This is a partial list of condition examples that Traditional Chinese Medicine can treat.
JOINT PAIN
Arthritis and joint pain occur in people who are either over active or inactive. Arthritis and joint pain does not just occur in older people; younger people can also get this disease. It has nothing to do with the age of the patient but what they do to themselves. Of course, as people age, most become less active, and then may be more susceptible to getting this disease. Most people become less active, rather than over-active; but over-working the joints can also cause arthritis. Excercise is good for everyone, but we can very easily over-do our workouts. We need to exercise but not to the point that we are out of breath and exhausted when we’re through.
Acupuncture and herbs are usually used in treating arthritis and joint pain. Once the pain decreases, the patients need to change their lifestyle by slowly becoming more active, or becoming less active than previously (if their condition was caused by over-exercising or over-work). Of course athletes need to go about treating arthritis and joint pain somewhat differently because they really do not have a choice in decreasing their activities. For them, we must also use a combination of herbs to help prevent the return of the disease. See our brochure posted on this website for Arthritis.
LOWER BACK PAIN
While 80% of the population will experience lower back pain at some time during their lifetime, only 1% to 3 % are treated surgically. The most straightforward cases treated with surgery are those with back pain associated with one disk because the treatment is clear and the success rate is well-documented in surgical journals. The remainder of the population suffering from lower back pain who do not fall within the above category are usually treated with a variety of pain medications or therapies, often with limited success. Acupuncture has been shown by National Institutes of Health to be a successful method of treatment for certain types of lower back pain.
CANKER SORES/MOUTH ULCERS
All canker sores and mouth ulcers are caused by excess heat or deficiency heat in Tradtional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Most of the time heat can cause you not to sleep well at night. Over-working, staying up too late, and/or overeating, eating deep fried foods and/or some types of fruits can all cause canker sores or mouth ulcers. We need to find out from the patient what is causing the sores. When different organs have excessive heat you may find sores in different places such as your nose, mouth, lips, and on your tongue. If the heat is excess you may see symptoms like stomach pain, general discomfort, constipation, and headache. Most of the time in TCM we use herbs to treat this. You should usually see results in an hour; you do not even need to go through a day to see the results. Most people get canker sores for the reasons listed above. When you don’t sleep well, or stay up too late, or are very stressed, the canker sores will show up in a few days. The key to knowing the cause is to look at what you have been doing. You need to identify what you are doing excessively and change that behavior to prevent the canker sores from coming back again. From there the patient needs to make sure that they sleep well and continue to eliminate the cause(s) in their daily life.
SYMPTOMS ASSOCIATED WITH PMS/MENSTRUAL CRAMPS
A common gynecologic problem for many women, premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a well-accepted diagnosis for a set of symptoms that occur before onset of the menstrual period. The variety of possible symptoms can manifest as a minor nuisance or debilitation. The seriousness of this disorder has prompted inclusion as a diagnosis in the Revised Third Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association. These symptoms can range from bloating/weight gain, irritability, and breast tenderness to severe, disordered thinking. For some women, the symptoms associated with PMS continue as cramping with the menstrual period. Pain associated with the period can occur as lower back pain, leg pain and/or abdominal pain. Women can experience heavy bleeding with clots along with menstrual cramping. Even though most of us were brought up to think that all these symptoms were normal for women, in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) these symptoms associated with PMS/menstrual cramps are not normal. Herbal combinations and/or acupuncture have been found to correct the imbalance in our system so that the symptoms of PMS and menstrual cramping disappear. TCM looks to find the root cause and works to correct the imbalance naturally. A correction is possible, but each person is unique and the number of treatments will vary. Among the determining factors are the nature, severity, and history of each person’s health concern, as well as the general health of the individual. Usually one or two treatments per week are necessary to begin with. The individual’s attitude, diet, lifestyle, and determination will affect the outcome and course of treatment.
HEALTHY MENSTRUAL CYCLES
For a woman to have a healthy menstrual cycle, she must first be aware of what is considered a healthy period:
DAY 1- Menstrual flow begins
DAY 2- The flow increases
DAY 3- Heaviest amount of flow
DAY 4- The flow decreases
DAY 5- Menstrual flow ends
This should occur on a regular cycle on the average of every 28 days with absolutely no presenting symptoms …. no pain, cramping, bloating, irritability, cravings, fatigue, PMS or any other of the typical symptoms or syndromes normally associated with the cycle. Anything other than this represents a woman who’s system is out of balance. Traditional Chinese Medicine treats the cause to all of the symptoms related to women’s disorders with herbal medicines and/or acupuncture.
