Traditional Chinese Medicine - (TCM)
What is TCM?
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a complex holistic system of medicine that is estimated to be between 3,000 and 5,000 years old. TCM originated in China but is now available around the world in a variety of forms and techniques, helping millions of people every day with a wide variety of health conditions.
TCM encompasses a wide variety of different therapies that treat the whole body, such as acupuncture, acupressure, herbal and dietary therapy, cupping, gua sha, moxibustion, massage, breathing and movement exercises and much more.
TCM’s understanding of the body originally developed through the observation of nature and its myriad of interactions, viewing humans as a microcosm of the environment that surrounds them.
TCM’s holistic approach is based on the idea that no single part can be understood except in its relationship to the whole. It focuses on the specific disharmony between the relationships of different systems within each individual person, but treatment addresses all aspects of the body together to gain overall balance.
TCM has created a unique system to diagnose and treat a variety of symptoms and syndromes within the body. Because of this, the TCM approach to treatment is very different to that of Western medicine.
In TCM, the body and its systems are viewed as an integrated whole and not isolated into individual parts. It is this relationship within the body and between the organ systems that allows for internal disharmony to be identified. If there is disharmony between the different organ systems in the body, patterns will emerge and the different syndromes will become clear for the TCM practitioner. Once the syndromes are identified and treated, the balance can be re-established within the body and symptoms can be relieved.
Evaluation of a syndrome includes a variety of factors including symptoms, history, pain, pulses, temperature, excess, deficiency, location, skin color, systems effected, discharges, nature of the illness, tongue diagnosis, etc., as well as the degree between the pathogenic factor (if there is one) and the body’s resistance to it.
Treatment is not based solely on the symptoms, but on differentiation of patterns and syndromes. Therefore, people who present with identical symptoms may be treated in a variety of different ways depending on the pattern or syndrome. In addition, people with different symptoms may have the same pattern or syndrome and therefore be treated in similar ways.
TCM encompasses a wide variety of different therapies such as acupuncture, acupressure, herbal and dietary therapy, moxibustion, massage, breathing and movement exercises
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If you are looking for Stress Relief or want to boost your Immune System or maybe just want to discover a wholistic approach to aging, TCM can help.
Your TCM Appointment:
What to expect from your first TCM Appointment And how to correctly prepare to fully benefit from the experience.
Related Information:
Acupuncture | Gua Sha | Cupping | Cosmetic Acupuncture | Herbal Therapy
For more information visit our TCM FAQ page.
Have you looked at what other services Striving for Health has to offer?
Light Emitting Diode (LED) therapy uses specific wavelengths of light energy to improve cellular health by accelerating the repair and replenishment of compromised tissues cells. This treatment is non-invasive, painless, requires no recovery time, and can be used on all skin types. It is also used for our acne patients to kill acne causing bacteria.
With stress, we have found that a multi-therapy approach is the best. We start with acupuncture to calm and balance the body and pull the body into a parasympathetic mode, full of delicious relaxation. We add herbal formulas when needed for additional support. We also address other things that can be contributing to stress like the diet, lifestyle, an unbalanced gut microbiome, and toxins.
Facial Gua Sha can help to counter signs of aging caused by the stress of modern living and improve the appearance of the skin on the face. Gua Sha can help move stagnant lymph and increase blood circulation which will bring needed nutrients back to the area to support circulation, nutrition, and detoxification.