TCM Basics 101: What is TCM and What is the Difference between TCM and Western Medicine
TCM stands for Traditional Chinese Medicine and basically it is an entire school of medicine that dates back more than 2000 years ago from ancient China
There is no one person that started this school of medicine but it is an accumulation of knowledge and experiences from many physicians and healers in ancient China. There is one bible that all TCM physicians adhere our basic knowledge to, which is called the Yellow Emperor Inner Classics, otherwise known as 黄帝内经 if you are Chinese literate. There has been endless discussions on who started this book and who exactly is Yellow Emperor, but basically what you have to just know, especially if you are not going to be the next PhD in TCM, is that it is THE BOOK that holds all the concepts and knowledge of TCM as contributed and corrected and recorrected Nth times by physicians and doctors and healers from the past.
For me, I would say for something to survive the trials of time and space, it has got to be something good and really solid. And after being in this line for so long, I would say that yes, TCM does have its treasure inside and even for me as a PhD Doctorate in this field, I may have only touched the mere surface to what it actually holds. So I’m just going to try to share as much as what I know and the REAL stuffs I experience and see with my eyes.
The key principles of TCM has already been covered in my another blog which you can link yourself there, so I’m going to list out just a few differences between TCM and Western Medicine (the so called BIG BROTHER of medicine).
Some differences between TCM and Western Medicine
1. Doctors’ Specialisations
For TCM, we don’t really split the expertise of doctors according to the conditions of illnesses like Western Medicine where you see some MD as the Consultant in Gastroenterology or Hepatology or Ophthalmology and all the ginormous Latin wordings. In TCM, when we specialize, we specialize according to the skillset that will allow us to treat ALL KIND OF CONDITIONS AND ILLNESSES, therefore, one can be a specialized consultant in Acupuncture or Chinese Herbology or Qigong. Because in TCM, we see the person as a whole and different illnesses are all linked in some ways, so we will try to locate the root organ of concern and tackle from there. It is impossible for a patient to come to me for stomach problems and I merely focus on the stomach and only the stomach. Because there will always be other conditions involved such as the stool, the sleep etc. We treat the person as a WHOLE, and not just tackle one organ only.
2. Philosophy and Meaning of Taking Care of the Body
In TCM, 50% of the philosophy is about PREVENTION, and 50% is treatment. This is very much different from the Western counterpart which is rather REACTIVE, than TCM which is PROACTIVE. Read about Your Future depends on Now here.
TCM always encourage one to do proper health maintenance and still continue with sessions of acupuncture or herbs to upkeep the good health, and not seek treatment or help only when you are sick. That’s why we have a whole lot of tips and knowledge in health maintenance and they are but very lifestyle friendly. I don’t really see that in Western Medicine where at most its only the suggestion of some vitamins and supplements that you can take.
3. Emotions play a part in Illnesses
In TCM, we give emotions a significant role in the formation and build up of illnesses. Because TCM sees human as a whole being, physically, mentally, emotionally. Human goes beyond flesh and blood and the tissue cultures you analyse under the microscope. Whatever that cannot be seen does not mean it is not there doing its job and affecting the person. In fact my clinical experience tells me 70% of the time, the results of most illnesses are emotion based. One can have the best living environment, best food, best job, great wealth yet can fall very ill just because of toxic emotions that have been running through their body on a daily basis. Read about Why Emotional Release is important here.
4. Customisation of Treatments
In TCM, each individual has different bodily constitutions as a base and the progression of illnesses are all at a different rate. Hence treatments can never be the same for 2 individuals with the same illness. To go into even further details, every acupuncture points, every herb concoctions change at each session of treatment in TCM. There is no treatment PROTOCOL like that of Western Medicine.
These are but only some of the major differences of TCM and Western Medicine. Understand what TCM is about and the reasonings behind what we do and you will appreciate the existence of such knowledge, persistently passed down from the great ancient ancestors.
Further reading:
Everything you need to know about Acupuncture
Men’s Health Series: Which is the Better Way to Treat Prostatitis - TCM or Western Medicine?
How do Acupuncture and Acupressure work and which is the Better One
Everything you need to know about Dampness
It is not normal to have cysts and fibroids
Why Everything Cold is Discouraged during Menstruation
Men’s Health: Low libido equals low testosterone?