Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)

TCM is based on a different paradigm than scientific biomedicine whereby the human body is treated as a whole using several methods to achieve harmony and balance of the flow of Qi. Not only does TCM include acupuncture but it also utilizes other modalities to harmonize the body systems such as Chinese herbs, the properties of natural whole foods, exercise, moxibustion (heat treatment), GuaSha (skin scraping), Cupping and Tui Na(Chinese massage).

Moxibustion is the external application of the mugwart leaf lit with fire and placed either directly on a needle, on top of a slice of ginger and placed over specific acupoints, or rolled up into a stick and placed next to the channel to dispel cold in certain meridian systems. Mugwart is most commonly compressed into a stick and lit with a flame. The fire activates the warming properties of the leaf and when placed an inch or two from an acupoint, it delivers vital heat to the meridians affected by cold. Some typical applications are prolonged or excessive menstrual bleeding, infertility, abdominal pain and arthritis.

Tui Na, translated as “push/grasp,” is a Chinese massage technique utilizing acupressure to increase range of motion in joints, treat chronic and acute musculoskeletal conditions and other internal conditions. Some techniques include brushing, kneading, rolling/pressing and rubbing the areas between each of the joints (known as the eight gates) to open the body's defensive (wei) Qi and get the energy moving in both the meridians and the muscles to regain balance.

GuaSha involves palpation and cutaneous stimulation where the skin is pressured in strokes using a round-edged instrument (typically a Chinese soup spoon or animal horn) that results in the appearance of small red petechiae called “sha” that will fade in 2-3 days. Raising Sha removes blood stagnation and promotes normal circulation and metabolic processes. The patient experiences immediate relief from pain, stiffness, fever, chill, cough, nausea, and so on. Gua Sha is valuable in the prevention and treatment of acute infectious illness, upper respiratory and digestive problems, and many other acute or chronic disorders.

Cupping is used for similar reasons as GuaSha yet is applied by the use of glass/plastic cups on the skin and a suction is created so that the skin is raised into the cup. This will create skin redness (possibly bruising if there is a lot of stagnation) and move the Qi and blood to alleviate pain.