Tools of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Trade
Read the first post in this series of articles about Traditional Chinese Medicine: What is Traditional Chinese Medicine?
Traditional Chinese Medicine is based on theories about Qi, which is said to flow along 12 channels of the body called meridians and help the body to maintain health. So, as well as the body being comprised of the usual organs, bones, etc., it also has a system of channels – meridians – which become impacted by illness through various conditions, and are related to mental, physical and emotional states.
The closest definition we can find in the West for Qi is ‘vital energy’ but it is so much more than that. Qi is a life-force, it is essence, it is everywhere and nowhere, it is material and immaterial. In Eastern culture nobody challenges the existence of Qi – it is accepted for what it is. And if anybody has every participated in a Qi Gong session, you may understand why this is so. Feeling the weight of a ball between your hands when there is nothing in them, is a pretty compelling reason to believe that Qi is a thing.
How does it work?
There’s no universally agreed Western explanation for how it works and there are schools of thought to say it doesn’t work; my job as a MSc student and clinical practitioner is to constantly ask myself about the evidence.
However, we can speculate based on the research completed to date. From dissection of bodies given to medical science we know that the meridian and the points coincide with nervous system and fascia lines – fascia is critical in acupuncture because there are schools of thought which now support the idea that because it is made of collagen, an electrical conductor and resistor, it therefore acts as a messenger to the brain. A messenger which gives the brain a signal it needs to act, therefore, sending healing.
We know acupuncture affects the limbic part of the brain. We know that in the middle of the month it can increase blood flow to the uterus. It’s amazing to think that even before dissection, Eastern health practitioners knew this.
The Placebo Effect
Of course TCM has a Placebo effect. The benefit of the therapeutic relationship should not be underestimated or ignored. But what is often forgotten is that the very act of pill popping in Western Medicine also has a placebo effect.
Tools of the Trade
It is likely you will have heard of acupuncture – the very fine hairbreadth needles used to puncture the skin and tap into the hundreds of points along the meridian. But did you know many TCM practitioners draw also on their toolkit of body therapy, such as massage, cupping and gua sha, as well as lifestyle medicine – typically called ‘social prescribing’ in modern medical vernacular. Plant-based herbs and nutrition therapy may also be prescribed by those who are (or who ought to be) educated to understand what they are doing.
But acupuncture, massage and lifestyle advice in themselves are not TCM. Acupuncture, for example, is a tool of the TCM trade, used after diagnosis of a patient’s signs and symptoms to treat them. In acupuncture, needles puncture the skin to tap into any of the hundreds of points on the meridians where the flow of qi can be redirected to restore health. Treatments, whether acupuncture or herbal remedies, are also said to work by rebalancing forces known as yin and yang.
It is possible to do harm with acupuncture and indeed any form of TCM treatment. There is no equality or standardisation of the teaching of Chinese medicine in the UK and we are reliant on a self-regulating body to enforce some form of minimum standard. Fortunately, I attend one of the best colleges in the world (York) but there are some not a million miles from here who have consistently failed to achieve British Acupuncture Council accreditation for their courses. For potential consumers of Chinese Medicine, assure yourself of the credentials and training of a practitioner before you book!
This post is one in a four part series on Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Part 1: What Is Traditional Chinese Medicine?
Part 2: The Evolution Of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Part 3: What is the Difference Between Western and Chinese Medicine?
