Chinese Medicine - Symptom And Treatment

Chinese medicine views the entire person when making a diagnosis. The symptoms are seen as indicators only. When treating individuals Chinese doctors look at the presenting condition and symptoms but the person's diet, lifestyle, exercise habits, appearance, smell, and touch when making a diagnosis and designing the treatment.

Lay individuals should never try to treat themselves with herbs but seek the guidance of a professional who has been trained in combining herbs for the specific condition or ailment that is being treated. Individuals with the same symptoms may need different herbs based on the overall condition of the body, lifestyle, and other particulars. A Chinese doctor has been trained to determine the condition of the individual by observing, smelling, touching and questioning the individual. It is necessary to be able to assess the condition of the body so that any unbalances can be determined. Without this knowledge it would be impossible to select the right combination of herbs. Herb formulas are used that have the correct combination of herbs.

Herbal remedies usually follow other treatments such as acupuncture. Taking Chinese herbs alone would not have the same results.

Modern day pharmaceutical companies have taken the formulas for Chinese herbal healing and designed products for commercial sale. In pill form, it is easier and more economical to dispense these healing herbs to the population, especially in the western world.

Here are a few examples of herbal combinations for various common ailments:

Chinese herbal remedies for arthritis includes Devil's Claw, Alfalfa Seed, Burdock Root, and Prickly Ash Bark. These herbs are designed to eliminate pain as well as to relieve the metabolic pressures related to both bone and joint health. These herbs can also affect the kidneys and help to stimulate the elimination of wastes.

Liver ailments need herbs that nourish, balance and detoxify the liver. Such herbs are: Barberry Root Bark, Black Radish Seed, Blessed Thistle, Boldo Leaves, Cloves, Dandelion Root, Fennel Seed, and Wild Yam Root.

Muscular discomforts and minor lower back pain can be relieved by using Bromelain, Calcium Lactate, Lupulin, Magnesium Salicylate, Valerian and White Willow.

Blood pressure can be stabilized both diastolic and systolic to within normal levels with the use of achyranthes, alisma, baryta carbonica, Eucommia, Gardenia, Glonium, Haliotis, Hoelen, Leonurus, Loranthus, Polygonum and Scute.

Blurred vision, eyestrain and failing eyesight can be aided by Aconite Root, Alisma Root, Cinnamon Bark, Comus Fruit, Hoelen, Dioscorea Root, Moutan Root Bark, and Rehmannia Root.

When deciding on treatment Chinese doctors take not only patient observation, palpation, and questioning but also both external and internal factors into consideration. Chinese doctors believe that there are both weather related factors and emotional factors that can contribute to the health of an individual. Extreme weather changes that have the most profound effect on the body are wind, cold, heat, moisture, dryness and internal heat. Excessive or very unusual changes in the weather can cause damage to the body. The emotional changes within the individual can also have a direct effect on health including happiness, anger, worry, pensiveness, grief, fear and shock. In Chinese medicine these external (weather related factors) and the seven emotional factors interact with each other to form a foundation for pathological disease.

The individual’s diet, and exercise activity level is also assessed when looking at the entire individual. The saying, “you are what you eat”, comes to mind, as well as garbage in, garbage out. Our diet plays such an important role in the state of our health. Our body relies on the food we eat to maintain bodily functions, to repair cells and to maintain the immune system. When we fail to provide the body with the nutrients it needs, poor health is often the result. Any extreme when it comes to exercise can cause problems with our health – too much exercise can tax the body and too little can contribute to health issues. Balance is such a key factor in Chinese medicine.