Traditional Chinese Medicine from A to Z
acupuncture
Don Zen Jiu, as the acupuncture is called in their country of origin China, has been used there for more than 3000 years. It is based on the idea that the life energy Qi flows through the body in certain energy flows, the meridians. If too much, too little or no energy flows, the person becomes ill. Acupuncture should help to restore the energy flow to a harmonious level. For this purpose, needles are pricked into certain points along the meridians - sometimes several centimeters deep and with rotating movements. There are between 300 and 400 acupuncture points; The experts do not agree on the exact number.
Western physicians also explain the effectiveness of acupuncture by the fact that the targeted stitches irritate pain points, which then close the "pain gate" in the brain stem. Others assume that the needle pricks stimulate the production of certain endogenous hormones (endorphins), which, in addition to their other properties, also have a pain-relieving effect. Read more about Acupuncture: New Studies
Bafa
This is what the eight treatment strategies of traditional Chinese medicine are called: sweating, vomiting, removing, warming, cooling, harmonizing, dissolving and filling in. These are the basis for all TCM therapies, from acupuncture to nutrition to qigong.
China
The Motherland of Traditional Chinese Medicine: Even today, there are universities and clinics specifically for TCM. But even in China, the Western world has arrived and TCM physicians are increasingly under pressure to provide scientific evidence for the effectiveness of their methods.
dietetics
TCM uses nutrition specifically to treat diseases and disorders. The nutrition according to the Five Elements (see below) assigns to each food one of the elements fire, water, wood, earth and metal, depending on its flavor (sweet, spicy, salty, sour and bitter). The elements are each assigned different organs of the body. According to the philosophy of TCM, the five-element diet can help to balance the body - it can cool or warm, stimulate digestion, or give strength, depending on the ingredients and preparation. The five-element kitchen: information and recipes
Elements, five
TCM divides life into five phases of change and assigns an element to each of these phases. Wood is assigned to spring, fire to summer, earth to late summer, metal to fall and water to winter.
On the next page: From Feng Shui to Kampo
Feng Shui
The doctrine of harmony in the living and working spaces. If the orientation of a house, the distribution of windows and doors or the space of a piece of furniture are unfavorable, the flow of qi, the life energy, can be disturbed. For example, a child could have learning problems or a shopkeeper could do bad business. Therefore, in many countries of the Far East, the principles of Feng Shui are followed in building and furnishing. Chinese medicine assumes that qi does not just flow in the human body, but just everywhere. Read more about Feng Shui: Interview and Examples Test: Which Feng Shui Type Are You?
holism
Unlike conventional medicine, TCM pursues a holistic approach. The therapist not only treats punctually the disturbance of an organ or body part, but tries to bring the body, mind and soul of a person in harmony with himself and his environment.
medicinal plants
The TCM trusts in the beneficial effects of many natural medicines. Self-treatment is not recommended, as the diagnosis is usually not clearly assigned a remedy and therefore TCM therapists administer combinations of different individual agents.
heart
One of the organs in TCM. The heart channels the impulses that affect us. The season is associated with the summer, as an element the fire.
indications
Traditional Chinese medicine promises help with almost all health ailments. However, one should not refrain from a conventional medical treatment in case of a serious illness! However, a combination of both treatment methods often proves useful. For example, acupuncture can help alleviate the side effects of chemotherapy.
Seasons
TCM distinguishes five seasons. In addition to spring, summer, autumn and winter, she still knows the late summer (the "middle"). Living in harmony with the seasons is an important topic in TCM - spring is about departure, summer for socializing, winter for comfort and autumn for farewell. The middle between summer and autumn is the time of pausing.
