Traditional Oriental Medicine

Treating the body as a whole is important in traditional oriental medicine. There are many different types of connections that are important throughout the body. Keeping everything in balance is essential. Through food and medicine, this practice focuses on treating the person, not the illness.

This practice is different from Western medicine. Bottiger states, "One of the primary focuses of Chinese traditional medicine is in the area of prevention," (45). In traditional oriental medicine, the seasons represent different organs, colors, sounds and more.

"In Chinese medicine, the five phases are used to categorize the various internal organs and tissues, sense and other organs, and properties of medicinals," (Wiseman 9). Also, "at the beginning of its development, Chinese medicine established correspondences between the five phases and the seasons, the types of weather associated with each season, and the functions of the organs of the human body," (Wiseman 9). Each season is one of the "five phases".

Spring represents wood. The corresponding organs are the liver and gall bladder. The color is green. Shouting is the sound. The emotion for spring is anger, the correlating taste is sour. There is also a sense that represents each of the five seasons. Sight is for spring. Fluid that exits the body is another aspect, with tears signifying spring.

Summer is together with fire. The heart, small intestine, pericardium, and triple burner are the organs. Other aspects are the color red, the sound of laughter, and joy is expressed. The taste is bitter, fluid is sweat, and taste represents this season's sense.

Late summer is another season, represented by earth, with spleen and stomach organs. Yellow shows its color, the sound is singing. An emotion of sympathy is shown. The climate is damp, with a sweet taste, and saliva exiting the body. Late summer's sense is touch.

Autumn or fall is described with metal and the lungs and large intestine are the organs. The color for this season is white, with the sound of weeping. Grief is the emotion. The climate is dry. The correlating taste is pungent, with a sense of smell, and nasal mucus.

In the winter, water represents the season. The corresponding organs are the kidneys and bladder. The color is blue, the sound is groaning, with an emotion of fear. It is cold, tastes salty, and the sense is hearing. It is said that "following the rhythms of the seasons can help to keep the balance of good health" (Witham, 40). As long as everything is balanced, the insides of the body will work in harmony, according to this practice.

Some medicine is administered through acupuncture. During this treatment, fine needles are placed in certain parts of the body. They are extremely thin. Illness is also treated through exercise, diet, and herbs.

There is also medicinal treatment, though it is taken through herbs. Herbal treatments have been administered for many years, and are perfected as a result. They are sometimes combined into formulas. Herbs are also dried and then given to a patient in a tea or pill for consumption.

Another beneficial practice using oriental practices is qi gong. This is the art of moving qi through the body through body movement. It also can incorporate stillness and meditation. Another aspect of qi gong is treatment through massage.

In this practice, it is believed that the body works in harmony. This is unless there is a disease, which means there is disharmony. Traditional oriental medicine finds the symptoms of disharmony by checking the skin, eyes, tongue, pulse, and also looking at eating and sleeping habits "of [the] patient", plus other things.

Herbs are an important part of treatment and have a warming or cooling effect on the body. They are said to push toxins out of the body to prevent diseases from being inside the body. Herbs are prepared in different ways. They can be dried, mixed or boiled, and are measured and prepared in a variety of different ways to have different medicinal effects on the body.

The tongue is another important element in oriental medicine. It shows the doctor what is going on inside of the body. It also indicates what is going on with the organs, depending on the corresponding area. When analyzing the tongue, it is divided into different parts. Normally the tongue should have a pale, reddish shade and a thin white coat on top of that. Signs of abnormality would include a pale-looking tongue, if it is swollen, or cracked. The coating on the tongue gives an indication of a possible problem, as well. If it has different coloring, like white, yellow or grey, there may be a deficiency.

A healthy tongue is moist with saliva. A pale tongue would mean the failure of fluids to reach up to the upper body. Dryness on the surface of the tongue is a sign of dehydration. Doctors that practice traditional oriental medicine also analyze the thin layer of fur (which is healthy) that is on the tongue. It can appear to be slimy, thick, clean, slimy and peeling, among other things.

I have experienced a dry tongue and mouth when I'm really thirsty and probably at the point of dehydration. This has happened, usually in the morning, because I haven't drunk any water for a while. I have also experienced extra saliva, that is warm, on my tongue, when I have felt nauseous from being sick. The warm saliva actually signals me that I am extremely nauseous to the point of vomiting or being about to.

The pulse is taken when treating a patient. Doctors check a person's pulse in three different areas. They also check the speed of the pulse and the quality. Different locations of the pulse that are checked correlate with the different organs in the body. There are a variety of different types of pulses that one can have, whether they are regular or irregular.

My pulse has felt like it was racing when I'm nervous. Also, I have felt like my pulse is beating hard through a body part other than my chest or wrist, for instance, one of my fingers. This happens if I have accidentally slammed my finger in a door. The finger turns red and feels warm, as well.

The yin and yang (which are opposites) need to be kept in balance to live a healthy life, according to this practice of medicine. Any deviation would throw off the body and cause illness or even disease. One example of the yin is the abdomen, and the back, which is opposite the abdomen is the yang.

With this in mind, food is also viewed as something that should be used to heal the body. Eating natural foods can be beneficial to health and good digestion, as opposed to taking medication, as is practiced with oriental medicine. Some foods have a hot aspect to them, representing yang, others are viewed as cold, and are in the yin category. It is important to eat a balance of the two to avoid sickness. Also, avoidance of one of the two is necessary to relieve symptoms of illness and help to rid the body of disease.

Foods that can lead to irregularities are unclean or raw food, fatty, sweet and spicy foods, or anything else that is eaten in excess. The organ's "main function is to transform food into the fuel the body runs on and also to send this fuel up to wherever needed," (Witham 175). It is important to have a strong yang in order for food to go through the intestines. Having a weak yang causes constipation.

Different foods create different reactions in the body and its parts, according to how much salt, fat or other qualities they might have, positive or negative. Some meals are even more important than others. Breakfast is a meal not to be missed because it is a time when the stomach works most efficiently to digest a meal.

I have eaten too much sugar and gotten sick to my stomach because of it. Eating a lot of sweets created an imbalance in my body, which caused it to react in a negative way. Eating healthier helps me to feel balanced, and gives me more energy through natural, nutritional sources.

Acupuncture is something I have tried a couple of times to relieve stress. I only went for a couple of treatments and did not notice a difference. I did not keep up the treatment because I did not feel any progress was being made. I had needles placed in places like my ears, all the way down to my feet.

Chinese medicine uses a holistic view, and because of that, practicing doctors treat the person, as opposed to treating their disease. The belief is that all of the organs inside of the body works together in harmony. Any break in that harmonious nature disrupts the natural pattern that the body should follow to stay in good health.

Practicing common sense when it comes to health is the way I have personally used oriental medicine to achieve the results of good health. Besides eating healthy, whole foods, it is important to live healthy, too. Exercise should be incorporated into daily routines. Also, balancing work, life, and spirituality plays an important role in keeping the body and mind in good health.

Works Cited

Bottiger, Wayne. Chinese Traditional Medicine - An Approach Towards Holistic Medicine. Raleigh: Lulu.com, 2006. Print.

Wiseman, Nigel. Fundamentals of Chinese medicine. Rev. ed. Brookline, Mass.: Paradigm Publications, 1995. Print.

Witham, Clive. The book of oriental medicine: a complete self-treatment guide. Forres, Scotland: Findhorn Press, 2012. Print.