chinese medicine, is it all nonsense?

[thai3]

 

To add to things I've had a large itchy rash on my leg for weeks which I cannot get rid of, been through all the chemist has. Thought I would try the chinese place again. These always seem the same, see doc who takes pulse then looks at your tounge and says something like, have hot blood or need to cleanse system.

Get offered two lots of pills to cleanse and 'cool blood' and two lots of ointments, one for AM and one for PM. I suggest it would be better to mix both together and put them both on at the same time which they find very amusing. I only take the ointment to try.

Obviously all the ying/yang hot and cold explanations sound very odd to us westerners but who cares if it works. Anyone else ever try chinese medicine? seems to be a lot springing up here in UK. If it was all rubbish it would not have lasted as long, just sounds like mumbo jumbo though. -peter

[Boo Radley]

Hi,

I've heard some people say the Chinese herbal medicine 'Po Chai' pills work well for stomach upsets - but not tried it myself.

[Guest]

Re: chinese medicine, is it all nonsense?

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4,000 years of culture. They are not dropping dead in the streets. Most is not written down, only taught elder to pupil.

 

Not the greatest technical surgeons but what is [color:"red"]your [/color] goal. Cure?, relief?, understanding.?

 

You say " Whatever works". What is works to you? Get rid of symtoms? Relieve pain? Look better?

 

Chinese medicine is based on treating the whole person, not just the afliction, symptoms. Up 2 u what you want.

 

Perhaps they should be you first source, not your last alternative.

 

 

[Guest]

Yes, that bit about thousands of years of experience is a real advantage. The big difference I see is western medicine treats symptoms and Chinese medicine treats the source of the problem. So typically if you go for western medicine, you say what's wrong with you and you get pills to supress each thing. In Chinese medicine they find the imbalance in the body that has created the problem and correct it with acupuncture, herbs or such and the body returns to normal on its own. Chinese see energy flow (Chi) as the key to good health. It's a strange thing where they might do something to a toe to treat an eye for instance. The other thing is while western medicine isolates a chemical and puts it in a pill, chinese medicine gives you the plant which is naturally buffered and has other benefecial trace elements. I wish Chinese medicine were a more prominent thing and surprised I've never run into Thai's using it. They just run to the pharmacy to "gin yaa" (eat medicine).

 

[Guest]

My experience says that there is a lot of 'Chinese' medicine used in LOS. There is also (as well as in China) a lot quackery, charletons and plain ignorance. In major cities like Bkk, there is always the pressure for the 'quick fix', so many city Thais have happily and profitably adopted the western 'one pill cures everything' approach. In the end this over use of self medication will end in disaster, both for individuals and the society. Sad, but part of the 'Westernization' process around the world.

[Guest]

I think that if you look at it both sides have their problems. The west is very quick to try and give you a pill and be done with you. But the truth is most of the western medicine is indeed based on actual fact, and fairly good scientific method. The whole "eastern" method is coming from an entirely different place. They speak in subjective terms and in many if not most cases there is very little scientific standard that is applied to the diagnosis or treatment. Just lots of anticdotal reports. Here is how I look at it. What was the average life expectancey of a Chinese person pre "modern" medicine. I think you will find it to be quite low. But in the west the pre "modern" life expectancy was low as well but probably not much different than the Chinese. Every culture has its folk remedies, and most of them had unpredictable results. I think that most everyday things like rashes, or indigestion, or aches and pains will take care of themselves with just a bit of time. But for real illness and disease the only proven medicine is "modern" medicine. Notice I did not say western, because we do not have the market cornered on scientific research.

There are standards that transend culture, and these are what must be used to determine the efficacy of a given treatment.

[Guest]

Disagree. This is the result of goods produced for a more advanced society mixing into one whose culture is barely adequate for modern existence. A dangerous mixture indeed.

[BritTim]

Much of the terminology used does make it sound a bit 'quackery'. However, there are definitely conditions for which traditional Eastern methods of medical treatment seem more effective than Western medicine.

 

Western medicine is excellent for cases where a specific disease or injury must be treated. For such cases, highly scientific studies of different treatment methods have been done and you will be treated based on the benefit of these.

 

Western medicine is much less successful is dealing with more vague conditions, such as lacking energy or suffering from frequent headaches. In Western medicine, such conditions are sometimes not even taken seriously. In these cases, the more holistic Eastern treatment methods of trying to improve the overall chemical balance in the body seems to have a high success rate.

 

It is worth mentioning that some previously reviled Eastern treatment methods (for instance, acupuncture) have become respected in the West. Further, major drug companies have long studied Eastern pharmacopeia for clues on promising areas of research to develop modern medicines.

[kamui]

Says BritTim:

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Western medicine is much less successful is dealing with more vague conditions, such as lacking energy or suffering from frequent headaches. In Western medicine, such conditions are sometimes not even taken seriously. In these cases, the more holistic Eastern treatment methods of trying to improve the overall chemical balance in the body seems to have a high success rate.

 

It is worth mentioning that some previously reviled Eastern treatment methods (for instance, acupuncture) have become respected in the West. Further, major drug companies have long studied Eastern pharmacopeia for clues on promising areas of research to develop modern medicines.

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Only to add, scientists say that Western medicine is better in healing acute problems, when it is necessary to act quickly (broken leg, heart stroke e.g..), but Eastern medicine is said to be much better in healing chronically diseases.

 

I had a very good experience with acupuncture in Japan after I injured my shoulder in the gym. It took a few weeks to heal with the help of acupuncture, but during this time the women who did the acupuncture seemed to rebalance my body in broader way (muscles in upper and low body, stomach) and I even only needed to stop doing sports for a short time.

 

Every acupuncture session took a lot of energy. After the session I wasn't able to do anything, but to go home, because I always felt very tired and dizzy and needed to take a nap.

[Guest]

scientists say that Western medicine is better in healing acute problems

 

That may be true, but chinese medicine can be useful even in acute cases. For instance, if someone is having a heart attack one good reaction per chinese medicine is to bite the tip of the pinky finger. Sounds ridiculous, but paramedics are starting to do this. Something about the shock of it stimulating the heart, but maybe more to it. Also good because it can be administered by yourself should you be alone.