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Services:
Read here about the array of therapies we offer and how they work for various disorders.
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Chinese Herbal Medicine
Chinese Herbal Medicine has the oldest continuous written history of
any medical system on Earth.
Its earliest modern text, the
Shang Han Lun , written during a
Cholera epidemic in 200 C.E. (A.D.) in
Northern China, was the first text in human history that systematically charted
the progression of an infectious disease from its initial stages to the point
of death, and at the same time devise a
theory of infection due to a natural pathogen. This understanding of disease as the result of natural causes marked a break from past
medical theories that attributed disease to evil spirits lurking in the forest
or unhappy ancestors and gods. It was the beginning of a two millenium
development of Chinese Medicine as a state sponsored, intellectual, academic,
written, empirical, clinically based system.
In Chinese Herbal Medicine herbs are generally used in formulas containing up to
twenty-five ingredients. The
job of the Herbal physician is to identify an
individual patient’s unique pattern
of disharmony at a particular point in time (today’s pattern may
change by next week). This is done by the gathering of pertinent medical
information, by observing the facial color, structure, and expression, the posture, the gait, the voice, the smell,
by close observation of the tongue body and coat (looking at the color,
texture, moisture, shape, etc) , by careful palpation of both the right and
left radial pulses, and finally by taking a complete medical history, inquiring
about the specifics of the disease experience as well as about general health
processes like digestion, elimination, and sleep.
By so doing, the Chinese medicine physician
is able to choose the specific and unique herbal prescription that will address the symptoms of the illness as well as the
patient’s constitutional imbalance (the underlying root cause of the disease),
In western terms, for example, take the case
of respiratory allergies. First, there
are the symptoms: sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes, and sinus congestion.
These can be treated with drugs that
dry the nose, decongest and reduce the histamine response. This is symptomatic
treatment that does not reduce the body’s response to allergens over time. Stop
taking the drug, the symptoms return. In western medicine, to treat the disease
itself, one goes to the allergist and gets allergy shots. These attempt to
“desensitize” the patient to the offending pathogens, in this case the allergens,
pollen from grasses and trees, dust etc. If this treatment is successful, one
never has to take an anti-histamine or decongestant again.
That is what we call treating the root of the disease in Chinese Medicine
and that is what a good herbal doctor always thinks of doing, if not in the
beginning stage of treatment, at least in the middle or end stage. The idea of
Chinese medicine is agricultural: make the soil healthy, nourish it, water it
appropriately, turn it in the winter, and the plant growing in it will flourish
and bear sweet, beautiful flowers and fruits. This is treating the root to
promote health and cure illness.
In China, Herbal Medicine is used to treat
many of the diseases that one might seek Western Biomedical drug or surgical
therapy for. Here is a list of disorders that
I have personally had success treating with Chinese Herbal Medicine:
Neuromuscular:
Acute and chronic
pain in low back, neck, shoulder, arms, hands, fingers, legs, knees and feet.
Carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis, tendonitis, TMJ, jaw pain, sciatica,
sprains/strains, and sports injuries. Tension and migraine headaches. Stroke
rehabilitation, neuralgia, bell’s palsey, trigeminal
neuralgia
Gastrointestinal: Abdominal pain, irritable bowel syndrome,
nausea, indigestion, ulcers, esophageal reflux, and weight reduction,
constipation, diarrhea
Internal: diabetes, high blood pressure, liver/gall
bladder dysfunction, hepatitis,
hemorrhoids,
Respiratory: Asthma, sinusitis, bronchitis, allergies,
common cold and flu, smoking cessation.
Gynecological: Premenstrual syndrome, menopausal syndrome,
menstraul pain and dysfunction, fibroids, cysts, endometriosis, menstrual
migraine.
Genito-urinary
and Reproductive:
impotence, low libido, excess libido, prostatis, bladder infections, yeast
infections.
Dermatological: Acne, psoriasis, eczema, herpes, shingles,
dry skin
Immune
System: Lupus,
fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, herpes, hiv related syndromes,
Stress
Management:
Hypertension, insomnia, inability to relax, memory loss, headaches.tension and migraine, addictions
Psychological: Anxiety, panic attack, depression, mania,
eating disorders; anorexia, bulimia, overeating, addictions and substance
cessation.
I offer a
free 15 minute in-person, telephone or email consultation. Please contact me
for more information. 619. 296.7591 or
eyton@bodymindwellnesscenter.com
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