Listen instead:
We’re often asked, what does Chinese medicine treat? The answer requires some explanation, because Chinese medicine treats people, not diseases. That means no matter who you are or what you’re suffering from, classical Chinese medicine is an option for you — not just an alternative or a last-ditch effort, but an actual, serious, thoughtful medicine.
We’ve helped people aged one month to 92 years with conditions such as fatigue, headaches, menstrual problems, joint injuries, pain, HIV, digestive complaints, back aches, earaches, nose bleeds, infertility, nightmares, constipation, anxiety, cancer, insomnia, nausea, brain injury, neuropathy, pregnancy complications, depression, lupus, Parkinson’s, diabetes, and smoking.
Yeah, that’s a lot.
And each of those individuals received individualized care — because effective Chinese medicine is specifically tailored for an individual at a certain place in time. Encompassing the different modalities of acupuncture, moxibustion, body work (tui na and cupping), herbal medicine, meditation, and movement, Chinese medicine is deeply comprehensive.
We Treat People, Not Diseases
Let’s take the example of acupuncture. If five people came in today complaining of headaches, they wouldn’t all receive the same acupuncture treatment. Each individual’s point prescription would depend on that person’s detailed picture of pathology: the location of the headache, the type of pain, the time at which it occurs, the triggers, the pulse picture, and the tongue.
Each of these components is significant, both in its own right and in relationship to the others. Furthermore, if the same five people with headaches came again next week, they wouldn’t receive the same points they received today. Each individual is reevaluated each time, and though the treatment may remain targeted toward the same general channels and points, it wouldn’t necessarily do so.
Is Acupuncture for You?
Of course, we can’t legally guarantee that acupuncture will provide you with a cure, and we wouldn’t want to make such a claim even if we could. What we put forward is that even if acupuncture doesn’t cure your disease, save your life, or remove your symptoms, it will very likely change the way you feel about your disease, your life, and your symptoms.
In this way, acupuncture greatly and profoundly reduces suffering.
Some people wonder whether acupuncture is for them. The short answer is yes. Acupuncture is for anyone who wants it. Maybe you’re in the best shape of your life, or maybe you feel like you’re falling through the cracks of modern healthcare. Maybe you don’t notice your body unless it’s hurting you.
Maybe you have only a vague sense that something is lacking in your health, or maybe you’re very sick. Chinese medicine is multidimensional. It has something to offer every one of those maybes because it’s a medicine that takes the full constellation of the individual — of you — into account.
by Mary Beth Huwe
These writings are an exploration of what it means to be human – to be sick, to be well, and to heal – viewed through the lens of classical Chinese medicine. My words aren’t medical advice, and these essays don’t constitute a practitioner-client relationship. They also aren’t meant to be the final word on… well, anything. Rather, I hope they are the beginning of a conversation you have with someone in your life. Thanks for reading!
