Today I had my first personal encounter with Chinese medicine. My friend was very concerned about some health issues I was having, and while I considered them minor, my friend was worried and insisted that she take me to see her friends, a married couple who practice traditional Chinese medicine. Since the basic underlying philosophy of Chinese medicine relies on the concept of harmony, disease is an indication that the cycles/energies of the body are not in harmony (which makes sense of why my friend was far more concerned with my health issues than I was).
As for my personal thoughts on Chinese versus Western medicine, I think my opinion on which is most effective lies somewhere in the middle. Chinese medicine is based on 2000 plus years of practices, and I don't totally discount it, however I do tend to shy away from practices that move more into shamanism. Most Chinese medicine that I have observed has more to do with observing natural occurences in the body (glands, pulse, etc) and make inferrences about what is out of balance...this usually leads to advice on healthier lifestyle, and sometimes treatments such as herbal medicines or acupuncture.
Today my appointment started with the doctor evaluating my pulse. He listened for about 3-4 minutes, then stated his observations. He then proceeded to give me a chropractic adjustment (I do feel SO much better after that). It was determined that one of my hips was rotated wrong, and one of my was oriented about 2 inches longer than the other. This was adjusted, as was my neck.
He asked me about other symptoms/concerns he had, and then looked at the bone cyst on my head. He was upfront in that the condition is rare and he wasn't sure that anything could be done about it, but that occasionally acupuncture can help bone swelling in other areas shrink, so we could try acupuncture.
When they said acupuncture, I was picturing tiny needles like I've seen in some places in the U.S....nope. He pulled out a gold needle, of the king that you need a special tool to insert because it is so big (it seemed like it was the size of a pencil), and proceeded to hammer it in one swift pound to my skull. It felt somewhat uncomfortable (it was literally making a hole in my skull afterall), but really didn't hurt much.
We'll see what effect it has on the bone growth. All that to say, an interesting experience.
What are your thoughts on Chinese medicine? (and you can read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_medicine )
That's so intense, Jules!!
ReplyDelete