Services
Traditional Chinese Medicine services offered:
The Medical Centers at Five Branches University offer Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) diagnosis and treatment using the five branches of TCM: acupuncture, Chinese medical herbs, energetics, dietetics and Tuina massage. As primary health care practitioners, our Licensed Acupuncturists may also recommend integrative medicine and work with other healthcare practitioners such as M.D.’s for your best health care. Related therapies, such as Five Element acupuncture are also offered.
What you should know about Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine:
Traditional Chinese Medicine is a comprehensive natural health care system that has been used successfully in Asia for centuries to preserve health, prevent illness, and effectively treat the majority of ones healthcare needs. Regulated in the 1970’s by the US, acupuncture has been accepted and recognized as part of mainstream medicine; currently one of America’s fastest growing choices for primary healthcare. TCM practitioners use five branches of natural integrative medicine: acupuncture, Chinese herbology, energetics, and dietetics to treat the underlying cause of disease, alleviate symptoms, and restore balanced wellness. Your TCM practitioner will assess you as a complete person, using a sophisticated and complex system of diagnostic methods to discern patterns of disharmony and uncover the root cause of your symptoms. Their aim is more than just eliminating or alleviating your symptoms, their goal is to improve and extend your quality of life.
What is the Philosophy of Traditional Chinese Medicine?
The ancient system of Traditional Chinese Medicine views a person as an energetic whole; with the mental and physical intricately functioning in reliance on one another. Central to the understanding of TCM is the concept of life energy, called Qi (chee), the subtle energy that animates the human body. Disease can be caused by the inhibited flow of Qi in the body due to emotional, physical and mental extremes. TCM works to restore and balance the flow of blocked Qi.
What is Acupuncture and how does it work?
Qi energy circulates throughout the body along specific pathways called meridians. As long as this energy flows freely, health is maintained. When the flow of energy is blocked due to stress, life-style or other causes, the system is disrupted and pain and illness occur. Acupuncture works to restore normal functions by stimulating certain points on the meridians with fine needles. The specific combination of points is chosen after your TCM practitioner applies in-depth systematic TCM diagnostic techniques, used to address the root cause of your symptoms and identify potential patterns that may cause disease or illness.
The primary focus of TCM is on correcting the underlying cause of an illness or disease and thus producing lasting relief. Symptoms can often be relieved in a matter of hours, or days, but correcting the illness itself is a much longer process. It is important, therefore to take an adequate number of treatments to insure the best results.
Tuina Massage
Tuina massage is a complete system of body alignment based on Traditional Chinese Medicine utilizing acupressure, stretching and gentle manipulation to restore balance and harmony in the human body. It is both a treatment as well as a preventative modality. There are two types of Tuina: pediatric and adult.
Medical QiGong treatment
Medical QiGong involves a practitioner diagnosing and suggesting exercises for the patient to tonify, purify, and dispense stagnations. The practitioner will compassionately treat emotional discharges and toxic energic releases from the patient.
What to Expect
TCM treatments at our medical centers, most often, last one hour. We begin with a 15-20 minute interview about your health concerns. The interview includes a pulse and tongue diagnosis. You then lie down and very thin, sterile disposable acupuncture needles are inserted in appropriate points determined by the practitioner (the majority of patients feel no discomfort). You then rest for approximately 30 minutes while the practitioner prepares an herbal prescription (if applicable) aimed specifically to treat your imbalances and harmonize your condition.
For example, a patient suffering from shoulder pain due to Cold inhibiting the flow of energy in the meridians would be given an herbal formula that dispels Cold and warms the body.
After resting for about 30 minutes, the practitioner will remove the acupuncture needles and explain how to prepare the herbs, and recommend dietary and possibly life-style changes to enhance your health. After treatment, most patients feel relaxed and refreshed.
Five Branches Medical Centers use only sterile, disposable acupuncture needles.