Differences Between Chinese Medicine And Western Medical Concepts

Chinese Medicine is not just one discipline, but a mixture of many and encompasses therapies associated with touch and smell, amongst others. Over thousands of years, medical treatment in Eastern countries followed a completely different path to that followed nowadays in the West. In our Western civilization, we do have preventative medical methods, but largely we call a doctor or look for medical treatment when we're sick, which makes absolute good sense to us. In truth, usually this is our undoing. It unavoidably means that we demand the right to live how we like, and mistreat our bodies in intolerable ways, only seeking comfort when our mechanism goes wrong.

This is a strange situation. In the industrial world, for example, it's well understood that machines need looked after and maintained if they are to perform day in day out, without breaking down. We also understand that our car will not work dependably (and eventually, not all all!) unless we check certain things every week, and replenish the fluids at frequent intervals. If we topped up the tank with a combination of gasoline and water, it would soon let us know about it. All of these observations are obvious, but this is precisely how we treat our own bodies. We fill it with valueless foods, and don't give it enough exercise, until it eventually breaks down - 'heal me doctor' is the common cry. One more very common failing of modern Western medicine is to approach the human body and the mind as wholly different things, which as a matter of fact they are not. Chinese Medicine encloses the concept of 'body-mind'. Neither of the two can exist in isolation, and each must be considered. The ideas of Yin-Yang and the energetic life force 'ki' are also vital aspects when treating sickness in the East - these basic concepts are discussed in most French alternative health courses.

The practice has many branches, like Shiatsu, Reiki, Acupuncture, aromatherapy and homeopathy. Therapists may use Bach Flower remedies, or essential oils in the treatments, but often have shiatsu or acupuncture as their principal treatment. Reiki is a curious example of one of the tools of Chinese Medicine, as it is considered a wayof channeling energy, and doesn't genuinely have a proven foundation for it's success. The use of plants, flowers and natural things are quite traditional and well documented. The essential point to understand is that 'Medecine Chinoise' is mostly a preventative measure, and not just reactive. Amongst the wealthy of those ancient Eastern regions, medical men were paid regularly to keep a patient healthy and stop him developing an illness, rather than striving to get him well after the fact. If a man was sick, then he stopped paying the doctor, which seemed to be a great motivator.

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