Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is one such area. Nowadays, it is not unusual for people to search online for alternate treatments such as TCM in Houston, TX in locations far off than their places of origin. It all comes down to the effectiveness of many alternative healing modalities, which is increasing their popularity all over the world.
To understand the current status of TCM alongside modern medicine, it is important to first understand what it entails.
What Is TCM
TCM is effective to treat countless ailments and conditions but it was not developed recently. TCM originated thousands of years ago in China. Traditional Chinese Medicine includes many healing techniques such as acupuncture, acupressure, herbal medicine, cupping, massage therapy, and more.
TCM is all about bringing the body back into balance by rectifying the flow of life force (qi) in the body. It can be done through fine needles (acupuncture), stimulating pressure points without needles (acupressure), or with herbs (herbal medicine). Cupping, herbal thermotherapy or moxibustion (burning herbs near skin), and massages are other techniques that also help to balance the energy in the body.
Modern Medicine versus TCM
Conventional medicine and TCM each have unique healing benefits. These two fields, however, operate on different healing principals and comparing TCM with modern medicine is doing it an injustice.
Modern medicine is about drugs and surgeries while TCM offers treatment by balancing the energy flow in the body. Select the healing technique that works best for you rather than choosing one over the other.
TCM is an alternative treatment modality that can be used to complement modern medicine. In this way, TCM has found its place alongside modern medicine. While it is a wholesome and comprehensive treatment on its own; it can also lend a helping hand to a variety of conventional treatments.
Here are a few examples –
- Infertility: Acupuncture is now often used to increase the success rates of IVF treatments. You can use acupuncture as a standalone treatment to help you conceive naturally or to treat any fertility problems. You can also use it with other traditional fertility treatments without any problems or side effects. There are herbs that can also increase a woman’s chances of getting pregnant by providing healing support to her reproductive organs.
- Pain relief: Acupuncture is extremely effective for pain relief and can help people rely less on medicines to reduce their discomfort. Cupping can heal tired muscles and help people relax without resorting to pills whenever they are faced with fatigue.
- Radiation side effects of mainstream cancer therapy. Regular acupuncture treatment can alleviate the side effects of radiation to help provide comfort to patients.
- Diabetes: Acupuncture is helpful in reducing the side effects of diabetes such as non-healing sores/wounds. You can use it alongside your conventional diabetes treatment without any problems.
- Weight Loss: TCM can be used to enhance your weight loss efforts by stimulating your hormones, reducing depression, treating eating disorders, and strengthening the digestive system. You can use acupuncture and herbs alongside your conventional obesity treatment or psychotherapy sessions (for depression, emotional disorders causing weight gain).
TCM treatments are designed for each person after evaluating their medical history, health, and unique needs. To understand the full benefits of TCM for your health, it is best to consult with a qualified and experienced practitioner.
You can utilize the benefits of acupuncture if you are reluctant to use pharmaceutical medicine for depression, weight loss, fertility problems, pain relief, hormonal imbalance or more. You can seek acupuncture treatments for stress management and for treating conditions related to the heart, skin, respiratory organs, eyes, hormones and the mind.
Many people appreciate alternate treatments for the lack of harmful side effects. TCM doesn’t need to compete with modern medicine as it has survived for millennia as an effective healing technique. It has its own place in the field of healing and rightly so.