Traditional Chinese Medicine is a 2000 year old healing practice which looks at the patient as a whole being. The practitioner creates a diagnostic picture which synthesizes all of the different problems a patient may have into a logical whole. In this medicine, diseases and symptoms are thought of as imbalances in the normal state of the body and treatment is applied with acupuncture and Chinese herbs with the goal of bringing the patient back to their normal harmonious state of balance. I believe that an enormously important part of this process is patient education concerning the causes of their illness from a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective and what patients can do in their daily lives to help their treatment proceed as effectively as possible. Acupuncture is an extremely effective method for moving energy within the body and eliminating points of blockage and stagnation. Acupuncture is done with extremely thin disposable needles inserted superficially at different points on the arms, legs and torso. These points are selected according to the patient's individual pattern and symptoms. In general patients find the treatment relaxing and grounding with very little discomfort. The treatments usually last 20-30 minutes and are usually given 1 -2 times per week. Chinese herbs have been used to treat illness for over 2000 years. They are especially effective in cases where there is a need to strengthen the body or supplement deficient organ systems. Herbs are prescribed in a formula with 12-16 ingredients specifically tailored to the individual patient's pattern of illness. With each visit the herbs in the formula change according to changes in the patient's illness and symptoms. The herbs I use all come from the millennia old tradition of use in China but are packaged in the newer, more easily usable form of granules. All the patient needs to do is mix the prescribed number of scoops with water and drink two times per day. The diagnostic and treatment approach of Traditional Chinese Medicine makes it well suited to work in conjunction with Western Medicine. While western interventions often are successful at treating the symptoms of disease they often fall short of getting at the root causes. Traditional Chinese Medicine can help alleviate these root causes by helping the body's processes to return to their normal state thereby reducing or eliminating the need for further intervention. Some of the problems which Traditional Chinese Medicine is especially good at treating are:
|
ACUPUNCTURE/
|
|
|
Richard Blitstein is a state licensed acupuncturist and is nationally certified in both Acupuncture and Chinese Herbology. He is a graduate of Pacific College of Oriental Medicine and a professor in their Oriental Medicine Department as well as the Director of Continuing Education for the school. He is currently leading a research study on interobserver reliability in Traditional Chinese Medicine diagnosis techniques and their application in double blind randomized placebo controlled studies. For more information click on the links below: Articles by Richard Blitstein Research articles Information on the Chinese Herbs
we use Phone: 773-297-5767
| ||