Kampo
Kampo is a Japanese variety of TCM. The 1500-year-old herbal medicine focuses on tea and is used against a variety of functional and chronic diseases. Read more about Kampo: This is how the healing arts work with tea
On the next page: From liver to pulse diagnosis
liver
One of the organs in TCM. The liver is considered in TCM as responsible for taking decisions and the new beginning. The season is associated with spring, with wood being the element.
lung
One of the organs in TCM. The lungs are responsible for letting us go. He also ensures the distribution of qi. As season the lungs are assigned the autumn, as element the metal.
meridians
They are the connection between the body surface and the internal organs and at the same time channels for the vital energy Qi. Meridians run from top to bottom or from bottom to top of and in the body. There are around 20 altogether. Acupuncture points form the entrance to the meridians. In Western medicine, there is no equivalent to the meridians.
spleen
One of the organs in TCM. The spleen provides after the presentation of TCM for compensation. It filters harmful influences from what the body needs. The season is associated with the late summer, as an element the earth.
moxibustion
A small cylinder of dried and pressed mugwort ("moxa cigar") is lit and approximated to the acupuncture point that is to be treated. Moxibustion is based on the same principles as acupuncture and can be applied to the same ailments. The heating is continued until the heat is clearly noticeable; the whole process is then repeated several times. Among other things, moxibustion helps against a general "yang weakness". Symptoms include frequent freezing and cold feet.
kidney
One of the organs in TCM. The kidney is considered as energy storage in TCM. As the season, the winter is assigned to her, as element the water.
Organs in TCM
TCM assigns to each organ specific responsibilities that go beyond its physical function. This psychosomatic meaning most closely corresponds to phrases that are common to us: something is "going to the kidneys" or we are "taking it to heart" - the possible consequence: physical complaints to the organ concerned. In order to delimit the organs according to TCM philosophy from the organ concept of conventional medicine, one also uses the term "functional circle".
pulse diagnosis
The pulse is an expression of the life energy Qi in the body: If it strikes vigorously and regularly, this is a sign of health; a flat, irregular pulse indicates disease. The therapist uses the index, middle and ring fingers to feel the pulse in three places on each wrist. On the next page: From Qi to cupping
Qi
This syllable (pronounced "chi") describes a comprehensive, omnipresent energy and thus everything that keeps us physically and mentally alive: from the immune system over the self-healing powers of the body to the individual ability to overcome a stroke of fate.
Chinese doctors distinguish several types of Qi: The inherited Qi, the genetic make-up, is what each person gets from his parents. With increasing age, the hereditary Qi, and thus the energies of the human, decreases. By absorbing nutrient qi from food and breath qi from the air, this process can be slowed down. Therefore, in Chinese medicine, nutritional therapy and respiratory therapy (a component of qigong and tai chi) are so important.
Qigong
Simple concentration, breathing and physical exercises should cause the qi to flow freely in the organism. For example, Qigong translates to "breathing" or "energy work." Often it deals with the release of blockages, such as those caused by too shallow breathing or posture errors.
Qigong has little to do with fitness training, as we know it here: Exercises to gently stretch the spine or for a "weightless posture" of the head require less strength than body sensation and concentration. In addition to their effect on the flow of energy to Qigong exercises to make the muscles and blood vessels elastic. For disorders of internal organs, injuries and acute illness doctors prescribe special exercises.
Qigong: exercises for a nice attitude
raw food
According to TCM, cold foods and drinks damage the stomach and spleen. In China, therefore, everything is cooked, even for breakfast, hot meal is recommended, such as a soup or a porridge. Dietetics / Nutrition
cupping
A procedure that also knows western naturopathy. The treatment should help the organism to excrete pollutants in the blood faster. Cupping is used, for example, for high blood pressure and asthma, but also for tension and back pain.
The cupping cups are small vessels made of glass or bamboo. In it, negative pressure is generated, for example by burning off a cotton swab. Then the doctor places the cupping heads on the places to be treated.The negative pressure can cause bruising - a sign that blood has been withdrawn from the blood vessels, which is then absorbed by the tissue and later drained away.
