Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine is steeped in a rich knowledge base of natural, herbal medicinals that may beautifully compliment your acupuncture treatment. Herbal medicine can enhance the overall treatment effect and continue to help the body towards achieving our overall treatment goals with in between each acupuncture treatment.
A typical herbal medication consists of a complex mixture of herbs, each playing a unique and important role in restoring the holistic overall balance in body, mind and spirit. Traditional Chinese Medicine’s extensive collection of herbal formulas have been carefully innovated and modified over thousands of years in the pursuit of achieving the most effective result. Interestingly, the more modern research that is done in the fields of biochemistry and pharmacology, the more we confirm why these formulas are as effective as they are.
Traditional Chinese Botanical Science
It’s incredible to think that the ancient Chinese botanical sciences were able to discover the potential of earth’s natural medicinals and their combinatory interplay in restoring health, all without the use of microscopes and assay procedures. Instead the ancient Chinese scientists determined these natural medicinal properties, using very sophisticated assessment methods with the unadulterated five senses. This includes not only observing the physical qualities, taste, and the sensations exhibited with consumption, but also by understanding the way they grow, where they grow, the role they play within their ecosystem, and why they happen to exist in their particular environment in the first place.
For example, many warming herbs (metabolic boosters) are believed to have such a quality due to the fact that their existence is dependent upon developing warm qualities in response to their cold environment. Some of these metabolic boosters include aconite root, astragalus and ginseng which are all native to the northern climates of Canada, Korea, Mongolia and Siberia. It’s with this understanding, along with thousands of years of clinical application that traditional Chinese medicine has developed its incredible usefulness.
How Does It Work?
Traditional Chinese herbal medicine includes both short-term acute medication and longer-term supplement formulas. The short-term acute medications work to eliminate and clear the excesses that aggravate our disease. These can include pathogens (microbes, irritants, allergens, and other toxins), excess phlegm/mucus, masses (thrombocytes, cysts, nodules, and tumours), and unique variations of gastrointestinal obstruction.
On the other hand, there are aspects to disease that stem solely from deficiency. This is often where our traditional western healthcare falls short. When deficiency is present more long-term supplementation may be required alongside necessary lifestyle modifications, in order to get the changes we need. TCM provides herbal formulations which can supplement the body with naturally-sourced micronutrients and physiology-hacking phyto-components to boost nutrition and regulate the qi within in restoring healthy organ-system function.
Maintaining High Quality Standards
Our TCM Doctors at Beacon Hill Chiropractic and Massage are dedicated to sourcing the highest quality herbal medicines. This means working with trusted providers who use leading methods and painstaking tests to ensure top of the line purity, potency, correct preparation and processing methods, all while restricting the use of unnecessary and often harmful chemical additives. This is important to us as your health is on the line and our sole purpose is to help you get you better faster.
Tuina and Gua Sha (Chinese Massage Techniques)
– Available at Beacon Hill Chiropractic and Massage!
Tuina is a form of Chinese therapeutic massage commonly used in conjunction with acupuncture for musculoskeletal disorders. Gua Sha is a traditional Chinese treatment modality where a small tool with a smooth edge is scraped across the surface of the skin. “Gua” means scrape or rub, and “Sha” is the name for the reddish rash that appears during treatment. This increases local circulation, stimulates the immune system and metabolic processes, and opens the pores. It is also excellent for relaxing tight muscles. Because the pores will remain open for some time, it is wise to cover up the treated area for a few days following treatment. Gua Sha can also leave mild painless bruising that may remain for a few days as a result of the release of local blood flow.
Fire Cupping
Within Traditional Chinese Medicine, it’s said that where there is pain, there is a lack of flow. You can use cupping to help in a myriad of ways, whether you’re in pain or want to prevent any discomfort from occurring. Fire cupping is a form of cupping that involves a cotton pad dipped into alcohol that is set alight and briefly held (using tongs) inside the glass cup. When the small flame consumes the oxygen within the cup, a vacuum is created. We then quickly apply the cup to form a seal, allowing it to suction to the skin.
Cupping can be performed covering your entre back for a diagnostic and therapeutic approach. The color left behind after the cups are removed will indicate the level to which your body is able to clear out stagnant materials. With each subsequent session, you will see improvement in the flow of your lymphatic system.
Learn More Today
We’d love to see you in our practice soon and discuss how TCM may benefit you. We’re proud to keep prices affordable, with daily supplements ranging from 10-40g (approx. 40¢ / gram), available in pill, tincture and dissolvable powder form.