Acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine can treat various diseases. Which one is used depends on whether the doctor’s application is useful and the patient’s acceptance. Some doctors are good at Chinese medicine, and some are good at Acupuncture. Some patients are afraid of Acupuncture and prefer to take Chinese medicine. In contrast, others only accept Acupuncture because of fear of side effects of Chinese medicine — patients who come to my clinic if this is the case. In most cases, I will respect the patients’ choices and be flexible according to their requirements. However, if acupuncture or Chinese medicine alone is not sufficient, I will recommend Acupuncture and use it together and explain to the patient why.
In fact, for many diseases, the combined effect of Acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine is the best, not only can shorten the course of treatment but also the outcome is better than using Acupuncture or traditional Chinese medicine alone. Doctor Zhang Zhongjing, author of Treatise on Febrile Diseases, Sun Simiao, author of Qianqianfang, and Li Shizhen, author of Compendium of Materia Medica, both applied Acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine to treat patients. Also, Sun Simiao pioneered the “Ashi Acupoint” (taking pain as a puppet) and advocated acupuncture-moxibustion-medicine combination. Li Shizhen also wrote “The Examination of Qijing Eight Veins” and “Finhu Vinology.”
In China mainland hospitals, generally, only acupuncture doctors use Acupuncture. In contrast, traditional Chinese medicine practitioners in other departments mainly use traditional Chinese medicine (they can prescribe all western medication, but do not need Acupuncture). Because of the separation of clinical practice and Acupuncture, the medical skills of most TCM doctors should be limited. I feel that being an acupuncturist in the United States (not called a Chinese physician in California) is very lucky because there is a lot of room to play. In the clinic, I not only use acupuncture and Chinese medicine together but also cooperate with moxibustion and bloodletting if necessary.
Acupuncture is effective in treating pain and has fantastic effects in treating other diseases
Yelling knows that traditional Chinese medicine can treat various conditions. Many people think that Acupuncture can only treat pain, but it is not. The scope of acupuncture treatment is vast, not only for the treatment of pain but also for emergency treatment, such as acute heart disease or intestinal spasm. The effect of Acupuncture is excellent. Acupuncture can treat almost all conditions, and is useful for digestive, respiratory, cardiovascular, urinary, immune, skin, and gynecological diseases.
In contrast, Acupuncture is faster than traditional Chinese medicine in treating most pain conditions, both acute and chronic. For example, there is a patient who has been suffering from anal bleeding after anal cancer surgery. Western medicine tried various methods to no avail. After a friend suggested that she found my clinic, because she only needed Acupuncture and refused Chinese medicine, I treated her with Acupuncture. After only one treatment, her blood in the stool improved significantly, and she recovered after three treatments. Many people may not know that Acupuncture is often better than traditional Chinese medicine in treating coronary heart disease, stroke, and gastrointestinal diseases. However, we must admit that acupuncturists in the United States have low thresholds and are easier to enter, so the level of medical skills varies widely. Be careful when choosing. Therefore, do not say Acupuncture or traditional Chinese medicine is ineffective after treatment at a Chinese medicine practitioner. For myself, I have always warned myself that although I can help the vast majority of patients, regardless of Acupuncture and Chinese medicine, I have not yet mastered many, so I must continue to learn and improve.
· When Chinese medicine or Acupuncture alone does not work, try Acupuncture
Most people are habitually inclined to use Chinese medicine. Compared with Acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine has the advantages of convenience and time-saving. Patients do not have to go to and from the clinic as many times as Acupuncture, and there is no worry about Acupuncture, and it is relatively economical. For the treatment of many diseases, such as for most menstrual disorders, the effect of Chinese medicine is enough. However, if the impact of traditional Chinese medicine is not satisfactory, it is better to add Acupuncture. Vice versa. For example, a 27-year-old patient (amenorrhea for ten years) who started amenorrhea from the age of 17 came to me. He said that he tried many Chinese medicine practitioners in China and took a lot of Chinese medicine, but his menstruation never came. Although for most patients with menstrual disorders, I only need to use traditional Chinese medicine, for this patient, I suggest she Acupuncture and Chinese medicine treatment at the same time. She drives to my Acupuncture clinic from Huntington Beach twice a week. After one and a half months of treatment, she told me excitedly that she had menstruation. She is pregnant and has children. For another example, a 74-year-old man with eczema spread all over his body. When he first visited our Acupuncture clinic, his head and hands were covered with bloodstains. He had been treated in Western Medicine Dermatology for a few months and then in a Chinese medicine clinic famous for treating skin diseases. I developed a treatment plan for him using Acupuncture and Chinese medicine combined with food. With the cooperation of the patient and his family, the patient’s symptoms were fully controlled after one and a half months of treatment. One year later, I called to follow up. The patient’s son said that his father’s eczema was completely better.
I have used Acupuncture and Chinese medicine in the past few years, and have treated many incurable diseases. In addition to the strokes above and heart diseases, it also includes patients with asthma and autoimmune disorders (such as lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, rheumatoid, multiple sclerosis, etc.), severe skin diseases, and renal function deterioration.
Article by Dr. Liu Jianghua