A billion Chinese can’t all be wrong

A closer look at the mysteries of Chinese medicine

For most people the words Chinese medicine conjure up an image of a body pierced randomly with countless thin needles. Bizarre. Secretive. Dubious. Frightening even. But Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is an ancient healing system based on more than three thousand years of research and experiments.

The understanding of TCM therapies lie beyond the accepted borders of Western thought and yet Chinese homeopathy, acupuncture and qi-gong exercises are becoming more and more popular and are even gaining recognition by certain sectors of the sceptical scientific community.

TCM goes into very little detail about the functioning of a specific organ as an entity on its own but concentrates instead on the fact that an organ forms part of a total dynamic process in the body. Organs are not seen to function in isolation but to work rather in a constant ebb and flow process. Illness is regarded as a disharmony in the process and not as a breakdown of a detached piece of machinery.

A good analogy is to think of a pressure cooker. In good working order, the pressure inside is kept at optimal level to cook the food perfectly. When the required temperature has been reached the pressure can be set by simply adjusting the valve. If that valve becomes blocked, the system becomes unstable and, if some adjustment isn’t made, the whole system can explode.

Likewise, if the valve releases pressure faster than it’s formed, the food will take a long time to cook or will perhaps not cook at all. A way must be found to build up the pressure again to achieve equilibrium. In the same way, the heat below the pressure cooker should not be too low or too high. This concept of excess or deficiency is two of the main principles of TCM.

Just as Western medicine cannot be explained in a few sentences, so too does the complex practice of TCM defy brief analysis. Its primary philosophy holds that sickness occurs as a result of an imbalance in the emotional and physical body of a person. The second philosophy states that, when a person is sick, the whole body must be treated, regardless of where the illness manifests itself. This is where yin and yang make their appearance.

The concepts of yin and yang evolved by observing all aspects of the physical world and concluding that nature appeared to group itself in pairs of interdependent opposites. The concept of day, they say, would have no meaning if we did not understand the concept of night. Yin is passive, still and reflective, while yang is active, warm and in motion. Every object and every situation in this world is said to contain both yin and yang elements.

But what drives this yin and yang? What makes our hearts beat and our lungs smack for air? What stimulates our thoughts and causes us to experience love? Existential questions which we do not find answered by science, yet they are integral to Chinese medicine and philosophy. It is the idea of qi (also known as chi).

Qi, in its simplest form, is energy: Matter at the point of becoming energy or energy at the point of disintegrating. When qi gathers, the body is formed and when qi disperses, the body dies. Life energy or life essence. Inner energy, for want of a better word, is a foreign concept to us and not something with which we are comfortable in our sceptical society. Qi is the force that connects yin and yang. It flows through our bodies, along with our blood and other bodily fluids, keeping us alive and healthy.

When the flow of qi is free, the yin and yang functions are balanced and an overall feeling of good health is experienced. When the qi’s flow is hindered in some way, the result will be seen in attacks of ill health. (The pressure inside the analogical pressure cooker.)

During the first consultation with a TCM practitioner a patient will be asked to answer a long and comprehensive list of questions. When did the ailment make its first appearance? What are the symptoms? What situations seem to offer relief and what makes it worse? Questions will be asked about appetite, diet, digestion, mental and spiritual condition and many more.

Just as Western doctors don’t always restrict treatment to the administering of pills and syrups, so too is the treatment in TCM varied and all encompassing. Someone with a high cholesterol problem on a visit to their local MD will not simply be given a bottle of pills and told to go home. Instead they’ll be advised to lose weight, stop smoking, start exercising, minimise stress, limit alcohol consumption and cut down on red meat and saturated fats. So too will the TCM practitioner give the patient a herbal extract to drink two or three times a day to ease the worst discomfort of the complaint. Afterwards he could recommend a series of acupuncture or acupressure (Chinese massage) therapies to restore the balance of the qi in the body.

