Western medicine and East Asian medicine have very different ways of looking at health and use very different languages. The differences are why so many people turn to acupuncture when they want a fresh approach to health, or when all else has failed. In acupuncture and Chinese herbs, there are many ways of understanding each diagnosis that someone might get from their Western medical doctor. Each person is unique and their treatment will be too.

 

Even within East Asian medicine, there are different schools of thought and ways to approach treatment. Classical Worsley-style Five Element Acupuncture is based on the person’s constitution. In other words, the specific blend of Five Elements, or aspects found in the natural world, and how they show up in a person are the basis of diagnosis and treatment. These five elements are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. They have associations with our internal organs, seasons of the year, and many other things such as flavors and smells. When a person is in balance, the five elements create and control each other in a fluid way which allows the body and mind to function properly.

 

In Five Element Acupuncture, often less needles are used and the insertion of the needles is very shallow. The points are used in a very precise, and often poetic, manner. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) style acupuncture, more needles are used, they are almost always left in longer, and usually manipulated more or paired with e-stim. More reference may be made to symptoms of “Organs” and "Channels" or "Meridians".

 

All acupuncture uses an understanding of pathways that have been mapped out. Those pathways run through the entire body. The acupuncture points access those pathways. The map looks a lot like a picture of nerves or blood vessels though the pathways do not have the same physical structure to them. Each pathway is named for a major organ that it passes through, and the Organs have a much bigger responsibility than just their biochemical roles that Western medicine uses.

 

East Asian medicine has even more special vocabulary: Blood, Yin, Yang, Qi, Jing, Shen and other substances all play a role and must be balanced. For acupuncturists, Blood is more than the red stuff flowing in our veins. Blood is our substance, or our physical nature. Yin is even denser, and allows us to be still and peaceful and cool. Yang keeps us warm and active and upright. Qi keeps all the processes of our body going and is partially built of the air we breath and the food we eat. Jing is like our highest octane fuel and is crucial to reproduction and to longevity. Shen is like our spirit and must be able to soar, to rest and to shine in our lives.

 

Each person, and any health conditions they have, can be understood as balances and imbalances of all these parts. At the same time, each Western idea can be understood in these terms. Someone’s hormone levels, bile production by their liver, blood pressure, unchecked cancerous cells, quick temper, or other sign of disease can be understood in terms of Organs,

Channels, Elements and substances in Chinese medicine. Acupuncture treats the cause of the problem by using very tiny needles at specific points along the Channels to create movement, to stimulate or to calm Organs, and to balance Elements, so that the whole system works better. Chinese herbs act in much the same way, moving blockages in the road and delivering just what the body and mind need to be healthy and balanced.