On the next page: From Tai Chi Chuan to Prevention
Tai Chi Chuan
Tai Chi is originally a martial art, hence the German name "Schattenboxen". The exercises were developed, according to tradition, from the movements of fighting animals such as bears or tigers. Learning Tai Chi for self-defense is very difficult and can take decades. Much easier are the exercises that keep the body fit and help against health problems. Typically the flowing, in slow motion performed movements.
Tai Chi is called "the highest principle". Chuan can be translated as "action", "movement", but also "hand" or "boxing". One of the most important elements of Tai Chi is the observation of one's own breathing. Over time, the natural respiratory rhythm lost to most people over the years will be restored. In China, it is still common today to start the day with Tai Chi exercises, in good weather, for example, in a park.
Tao
A precise description of the term Tao does not exist, not even in Chinese, because it is considered elusive. Tao roughly means "creative primal force," "meaning," or "way," and these are the foundations of Chinese philosophy, upon which Chinese medicine is based. Chinese philosophers, for example, assumed that living things are in a constant process of change, oscillating between two opposing "states," for example, full and empty, cold and hot, old and new. Therefore, according to Chinese understanding, each term always has its opposite, see also Yin and Yang.
Tuina
Chinese doctors, like our physiotherapists, treat massages with tensions and blocked nerves. But fractures are also addressed. In German "Tuina" means "pushing and pushing". Chinese masseurs work (like the Japanese at Shiatsu), for example, with the ball of the thumb or the edge of the hand: they press firmly on the painful area, then rub them with stroking or circular movements and repeat this process several times. After the massage usually a herbal pack is launched. Many doctors also use acupuncture and / or moxibustion.
Ancient
The beginnings of traditional Chinese medicine go back at least 2000 years. The first systematic written record is the "Huangdi Neijing" ("The Yellow Emperor's Classics of the Interior"), created around the turn of the century. The book contains the foundations of modern Chinese medicine - from acupuncture to five-element nutrition. Chinese herbal medicine came even much earlier.
Prevent
TCM follows a different concept than western medicine. If we are often concerned with treating illnesses as efficiently as possible and with as few side effects as possible, TCM relies on the healthy preservation of the body. The focus is on striving to recognize the first signs of a health disorder and prevent it from breaking out.
On the next page: From change to tongue diagnosis
change
Change is one of the most important principles of traditional Chinese medicine: there are no absolute truths, everything in the world is changing, everything has two sides. The idea of constant change is closely linked to the idea of Yin and Yang (see below), the five seasons are also referred to as phases of change. The aim of TCM is to bring the opposites into harmony in an ever-changing world.
Xue
This is what people call the blood in TCM. However, Xue is more than a red liquid - it also gives us strength and expressiveness. If we feel lethargic and powerless, there is probably an Xue stagnation. Xue is extracted from food and transported through the body by Qi.
Yin and yang
When a person is healthy, yin and yang are in equilibrium in his organism, and therefore in each of the twelve organ systems. The two terms stand for properties that are opposite to each other, but also mutually conditional. Yin is actually called "the shadow side of the mountain", Yang "the sunny side of the mountain". Other meanings of yin and yang: cold and warm, woman and man, moon and sun, day and night.
In Western medicine, too, it has been known for a long time that there is an interplay of forces throughout the organism (for example tension and relaxation, rest and movement), which maintains functions such as circulation and body temperature. This fluid equilibrium is called "homeostasis".
tongue diagnosis
The tongue is considered in TCM as a mirror of the body: Based on their different zones can be statements about the condition of the organs meet. Thus, disorders of the liver at the edges of the tongue can be read, the tip of the tongue is associated with the heart and the tongue base of the kidney.
The therapist assesses the shape, color, and movement of the tongue and tongue coating. A healthy tongue is pink, smooth and has thin coating.A strikingly red tongue, for example, indicates internal heat, a bloated tongue on inner mucus. The tongue diagnosis should be performed as early as possible in the morning before eating.
