Does TCM Actually Work?
When it comes to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) I’m the first one to roll my eyes and snort. I always thought it was a load of complete nonsense; I don't believe in acupuncture, acupressure, herbal therapy, cupping or that thing where you get a candle stuck in your ear. I believe in antibiotics and morphine. So when I was shipped off to learn about Chinese medicine for the morning I was less than enthusiastic.
I met Dr. Evan Pinto one morning for breakfast and asked him to give me the low down on TCM and explain how it all works. He told me that to have just a basic understanding of TCM I would need at least two years of university study. Luckily for me he was willing to attempt an explanation in simple terms so I can tell you guys all about it.
So here I go…
Western medicine is based on biological functions and chemical reactions whereas Chinese medicine is based on the physics of Qi or how Qi moves through the body. Qi is the energy of the universe. It is all the matter and anti-matter of the universe. A little like molecules, they are the same thing but they behave differently. When people talk about biology in Chinese medicine they mean Qi and blood, whereas in western medicine there is no talk of Qi, only hormones and platelets and neurons and other body stuff.
Chinese medicine is rooted in the Taoist philosophy of Yin and Yang theory (see picture below). Yin Yang applies to every layer of the universe, and everything always has both parts in it. If these parts separate and only have yin or yang then that equals death. This is obviously not good. So Chinese medicine helps to balance your Qi and make sure it all the yin yang stays together.
There are also the five elements of Chinese medicine which are, wood, metal, fire, water and earth. Each of your organs is assigned an element. For example your heart and small intestines are your fire organs, your stomach and your pancreas are your earth organs, your liver and your gall bladder are your wood organs and so on. Each organ is meant to have a certain percentage of Yin and Yang and the correct balance of the 6 types of Qi: wind, cold, heat, dampness, dryness, and fire.
This is what I essentially took away from the conversation: each of your organs is primarily one of the five elements but sometimes something goes a bit wrong and they get muddled up. For example your heart, which should be all firey, may get a bit wet, and become more of a sputtering tea light than a fist-sized inferno in the middle of your chest.
Bad.
This is where the treatments come in. There are lots of ways you can be treated to help realign your Qi, get your organ elements harmonized and balance your yin yang. But the one I was specifically interested in was acupuncture. I had no idea how having a small needle poked into my knee could help get the wood out of my liver.
Dr. Evan explained, "Qi moves all around your body, imagine – if you will – a long and squiggly tube that runs around your whole body. This carries your moving Qi. If we want to change the makeup of our bodies we need to get the Qi moving in a certain way. Acupuncture presses into parts of our body that stimulate the movement of the Qi."
Simple right?
I was not entirely convinced.
I scheduled an appointment with him the following evening to go and get some needles stuck in me. I arrived at his rather fancy clinic on YuYuan Lu and filled in a very complicated medical history form about my eating/sleeping habits, exercise routines, bowel movements, everything you could imagine.
Then I went through to meet Dr. Evan.
I have massive problems with mornings. Imagine a hedgehog all snuggly and warm under its duvet getting woken up by a passing lawnmower. That is essentially me every day. My alarm clock goes off and it feels like I have been hit over the head with some form of klaxon, or simultaneously jumped on by all the member of The Klaxons. It’s miserable; I then stagger about feeling so tired I might vomit. I have relayed this to western doctors and they have said the following:
·Go to bed earlier – I get at least 8 hours sleep every day, if I let myself I would sleep for 12.
·Do more exercise – I don’t want too… I’m sleepy.
·Have a better bedtime routine – My bedtime routine could only be improved by taking a bath, and I don’t have one so not possible.
·It’s your hormones – GO AWAY.
So when I relayed this to Dr. Evan I was very impressed that he nodded and took it all very seriously. He took my pulse and checked the colour of my tongue .Then he informed me that I didn’t have enough fire in my fire organs and my stomach wasn’t correctly balanced. As these are morning organs they need a bit of help waking up, so I can wake up.
I was skeptical but I lay down in a comfy dimly lit room and he began putting needles in my feet, legs, hands and head. The needles feel a bit weird going in, some pinch a little, others not at all. He left me to lie there for 27 minutes which is the amount of time in take the Qi in your body to do a full circuit.
I began to feel swirling sensations around some of the needles, like something just under my skin was spinning, it was quite pleasant but a bit bizarre. I had felt a little anxiety about having to lie in the dark for 27 minutes with nothing to do but listen to ‘relaxing’ ocean sounds. But as I focused on the swirling feeling I began to drift off, not to sleep but into a weird sort of deep thought place. I felt like I could’ve laid their forever.
The nurse/ Dr. Evans assistant came into remove the pins all too soon. Having them removed was painless. Then I dressed and left the office in a bit of a daze. I walked along the street pushing my bicycle enjoying the new sense of relaxation. I slept like a baby that night and woke up the next day before my alarm clock went off. In fact I freaked out thinking that I had not set my alarm and had woken up at 2pm and would have to do some very good lying to get out of trouble at work, luckily not the case.
This freshness lasted for a couple of days, but now unfortunately I am back to needing my alarm, and feeling like someone has a saucepan on my head and is banging out the ‘we will rock you’ tune with a wooden spoon – but it was great while it lasted.
Do I believe in TCM and acupuncture? I’m not sure yet. Did acupuncture change the way I felt? Yes. Do I understand how or why? No, not really. But I am booking another session to see Dr. Evan. I have tried to explain this to various friends and the way I explain it is: western medicine is great, I love antibiotics, morphine based drugs and chemo, but I think there are holes in western medicine and maybe Chinese medicine is exactly what we need to bung the holes of our leaky boat bodies so we don’t sink.
If you want to meet Dr. Evan for yourself you can get in touch with him via his WeChat: TCMDrEvanPinto
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