After the first consultation, the practitioner usually asks to see the patient on a weekly or fortnightly basis for a certain period of time. It is important to keep these appointments to ensure the healing process is completed. Stopping the sessions when the symptoms have vanished could lead to the problem flaring up again at a later stage.

The body’s initial reaction to the herbal medicines could be a short-lived spell of nausea, indigestion or diarrhoea. It’s nothing to be concerned about as long as the symptoms are mild and last for only a short period. This is the body’s natural reflex to the new substance and will disappear again almost immediately. As a matter of fact, these reactions are seen as positive by the practitioner as he interprets it as a sign that the medicine has hit the right cord.

“This is an accurate general overview of Traditional Chinese Medicine,” says Catherine Lie, doctor-acupuncturist from the Medisch Centrum De Wittevrouwenhof in Maastricht (Wethouder van Caldenborghlaan 45, 6226 BS Maastricht, Tel. 06 53 288 316, praktijklie@gmail.com)
“Other language patients, besides Limburgs, are welcome at our clinic for a consult. We also speak English, German, French and Indonesian,” she replied to the question of communication with non-Dutch speaking expatriates.

Case study: Nele is a twenty-seven-year-old teacher who lives and works in Maastricht. Over the past ten months she started developing chronic fatigue symptoms and lethargy. She was pale, underweight and complained of a loss of appetite and a bloated stomach. She couldn’t seem to get herself motivated in the mornings she said.

Her problem was diagnosed as being a chronic deficient qi, spleen-qi to be exact, which was probably related to bad eating habits. To rejuvenate her spleen-qi she was given a combination of acupuncture therapy along with an herbal treatment. She was advised to change her eating habits and concentrate on certain foods. Her practitioner also told her to take up a very mild form of exercise such as walking. Once her energy levels were up again she joined a tai-chi class at her local fitness centre which stimulated her qi to flow evenly and strengthened the kidneys, which, in turn, supported the energy of her yin and yang.

“I can’t believe the person I was three months ago and the person I am now are one and the same. It’s as if I’ve had new life breathed into me,” says Nele about her treatment.

Here is an exercise which can help you to experience your own qi-flow:

• Sit yourself comfortably on a chair, feet flat on the ground. Keep your back straight and place your hands on your lap with your palms facing up.
• Take two or three minutes to relax yourself.
• Raise your arms to chest height, palms facing each other at about 15 – 20 cm. Your arms should be straight but relaxed. No tense muscles, as if you’re holding a beach ball in your hands.
• Breathe naturally so that your lower abdomen rises and falls gently. (This area, two fingers below your navel, is known as the qihai or ‘sea of qi’.)
• Imagine your qi rising up through your body from within the sea of qi. Feel it flowing down the inner arms and out of the body. Concentrate on the pericardium meridian which flows down the centre of your arm to the tip of your middle finger.
• Imagine the qi streaming out of your body every time you exhale. Focus on the middle of your palm.
• Be aware of any sensations you experience from within the centre of your palms; heat, cold, tingling, heaviness, attraction. Whatever it is, stay focused on it.
• Play with this sensation by bringing your palms closer to each other and then pulling them apart again. With the palm of one hand held several centimetres above the outer arm of the other arm, caress the arm slowly from thumb to elbow. Do you feel a variety of sensations at different points along the arm?

It must be clear that what you are experiencing is not the qi itself but merely an effect of it. Just as when you touch a glowing light bulb the heat you feel is not the electricity itself but an effect of it.

It is, of course, important to note that this synopsis of Traditional Chinese Medicine is not intended to undermine Western medicine but serves rather to shed light on a practice which is often seen as quirky and simplistic. In China there are one billion people who have no problem accepting Western medicine alongside TCM. There can be no reason why we can’t entertain the notion that there may well be something of value to this ancient system of healing.

By Colette Victor

Colette Victor, a South African expat, has been living in Maasmechelen for the last eight years. She works in a local community centre, enjoys writing and is passionate about the environment.

Copyright: @Colette Victor

(Photographs courtesy of Dr. Catherine Lie)