Chinese Traditional Medicine

[Pinetree]

First a plea, please do not hijack this post subject by banging on about Covid. plenty of other posts are boring the crap out of many of us by doing that.  let's for once move on from there to other areas of health.

Bit of background; my First Degree, obtained very many years ago from Nottingham Uni in the UK, is in Biochemistry.  You would expect a certain cynicism about alternative Chinese Medicine from such as I, but I have been a follower, and user, of such medicines for many years. Living for a few years in Hong Kong and Taiwan helped the exposure to this branch of health.  I have treated colds, ( not Covid!) , sore throats, tummy issues and lately gout, arthritis and back pain, all with alternative Chinese medicine sources.  In general, I have found them as effective as traditional medications and in some cases, with the arthritis , more helpful.  I would be interested in the experience of others who take this approach.  As an aside, I exclude acupuncture, which I think is a scam, but others may have had more positive experiences with it.  

[Khunmark]

My wife is of Chinese heritage and through her I have been introduced to Chinese medicine. It’s been explained to me Eastern medical approach is to focus on the underlying condition that causes the disease. As a result much of the treatment deals with the organs and the body’s systems. Which is different to the western approach which focus’s on the treating the symptoms. 
 

in this regards the two approaches would seem to complement each other. The frustration for me (being receptive to alternative approaches to medical treatment), Chinese medicine is not covered by universal health schemes in Australia. All expenses are out of pocket which makes Chinese medicines prohibitively expensive. 
 

The second issue is finding a reputable dispensary. My wife, having an eye for such matters, says the many of the practitioners in Australia don’t stock fresh ingredients. I’m not much help with the reviews because I haven’t stuck with a regime long enough to give it a chance, for the above reasons. I’ve also tried acupuncture and it didn’t work for me.

We have retired to Chiang Mai which has a large population of people of Chinese heritage but a paucity of Chinese Medical clinics. Which is both surprising and frustrating because I wouldn’t mind giving it a second shot. It’s encouraging to learn that you’ve had success with Chinese medicine. There seems to be a bias against it in mainstream western medicine.

[Pinetree]

14 minutes ago, Khunmark said:

It’s encouraging to learn that you’ve had success with Chinese medicine. There seems to be a bias against it in mainstream western medicine.

If it works, then it works and, as we all  know, medicine, in its more modern and effective use, flourished in Asia and the middle east hundreds of years ago, , with natural jungle based  herbes. 

A funny story.  In the book 'You Will Die in Singapore', one of the escaped prisoners ate a fruit of some tree in the jungle and ended up with a painful erection that lasted hours.  The village people told him, yes, we know about that one!  He subsequently married the Head Man's daughter !!  You just can't beat local medical knowledge. Its a great book by the way. 

[SnapDragon]

On 5/7/2024 at 9:24 AM, Pinetree said:

I have treated colds, ( not Covid!) , sore throats, tummy issues and lately gout, arthritis and back pain, all with alternative Chinese medicine sources.

Colds, sore throats, fevers and other 'sicknesses' are indications that the body is 'detoxing', in order to normalise the body, and bring it back to optimal health. Whether Chinese, or Big Pharma medicine is being used, suppressing symptoms is not a good plan.

The body could be self-healing. That should be encouraged rather than suppressed.