other therapies include moxibustion and cupping. In moxibustion, a dried herb is burnt over a specific acupuncture point. Cupping uses glass cups or bamboo tubes that create a vacuum over the skin. The vacuum being created removes persistent blockages and encourage the flow of Qi.The fixed nature of the various doctrines that characterized traditional Chinese medicine from its inception has had a defining role in how the medicine developed over the centuries. The fixed doctrines prevented each subsequent generation of doctors from reinvestigating the basis of medical practice, and, instead, direct them to fit their experiences into the patterns described by the doctrines. Thus, if a patient presents a set of symptoms and signs that does not seem, at first glance, to fit into the fixed ...