To maintain a healthy cycle, once your system has been balanced, or to prevent imbalance it is important to follow the regimen below:
A few days before the period begins, or if experiencing PMS, begin at the onset of the symptoms;
Drink and eat only warm/hot food and beverages.
Showers only – no tub baths, swimming, or soaking below the waist.
Wear only pads – NEVER wear tampons.
This alone can alleviate some of the symptoms !! Try it!!
LIVER DISORDERS
Modern medicine states there are no known cures for liver diseases. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has known the proper treatment to correct liver disorders for more than 6000 years. What are they? The following concepts will seem very NEW, but that is what makes TCM unique. First, the spleen needs to be restored to a healthy state. (The spleen in TCM includes both the spleen AND pancreas) This is done because when a person is afflicted with a liver disorder, the disorder will FIRST affect the spleen, causing it to get big. This in turn causes difficult urination and constipation. Other symptoms are water retention in the abdomen, which will affect the heart and lungs. Weak kidneys cause the water retention. After the heart and lungs have been stressed to their limits, death is certain. Patients do not die from their liver disorder, but of a failing heart and lungs. All cases of death from liver disorders runs this way. Furthermore, it’s not that liver disorders are incurable, but that the treatment methods were improper. If physicians knew the proper way to treat liver disorders, they would treat the spleen first. That would guarantee good urination and defecation. After this is done, the liver can do its job of removing toxins from the body by way of black colored stools. Signs of improvement are stools that are yellow-brown in appearance and hands that have a pinkish color to them. When the color of the stools is no longer black, FULL recovery from the liver disorder is certain. The cause of black colored stools is poisons in the body that are detoxified by the liver. It’s NOT from bleeding in the stomach, as most people incorrectly assume.
Many cases of liver disorders have already been successfully treated with TCM. The results are: 1. Helps the weak spleen to recover, 2. Restores good urination and defecation. This allows the toxins in the body to be removed as quickly as possible. The original cause of the disease was due to poor elimination of wastes in the body. After the body is cleaned up, it will naturally heal itself and a complete recovery can be achieved. 3. Removes stagnant blood and blood clots. TCM treats all types of liver disorders with excellent results. It also build’s the liver resistance to future disorders.
PROSTATITIS
Prostatitis in the United States is more likely to occur in older men. This doesn’t mean that young men are not susceptible to the disease. In Western medicine they look at the disease as an infection and treat this condition with antibiotics to kill the bacteria. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) we also look at prostatitis as an infection but in addition we feel it is due to incomplete urination. When a lot of urine accumulates in the prostate area it turns into dirty water, which then creates an infection. You have to get rid of the problem of incomplete urination first. Once you’ve done this you no longer have the retention of water. When the water does not accumulate the infection will go away.
Often prostatitis creates pain during urination or when lifting heavy objects. The pain is due to the status of the blood. People who are lifting heavy objects are more known to have abdominal pain. This is due to blood clots in this particular area. Both the blood and incomplete urination can cause pain. In order to reduce the pain you must first get rid of the blood clots and increase urination so it is now complete. Once the water does not accumulate in the prostate area the infection cannot stay.
Incomplete urination can be caused by many different things, not just kidney problems, or gallbladder problems. Bowel movement problems may also be related to the kidneys and lungs. The lungs cause air pressure that is supposed to push down pressure to help with urination and bowel movements. If you do not have enough pressure pushing down you may experience incomplete urination or incomplete bowel movements.
The beginning of the disease may not even be related to the prostate or have anything to do with the lower body. It could be caused by an upper body problem. In this case any organs can cause any other organs to have problems, since they all work together. In TCM this is always seen. TCM also does not believe that diseases are passed from generation to generation genetically. It is the type of lifestyle you live that can create these problems.
The proper way to treat prostatitis is to use acupuncture and herbs together. It should take no longer than 3 to 4 months for the pain and incomplete urination to lessen. You will need at least two acupuncture treatments a week. When you feel the pain lessen it does not mean that you are done with your treatment. If you stop in the middle of your treatments the infection is more than likely to come back. Also, some people who are diagnosed with this disease may loose their sex drive which includes no erections and no desire to have sex. The reason for loosing your sex drive may be due to medications that are taken, for example: High blood pressure medications may cause side effects. The prostate problem may cause your kidneys to fail which can also cause you to lose your sex drive.
