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Rob Singer
L.Ac
Mary Ann Petersen
L.Ac
Acupuncturists
541-521-6285
Acu4You@Gmail.com
Eugene, OR |
ABOUT TRADITIONAL
CHINESE MEDICINE
 Chinese
medicine was developed about five thousand years ago. There were no
x-ray machines, microscopes and no human dissection (cutting open
the body would offend the ancestors.) So the only way to understand
how the body worked, was to observe everything – sleep, diet,
thirst, digestion, urine, feces, phlegm, sweat, sexual function,
menses, emotions, etc. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle, the more pieces
you have the better idea of what the whole picture might look like.
The medicine developed in a time when people lived very close to
nature. In fact there was no distinction made between oneself and
the environment, one influenced the other. They described health as
a metaphor of nature, drawing similarities between the human body
and the natural world. This greatly influenced the language of
Chinese medicine. Instead of clinical and literal descriptions of
disease, everything is poetic and metaphorical. Afflictions are
called things like Wind, Heat, Cold, or Damp.
Ancient doctors noticed patterns of disharmony and disease and
classified them into what is called the 5 elements –Wood, Fire,
Earth, Metal, and Water. Every organ function, body tissue, even
emotions are classified by element. For example - fingernails belong
to Wood, the ears are associated with Water, crying is an expression
of Metal and Earth is in charge of digestion.
Each one of the elements is associated with a season and just as the
seasons flow from one to the next, each element gives rise to
another in a cycle of creation and destruction, birth and death, Yin
and Yang.
This symbolic way of viewing health is the foundation for the
practice of acupuncture. One of the key concepts is Qi (pronounced ‘chee’).
The best translation is “energy” of “life force”. It flows through
our bodies in channels, much like blood vessels or nerves. These
channels flow out to the extremities and inward to the organs of the
body. By accessing the Qi through points on the surface of the body
we are able to affect the functioning of the internal organs and
body systems.
Acupuncture is one of the oldest, most widely practiced systems of
medicine on the planet. It is a simple, safe and wholistic approach
to healing and wellness. It addresses all aspects of health -
physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. It is an effective
treatment for almost every health condition you can think of.
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