Welcome to new members

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Welcome to the new people who have joined the list. I encourage others to

post about their areas of interest as well as to ask questions. The people

on this list have a hunger for learning TCM.

 

Ads are not allowed on the list. Links to articles on commercial sites are

allowed.

 

Members come from various backgrounds and are at various levels of learning

about TCM. Some are brand new to TCM, others are students, and some are

professtionals. I encourage all to ask questions as this gets discussions

and sharing of more information going. I encourage students and

professionals to post information about their special areas of interest.

Like one room school houses in years past, beginning and intermediate

students often pick up information more quickly than they would if they were

not exposed to more experienced students. We're all students here - even

the professionals who wouldn't be on a TCM list if they didn't want to learn

more.

 

Some of the members on here are new to TCM. TCM can be overwhelming to

newbies. The longer you stick with it, the more you understand it. But it

can be very overwhleming in the beginning because the concepts underlying

TCM and the terminology of TCM are so different from Western medicine.

 

In order to help those new to TCM, from time to time I give some of the

basics in these welcoming posts.

 

Common English words with special meaning in TCM are captialized - Cold,

Heat, Wind, Deficiency, Excess, Liver, Spleen, Phlegm, Blood, etc. When an

organ is referred to in the Western anatomical sense, it is spelled with a

lower case letter - liver, spleen, kidneys, lungs, etc. When the TCM

meridian or Organ system is referred to, it is spelled with a capital letter

- Liver, Spleen, Kidneys, Lungs, etc.

 

Meridians are pathways of Qi or energy throughout the body. Actually,

" meridian " is a very poor translation of the Chinese term for these pathways

of energy. " Channels " is the preferred term, but I still use meridians as

this translation is so well-known to the general public and the term

" channels " can refer to other things besides the energy pathways.

 

" Energy " is an incomplete translation of " Qi " , but it's good enough for

general use and for use on here.

 

TCM is more concerned with function and groups of functions than with

anatomy. The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs, but the Kidneys also

include many of the functions of the adrenal glands, the bones, the teeth,

and the ears. People with ear or hearing problems frequently will be found

to have Kidney imbalance (though Kidney imbalance is not the only possible

Root of ear and hearing problems). The eyes are considered part of the

Liver, and people with Liver imbalance frequently will have problems with

the eyes and vision (though Liver imbalance is not the only possible Root of

eye and vision problems).

 

TCM is far more concerned with identifying and treating Roots than Western

medicine is. Western medicine primarily treats symptoms in all too many

cases. TCM recognizes that if just symptoms are treated, the Root can

manifest in other ways.

 

In order to arrive at the correct diagnosis so the correct treatment can be

determined, TCM examinations can be very lengthy, especially if the person's

problems are particularly " knotty " (complex). From the time a person walks

in the door, the TCM healer is starting to observe and analyze. Does the

person walk slowly or rapidly? Is the voice loud or soft? Are there any

unusual color tones in the complex? Does the person make eye contact? Etc.

Each of these things and others is giving the TCM healer information s/he

needs to arrive at a correct analysis.

 

The TCM healer also will look at your tongue. What color and shape is the

tongue? What color is the tongue coating and how thick is it? Is the tongue

swollen or writhered in appearance? Etc.

 

A pulse diagnosis also is a part of the diagnosis, but unlike Western

doctors, the TCM healer is taking a minimun of 12 different pulses. Three

positions on both wrists ( 3 X 2 =6) at both a superfial and a deep level (6

X 2 = 12) are noted. Is the pulse rapid or slow, strong or weak? Can the

pulse be felt most easily with little pressure on the wrist or most easily

with a lot of pressure on the wrist? Etc.

 

The TCM healer may also ask a lot of questions. Some of these may seem

strange at first. Like what time of the year is your favorite season, and

if there is a season of the year when you tend to have more problems than

others? Do you have trouble warming up in cold weather or cooling down

during the summer? Do you sweat a lot and if so, is it worse at night or

during the day, or, do you not sweat when you should? Etc.

 

TCM syndromes very rarely correspond to Western medical disorders. Two of

the few which do are the common cold (Wind Chill) and most cases of

arthritis and rheumatism (Painful Obstruction Syndrome). Most Western

medical disorders do not correspond to a specific TCM syndrome. For

example, asthma may have a Root in the Lungs (such as Cold Phlegm or Hot

Phlegm Blocking Lungs, Lung Qi Deficiency), or the Root may be in the

Kidneys (Kidneys Refusing to Receive Qi), or the Root may be in the Liver

(Liver Fire Insulting Lungs), or somewhere else. What is analyzed and

treated in TCM are TCM syndromes, NOT Western medical conditions.

 

Sometimes TCM is best, sometimes Western medicine is best, and sometimes a

combination is best. There are some things which TCM simply cannot do. For

example, no herbs and no amount of acupuncture will cure chronic headaches

which are being caused by one leg being shorter than the other and this

throwing the posture off to the point that it causes headaches. For this

one sees a DO.

 

One of the easiest concepts for those new to TCM to start with is the

concept of Cold and Heat. Some problems are due to a person (or a part of

the person) being too Cold, and some to a person being too Hot. The general

guidelines are to heat the Cold up to normal and cool the Heat down to the

normal. Herbs and foods have thermal energy. When you check the Materia

Medica (a listing of herbs and their properties), each herb or other healing

substance will have its thermal energy listed - cold, cool, neutral, warm,

or hot.

 

There are posts in the archives on Hot and Cold. Also check the posts on

the 8 Principal Patterns. The 8 PP is the most basic anaylysis approach of

TCM. You start by analyzing if the problem is too Hot or too Cold, if it's

due to a Deficiency (a problem caused by there not being enough of

something) or due to an Excess (a problem caused by there being too much of

something), if the problem is due to something in the Exterior of the body

(skin, muscles, meridians, head, arms, and legs) or the Interior (the trunk

of the body, the organs), and if there is a Yang or Yin imbalance. Two of

the functions of Yang are to warm the body and activate things. Two of the

functions of Yin are to cool and calm the body. People who lack enough Yang

are people who have trouble warming up, hate cold weather, don't feel

thirsty and prefer hot soups when they do take liquids, suffer from loose

bowels and even diarrhea, have pale complexions, talk and walk slowly, have

a lot of very severe fatigue, and may have to urinate a lot and the urine is

clear. These people may be suffering from hypo- (underactive) glandular

problems. Another term for Yang Deficiency is Deficiency Cold. The Cold is

being cause by there not being enough of something. People who are Yin

Deficient (Deficiency Heat) tend to feel too hot a lot of the time, have

trouble cooling down, hate summer, are thirsty a lot and want cold drinks,

tend to suffer from constipation characterized by dry and hard stools, have

reddish cheeks, produce conentrated urine, move and speak rapidly, have

night sweats, and feel agitated (nervous energy). An example of Excess Cold

is frostbite; an example of Excess Heat is heat exhaustion.

 

Victoria

 

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