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The 12 main meridians & Organs in TCM (for those new to TCM)

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There are 12 main meridians (pathways of Qi flow, pronounced chee)

and Organs. These are Liver (LV, Liv), Gallbladder (GB), Heart (Ht),

Small Intestine (SI), Triple Heater (TH), Pericardium (P, Pe, etc.),

Stomach (St), Spleen (Sp, sometimes abbreviated Spl), Lungs (Lu,

Large Intestine (LI), Kidneys (Kd), and Urinary Bladder (UB, usually

abbreviated as Bl).

 

These are the 12 main meridians used in TCM, but something called the

8 Extraordinary Meridians also get used some.

 

Meridians also are called channels.

 

TCM Organs don't correspond exactly to anatomical organs. This is

why their names are capitalized. TCM Organs are collections of

functions. The Pericardium is the membrame surrounding the heart. It

also is called " Circulation-Sex " in some books. The Triple Heater

(aka Triple Burner, aka Triple Warmer, aka San Jiao) does not exist

physically as an organ. It does exist functionally as an Organ. It

has a lot to do with Fluid metabolism and energy in the body.

 

The Kidneys not only are comprised of the kidneys and their functions

but also the functions assigned to the adrenal glands in Western

medicine. In addition the Kidneys have to do with the health of the

bones, teeth, and ears. The Kidneys are said to " open into the

ears " . Whenever someone has problems with their ears and hearing,

suspect and rule in or rule out Kidney imbalance. You'll be

surprised how often these two things go together. Also when a person

has bad teeth in spite of taking care of them, suspect Kidney

imbalance.

 

Likewise, the Liver " opens into the eyes " , so suspect and rule in or

rule out Liver imbalance whenever a person has problems with the eyes

and vision.

 

The earliest posts in the message base will walk those new to TCM

(Traditional ) through the basics. TCM can seem very

overwhelming at first because the concepts and the terminology are so

different from Western medicine. One of the key concepts in TCM is

Hot and Cold, so that may be a good place to start. It's also one of

the TCM concepts that can have the most impact on a person's health

and recovery.

 

Herbs also have thermal energy. In the Chinese Materia Medica, each

healing substance will have its thermal energy listed - hot, warm,

neutral, cool, or cold. Giving an herb with cool or cold energy to a

person who already is too Cold will make the person sicker.

Likewise, giving an herb or food which has warm or hot energy to a

person who already is too Hot will make that person sicker. What you

do if you can't find an herb with similar properties but with the

correct thermal energy for the person is you mix the herb with other

herbs so that the overall thermal energy of the formula will be right

for the individual.

 

Treatment in TCM is highly individualized, much, much more so than in

Western establishment medicine.

 

Victoria

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