Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a health and wellness system with a holistic approach and its own diagnostic and therapeutic methods.
It is based on a Taoist philosophy that relates different aspects of nature and the world to the human body. It is a preventive and curative medicine, which has a vast and deep knowledge, as well as an ancestral practice described in texts over 2500 years old.
From the perspective of TCM, the disease is understood as an energy imbalance that compromises the entire organism and manifests itself through different symptoms. The therapeutic principles involve not only eradicating the symptoms, but above all treating the origin of the disease, seeking to restore the patient's energy, physical and emotional balance in the long term.
Through a detailed anamnesis, it is possible to evaluate the different signs and symptoms presented by the patient, allowing the identification of the correct diagnosis and, thus, defining the most appropriate and effective therapy. In addition to anamnesis, diagnosis in TCM is based on 4 fundamental methods:
- Observation (Tongue; Eyes; Face; ...)
- Auscultation (Voice; Breathing; Body noises; ...)
- Palpation (Pulse; Meridians; Anatomical structures; Temperature; Texture; ...)
- Smell (Body Odors)
Once the diagnosis is defined, the most appropriate treatment strategies are defined. Traditional Chinese Medicine is based on 5 treatment pillars: Acupuncture ; Dietetics ; Phytotherapy ; Tui Na ; Qi Gong.
Acupuncture is a technique that consists of introducing thin needles into specific places on the body, called acupuncture points.
This technique stimulates various mechanisms of self-regulation of the body, through the nervous, endocrine and immune systems, triggering different effects, including analgesics and anti-inflammatories.
From the TCM perspective, each point is related to different systems and has specific functions, and the combination of different points is chosen according to the patient's energy needs and aims to balance the whole organism.
If in Western nutrition, foods are classified according to their nutritional value, in TCM, foods are characterized according to their energetic qualities:
- Nature (Cold; Cool; Neutral; Warm; Warm)
- Flavor (Bitter, Sweet, Spicy, Salty, Sour)
- Tropism (the organs/meridians where it acts)
For example, the apple is a food characterized by a Cold nature, with Sour and Sweet flavor and with tropism in the Heart , Stomach and Liver . These qualities make the apple a food that Tonifies Yin and Eliminates Heat from the body.
These characteristics make the apple an excellent food to integrate diets for diagnoses such as Empty Yin of the Stomach , Fullness of Heat in the Liver , ... On the other hand, it will not be the best food if there is a diagnosis of Fullness of Cold in the Stomach , for example. .
In traditional Chinese diets, there are no good or bad foods. There are foods with different energy characteristics. A certain food can be beneficial for one person and harmful for another. It all depends on the energy imbalances of each one.
This makes traditional Chinese diet particularly interesting as it is not pre-defined, definitive or the same for everyone. Each food is carefully chosen to adapt to the energy needs of each patient. If the energy state changes, the diet must also be changed.
All Chinese pharmacopeia that include ingredients of plant, animal and mineral origin in the elaboration of their formulas are popularly called phytotherapy.
Knowledge of the properties, combinations and proportions of different plants (and other ingredients) is the result of in-depth study and observation of thousands of years of traditional use in different regions of China.
As with the diet, for the prescription of herbal medicine it is necessary to first understand the patient's energetic condition and then to be able to combine different plants according to their characteristics, in order to respond to the patient's therapeutic needs.
Touch is one of the most primitive and intuitive ways of caring. Tui Na is the traditional Chinese massage, but it is not an ordinary massage, as it is not just looking for muscle relaxation. Tui Na is a medical specialty within Traditional Chinese Medicine, which uses massage as a tool to improve the general state of health and contribute to the healing of various pathologies.
After identifying the patient's energy imbalances, the most appropriate massage techniques are selected, with the aim of restoring the energy balance of the organs and organic functions, acting on the meridians and their points, through which energy circulates.
Qi Gong
气功
Qi Gong means "art of cultivating energy" and consists of the practice of different forms of physical exercises, which combine specific techniques of breathing and meditation.
This ancient practice aims to stimulate and promote health and vitality, through better circulation of Qi (vital energy) in the body.