Consultation

A consultation with the Chinese Doctor is advised before any therapeutic treatments (such as acupuncture or cupping) or before prescribing any herbal medicines. This is because Chinese Medicine is holistic, in that each client is unique in their illnesses and therefore must be treated in an individual and unique way. Therefore each client must be examined before treatment in order to get the most effective medical approach to their problem. The consultation process is aimed to correctly implement unique diagnostic methods in TCM.

How does it work?
The process includes a Health Questionnaire, body examination and a lifestyle check. The main components of the body examination include diagnosis from the tongue and pulse. The tongue is used as an indicator of body circulation, body fluid, and bodily functioning. The physician will observe the color, texture, and coating of the tongue. The pulse strength and rhythm is an indicator of internal health and energy flow. The doctor will also observe your skin complexion and voice as indicators of health.

Benefits
While Western medicine usually uses objective diagnosis whereby the physician considers the symptoms and how the symptoms can be alleviated. Traditional Chinese Medicine uses subjective diagnosis whereby the therapist looks at the individual causes of the disease, and aims to change the contributing factors in order to balance the body/mind/spirit and heal the illness. Traditional Chinese Medicine, with the view of holism, also considers the influence of seasonal and climatic changes on the human body. TCM sees disease as a temporary imbalance of the body, rather than a steadfast condition. The mental, physical, and emotional aspects of a person’s being are all considered, along with functioning problems, rather than resultant problems. In this way, TCM is seen to be a mutual connection of information between the patient and practitioner where both parties need to share knowledge and work as a team to combat imbalance within the body.