Traditional East Asian Medicine

Traditional East Asian Medicine is comprised of many modalities, techniques and styles which include acupuncture, herbs, massage, gua-sha, cupping, reflexology, moxibustion, and diet and nutrition. Traditional East Asian medicine is a complete system of health care and addresses most types of health conditions.

 

Acupuncture

Acupuncture is the practice of placing thin solid needles through the skin and into underlying tissue to alleviate pain and to treat various physical, mental, and emotional conditions.

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Acupuncture triggers the body’s own self-healing reflexes through stimulation of the nervous system, circulatory system, immune system and endocrine system that causes:

Pain control and muscle relaxation

Reduction of inflammation and swelling

Normalization of blood flow and lymph drainage

Tissue and wound healing

Normalized immune response

Normalization of organ activity

Stress reduction and relaxation

 

From a more traditional explanation:

"Qi"(chee), or "Chi" (key), circulates regularly throughout the body in a predictable system of internal channels. It brings warmth, nourishment and function to every area.

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Herbs

Herbal therapy has literary roots in China over 2000 years and involves a combination of over 400 plants and plant parts including roots, barks, leaves, flowers, berries and sometimes animal parts and insects. These are combined into formulas which can be tailored to each individual.

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Massage

Tuina, Shiatsu and Amma are a few examples of therapeutic massage techniques for balancing mind and body. Massage is often used as an adjunct to acupuncture and herbs.

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Other Techniques

• Cupping involves placing glass or plastic cups with suction over acupuncture points of the body for the purpose of increasing blood flow.

• Moxibustion is heat therapy performed by burning the herb mugwort. It may be rolled into a cigar shape, burned and held an inch or two above the skin or placed in a container and moved over the body.

• Gua-sha is a gentle scraping of the skin with a Chinese porcelain soup spoon or similar device for the purpose of increasing blood flow and treating muscles and connective tissue (fascia, tendons and ligaments).

• Electrical stimulation uses low voltage electricity hooked up to the acupuncture needles for the purpose of stimulating blood flow, interrupting pain signals and increasing proprioception.