Understanding Chinese Yin and Yang in the Field of Medicine (Chapter 1) #FamilyLife

Some patients regard acupuncture needle pricks as pain. In China, a doctor would be thought of as incompetent if the needles did not cause a certain degree of discomfort. The fact that this discipline has survived thousand of years, through so much change and so many upheavals is regarded by many as proof of its efficacy.

The Chinese method of healing is more than 2,000 years old, and, like the rest of China’s history, meticulously recorded; its discoveries, methodology and application being handed from generation, making Chinese medicine today the sum total of the accumulated experiences of past masters of the art.

The earliest medical classic in China, now extant, is the Huangdi Neijing, or Canon of Medicine, dating back to 500 – 300 B.C. It states the Chinese belief that imbalances in the body’s circulatory system are the cause of all diseases. The body says Chinese tradition, is mapped by meridian lines (or channels) which carry energy and are connected to 1000 pressure points. Blood and energy flow through 12 regular channels in a horizontal direction while 8 extra channels and 15 collaterals control vertical and transverse flows.

These channels and collaterals are closely interconnected and the build-up of blood pressure or qi (vital energy) in one can create an imbalance in the entire system. Tenderness at the pressure points also indicates where and how an organ might be diseased. Stimulation of these points (with needles as in acupuncture, or with finger pressure as in acupressure) affects other parts of the body, releasing blocked energy and healing the damaged organ.

At the Chinese Clinic, most types of pain are thought to be caused by stagnation of blood or qi in the channels. Stagnation may be caused by wind, cold or one of many more external factors, which invade the body’s circulatory system. Stagnation may also result from a weak circulation or disorders in other internal organs. Treatment of pain consists of identifying the cause, dredging the channels to remove the stagnation and correcting whatever imbalances may have arisen within the body.