Chinese medicine (CM) originated in China and is an ancient and coherent system of healing that has been practiced and developed over two millennia and survived into the modern scientific era. Today, the medical principles remain integral components of the health care provision in China, as well as Japan, Korea and Vietnam and are practiced on a global scale by some three million acupuncturists. These ancient principles and their development and refinements, together with vast clinical experience and current worldwide research, provide the foundation for treatments with Chinese medicine
The value of acupuncture in the West
A growing number of people in the West, doctors, researchers and lay alike have come to accept the efficacy of Chinese medicine Acupuncture as a complementary or alternative method of treatment. Although often described as a treatment for musculoskeletal disorders and pain relief, it is in fact used for a wide range of illnesses, including emotional and psychological. ‘If you dismiss and neglect the experience of the ancients and believe that you will find the right path only in the newest treatments, you fool yourself and the people around you’. Hippocrates, 4th Century BC.Indeed, the emphasis on the latter makes Chinese medicine attractive to contemporary patients, who are often affected by the stresses of living fast-paced lives and endless emotional challenges.
In the ancient wisdom of Chinese medical theory, there are, perhaps, ways for understanding the damages inflicted by modern living and for helping overcoming such challenges, restoring the whole person to a state of equilibrium and health.
