A note to the reader: This is a somewhat lengthy blog, as I can be long-winded when I discuss my favorite subject! So for those of you that really just want an overview, read the bold-face sentences and skip over the rest!
For some reason, you want to learn more about Oriental medicine. Perhaps there is a new acupuncturist in town and you have always been curious about acupuncture. Maybe you have a pain in your thigh or low back that no doctor has been able to diagnose, much less treat, and you have heard acupuncture can help. For whatever reason, if you are like most Americans, you may very well be subjecting yourself to a major paradigm shift by learning about acupuncture – a change in the way you think about health, medicine, and the human body.
Oriental medicine (“OM”) is energy medicine. It concentrates on controlling the flow of energy in the body – making sure it goes the right way, to the right place, at the right time. It is like nothing most of us have ever experienced. For starters, the equipment used is very simple and low-tech - the most accomplished acupuncturist in the world can take all of his supplies with him on a plane trip, pack them in his personal luggage, and not incur any extra baggage charges. Testing methods are unpretentious - an OM physician will study your tongue, palpate your pulse, ask you some questions, and maybe even whiff the back of your neck – no bloodwork or x-rays needed, yet quite sophisticated information can be gleaned from this. The diagnoses are different. There isn’t such a thing as a “stomach bug” in OM – it’s “damp heat in the lower burner” – hives are an “external wind invasion” – and road rage is usually due to “Liver Qi Stagnation”. Huh? What? Even some of the anatomical features of the body are different. (The San Jiao – a recognized body part in OM – is not mentioned in a single English language Anatomy and Physiology book.) In short, it is very, very different than the medicine practiced by mainstream America.
One of the biggest differences is the approach to health and healing that OM takes. It is said that an ancient Chinese doctor was not paid when his patients became ill. He was paid when they stayed well. His job was in danger if his sick patients weren’t cured. Stop reading for one minute and imagine that! This was a powerful incentive for the practitioners in ancient China to work very diligently over thousands of years to learn a great deal not only about preventive medicine but about safe medicine, too. The ancient Chinese understood that the human body has remarkable abilities to heal itself – much stronger powers than most anyone or anything else does - and the role of the doctor was not to treat or manage sickness, but to maintain health and encourage healing from within. Health preservation was an issue to be addressed every day, even at prime physical condition - not just when something went wrong or at a yearly physical. OM physicians of today draw from this vast body of collected wisdom that has been tested and proven over thousands of years on millions of patients.
Most people don’t understand how Oriental medicine can work. How can a needle in the little toe turn a breech baby around? You probably can’t explain how an aspirin stops a headache, either. But you pop an aspirin for a headache anyway. You know it is a painkiller, and you may even know that it inhibits prostaglandins , but could you give an educated lecture on the pharmacology of aspirin? Most of us do, however, know enough to take the fear away, and make us comfortable with taking an aspirin. Joe Blow in Beijing might not totally understand how sticking a needle in the top of the foot can soothe his bad mood, but he does it anyway. He might very well know that it drains excess heat away from the liver system, where a lot of foul moods originate. But he probably can’t give an adequate explanation as to why and how it drains the heat away from the liver. That is the purpose of this blogspot – not to explain in depth how OM works, but to give you an overview so that the logistics of it make some semblance of sense, removes the fear of the unknown, and make you more at ease with it.
To quote Julie Andrews, “We should start at the very beginning. It’s a very good place to start.” So let’s start at the very beginning, with one of the most important concepts in Oriental medicine….. the concept of Qi.
What is Qi? (pronounced “chee”)
What IS Qi? It’s a great word for acupuncturists
to use in catchy phrases such as “Stay Qi-full!” or “He stagnates my liver qi! ”, but apart from that, what IS Qi ? It’s a notion that permeates a lot of everyday life in the Far East, and is fundamental to OM, but is very alien to most Americans. It is nearly impossible to give a one English word translation of Qi. It is unquestionably a proper noun, as Qi is a substance (although often very ephemeral) and a force but there is no one-to-one correlation between an English word and a Chinese word that adequately describes Qi. Some of the terms that have been suggested – none of which sufficiently explain Qi – have been potential energy, kinetic energy, electromagnetic energy, biochemical energy, life force, vital force, polarity, and spirit. It isn’t even 100% accurate to say that it is definitely energy, because when slowed down, Qi can transform into matter (explaining how cells can increase in size and number, and how tumors and arthritic bone spurs can form - remember E=mc2.) In short, it is a lot of things. It is, in a way, like water – just as water can be steam, water, or ice – Qi can be matter, energy, and force. It is what drives and sustains and gives rise to life….no cell can be without it. With no Qi, you will quickly “swirl the drain” and possibly, quickly take a road trip to the great beyond.
Later, we'll talk about how qi moves and how acupuncture needles affect it.
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