HIGH BLOOD SUGAR
Modern medicine considers high blood sugar a disease. The standard treatment is to administer blood sugar lowering drugs to balance the blood sugar. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) sees the blood sugar as high because individuals have a deficient amount of water in their cardiovascular system. Let’s look at a simple analogy. Take two equal size cups. One cup is filled to the top with water, the other is half full with water. If a teaspoon of sugar is mixed in both cups, which cup will be sweeter tasting? Obviously, the cup that is half filled with water will taste sweeter. So, it isn’t so much the amount of sugar present, but the amount of WATER present. As time passes, the sugar solute will settle to the bottom. This will create a deceiving amount of sugar. Modern medicine follows this principle. The blood sugar is high, so drugs are administered. Results are tested by taking a sample of blood from the FINGERTIP, which seems to show the blood sugar has decreased. But, if the sample was taken from the toe, the sugar level will read higher because, as with the analogy before, the sugar has settled in the feet area. It appears the sugar problem was resolved, but really it was not. Diabetics generally always have very poor circulation in their feet. As a result, if they ever have a wound in their feet, the wound never heals. Eventually, the infection gets to a stage where pus enters the bone and into the bone marrow. The only method of treatment is amputation of the necrotic area.
Traditional Chinese Medicine takes a different approach. Standard treatment is to restore water to the cardiovascular system there-by correcting the sugar imbalance. There are many herbal medicines to treat high blood sugar. The first thing to do is to protect the kidneys. High blood sugar always damages the kidneys. When the kidneys are healthy, there will be no concern for dialysis. Furthermore, good kidneys prevent heart failure. When the kidneys and the heart are working properly, the pancreas will heal itself. If patients keep using insulin, the pancreas may eventually cease to function. At this point of degeneration, it is too late for any type of true healing. Insulin is the only route. Also, at this point, herbal medicines may be used to protect the heart/kidneys to avoid dialysis. There should be no cause for alarm when one is taking Chinese herbal medicine for conditions such as high blood pressure, blood sugar, etc. Drugs may still be kept handy, in case of emergencies. They may be taken once in a while. The key is to not abuse them. Chinese herbal medicine taken for a period of time will eventually bring the body back to normal. When this occurs, drugs will no longer be necessary.
HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
In modern medicine, high blood pressure is considered a disease. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) views high blood pressure as a symptom, not a disease. High blood pressure is the body’s method of sending a message that something is abnormal. Modern medicine generally treats high blood pressure by placing patients on various drugs, which more often than not have side effects. TCM looks to find the root cause of the high blood pressure condition and attempts to correct this disorder with natural, but potent herbal medicines. A correction is possible, but every individual’s physiology is different. Some take two weeks, some two months, and some need six months depending on the severity of the condition. To reiterate, TCM views high blood pressure as a symptom, NOT a disease. A true physician of TCM thoroughly examines the internal organs to find the cause of an individual’s high blood pressure. Once the cause is determined, the patient can be treated accordingly and the symptoms will start to disappear. In some instances, modern drugs may be used in the event of an emergency. The key is to not misuse them. Side effects of long-term use of modern drugs will be damaged blood vessels and decreased libido.
OTHER TREATABLE AILMENTS:
Traditional Chinese Medicine treats all health problems that occur with the human body. Below are some of the more common Western diagnosed ailments that patients receive correction of:
Acne
Allergies
Allergic nasal disorders
Amenorrhea Disorders
Anxiety
Arthritis, all forms
Back-pain/Sciatica/Lumbago
Bronchitis
Candida
Carpal Tunnel
Chronic Cough
Chronic Fatigue
Colitis
Common Cold
Concentration Difficulties, ADD
Constipation
Dementia
Depression
Dermatitis
Diarrhea
Digestive Disorders
Dizziness
Dysentery
Eczema
Edema
Endometriosis
Epilepsy
Erectile Dysfunction
Eyes (dry/teary/red)
Facial Neuralgia
Flu
Food Allergies
Glaucoma
Gynecological Conditions
Hay fever
Headache/Migraine
Hearing Problems
Hemorrhoids
Hormone Imbalance
Hot Flashes (male & female)
Hysteria
Impotence
Infertility
Insomnia
Intercostal Neuralgia
Intercourse Problems
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Low Libido
Memory Loss
Meniere’s Syndrome
Menopause
Menstrual Problems
Morning Sickness
Pain
PMS
Premature Ejaculation
Psoriasis
Respiratory Disorders
Rhinitis
Sciatica
Shoulder Pain
Sinusitis
Skin Disorders
Sports Injuries
Stress
Tendonitis
Tennis Elbow
Thyroid
Tinnitis
UTI
Ulcers
Uterine Hemorrhage
Uterus Prolapse
Vertigo
Vision Problems
Warts
Whiplash Injury
Yeast Infection