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Stoke Newington
Gillian Price BSc DipAc LicOHM MBAcC MRCHM
Shine Holistic Complementary Health Centre
52 Stoke Newington Church Street, Hackney, London N16
Telephone: 020 7241 5033
Email: Gillian Price
For more details about traditional chinese medicine and Gillian Price please visit: Gillian Price Traditional Chinese Medicine London
Richard Steven Bsc (Hons)TCM, BM(Beijing), Dip Tui Na, MATCM
Shine Holistic Complementary Health Centre
52 Stoke Newington Church Street, Hackney, London N16
Telephone: 020 7241 5033 or 078 1188 5597
Email: info@rsacupuncture.co.uk
For more details about TCM with Richard Steven please go to Richard Steven TCM
Introduction To Traditional Chinese MedicineThe theory and practice of Chinese medicine has been preserved and developed over the last 2500 years where imbalances in the patient’s physical system or environment are countered by herbs, acupuncture, massage, exercise or lifestyle changes.
Chinese medicine is profoundly holistic, with each part of the body seen as related and dependent upon other parts for balanced and healthy functioning. And each human being is seen as part of a greater whole, being affected by social relationships and environmental factors.
The two concepts of yin and yang relate to the balance between opposing forces which create perfect harmony. Yin relates to cold, dampness, tranquillity, earth and darkness, and are reflective and inward looking. Yang relates to heat, fire, light, restlessness and dryness, and is outgoing and extrovert. In illness either yin or yang is likely to be dominant. Health may be affected by internal or external factors which result in body fluids becoming excessive, diminished, stagnant, chilled or heated.
Balance and harmony is central. Harmony with nature and our environment, harmony of internal body organs, and mental/emotional/spiritual harmony.
5 substances are the elements that make up a human being: Shen relates to mental and spiritual. Qi is the vital energy. Jing concerns our inherited constitutional experience of health and energy. Body fluids and Blood: Disturbances within each element give rise to particular symptoms.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) the 5 substances are manufactured, distributed and stored by the heart, which stores shen. The lungs, which regulate qi. The liver, which regulates the flow of qi and stores the Blood. The spleen, which transforms food into qi, and the kidneys, which are related to Jing. All organs depend on the kidneys for their yin or yang energy. The external influences on health are wind, cold, damp, fire/heat, dryness.
The ConsultationThe TCM practitioner will gather a wealth of information about the patient both by careful observation and subtle questioning which relates to the 5 substances, organs and external influences.
The patient will be asked about duration, location, intensity and persistence of the problem; about what makes it better or worse, whether there is a pattern to its onset. What may have triggered the problem will be explored as well as lifestyle, diet, activity and rest.
Questions may relate to digestive system functioning, patterns of thirst, food preferences and aversions, regularity of bowel movement and amount of urine passed. Sleep quality, reactivity to heat and cold, tendencies to infections may be explored. P
ulse and tongue will be examined. A great deal can be gleaned from these, since the pulse has 28 qualities relating to health, and different areas of the tongue relate to different parts of the body.
The practitioner can also learn much by colour and texture of skin, body odour, from the eyes and voice.
Once a diagnosis has been reached the patient may be prescribed Chinese herbs, which may come in various forms, fruits, minerals or other forms of treatment such as acupuncture, qi gong, and tui na massage.
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