Chinese Medicine is a system of primary health care which has a history going back over 2500 years. It is a holistic system which focuses on maintaining balance and flow within the body to achieve optimum health. At the same time, it takes into consideration the surrounding environment in which you live, both in terms of protecting you from the elements and also living in harmony with nature.

How Does Chinese Medicine Work?

Qi

Life energy, Qi (pronounced “chee”), is what flows through all living things and gives them life.

Yin and Yang

Within all things in life, there is Yin and Yang. The concept of Yin and Yang is that they are polar opposites (e.g. day and night) and yet, they depend on each other (e.g. there is no day without night). They can weaken the other if there is imbalance and one can change into the other (e.g. day turns into night).

Blockage and Imbalance

There is illness in the body when there is blockage or imbalance of Qi, Yin or Yang and it can be regulated through the use of Chinese Medicine and is done in several ways.

Chinese Medicine Treatment

Acupuncture

Acupuncture, involving the insertion of very fine needles into the body, accesses and manipulates the Qi which is flowing in the meridians. The meridians are channels through which the Qi flows and connects the various bodily organs.

Chinese Herbal Medicine

Chinese herbal medicine, often taken as a herbal decoction or a tea, also adjusts the balance and removes blockages.

Lifestyle

The above two are the most common treatment methods, but there there are other methods such as Chinese massage, Qi Gong (physical exercises to move and cultivate Qi) and adopting lifestyle changes.

Tailoring Treatment to the Individual

Regardless of the condition, the treatment and combination of therapies is tailored to you as an individual. Two patient’s may have the same disease but in Chinese Medicine, these two patients could have two different diagnoses. What is important is that we determine what the root cause of the disease is for each patient and treat that to eliminate illness and promote health.