All Posts tagged general topics

Summer’s here – and so is excessive perspiration, insomnia, sunburn and heat rash. Here are some traditional Chinese medicine tips for keeping your body in good shape during the often exhausting humid season. According to TCM, summer is synonymous with the fire element. Excess heat is seen as injurious to…

During middle age, physical deterioration becomes obvious. We don’t have as much get-up-and-go as before, our hair turns gray and we gain weight. These changes often males us realise that we can no longer ignore our bodies. Traditional Chinese medicine tries to delay physical aging from a functional aspect. According…

In traditional Chinese medicine, mental activities and the emotions are referred to as shen (spirit) and are closely connected to the functions of the internal organs. As we age, physical deterioration leads to mental weakness, causing poor memory, slow response rates, fatigue, insomnia and abnormal behaviour. TCM holds that shen…

Although we can’t avoid getting older, traditional Chinese medicine’s holistic approach to health and well-being aims to maintain the body and prevent premature ageing. Keeping the skin young with TCM involves replenishing blood and activating its circulation and nourishing yin for lubrication. The spleen provides the source of blood and…

With Hong Kong now largely a smoke-free zone, those struggling to kick the nicotine habit may well be looking for help. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) takes a holistic approach, first tackling the damage caused by tobacco tar accumulating along the airway passages, which inhibits the secretion glands’ ability to self-clean…

A traditional Chinese medicine practitioner always asks about bowel habits, in the belief that movements correlate with the conditions of the organs and the state of the body’s health. They may also give an early warning of disease. Healthy people are able to defecate once or twice a day without…

We all know pain is a warning that something is wrong with the body’s working. However, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners don’t focus only on the pain. They also identify the accompanying signs. Two fundamental concepts of TCM are involved in pain – the meridian system and chi. Chi is…

Herbal baths aren’t just a soothing way to rejuvenate a tired body and mind. In traditional Chinese medicine, they’re seen as a tool for treating illness or disease. However, herbal baths have had some bad press recently, after man died in March while soaking in a herbal solution at a…

Cupping is a traditional Chinese medicine method of treating disease caused by localised congestion. A partial vacuum is created in a cupping jar (often using heat), which is then applied to the skin. The underlying tissue is drawn up into the jar, forming an area of blood stasis, which later…

Traditional Chinese medicine’s holistic view of health maintains that when you have a lot of healthy energy, or sheng chi, pathogenic forces can’t take hold. The lungs. Spleen. Kidneys, liver and heart form the core of immune defence. The lungs preside over the immune barrier of the body. This distributes…

Scraping therapy (gua sha) is a popular folk remedy in China. Gua means to scrape, and sha refers to the reddish skin patches that are created by scraping. In ancient times, this was an important remedy for acute diseases often contracted in summer and autumn. Some scholars say that scraping…

Every so often there are media reports about the use of wild animal parts such as rhino horn and tiger bone in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). There are laws on the mainland banning the use of rare animals in medicine, because poaching and the destruction of natural habitats have put…

According to Chinese philosophy, jing (essence) forms the basis for the whole body. Stored in the kidneys, jing serves as the “deposited capital” for all kinds of physiological functions. For example, conception is made possible by the power of jing, maturing is the blossoming of jing, and ageing reflects the…

Alcohol is a common ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine, having been used for more than 4,000 years. Alcohol drinks with medicinal purposes in TCM include millet wine, strong white spirits and medicated wines and beers. Li Shizhen, a famous TCM practitioner, talked about wine in his book Bencao Gangmu. “Wine…

Regular physical exercise is an important aspect of health maintenance. But, unlike some modern approaches, TCM doesn’t recommend pushing the body to its limits. Moderate and gentle exercise is considered the best way to stimulate chi and blood flow around the body for health protection and nourishment. Over the centuries,…

Southern China is in a sub-tropical zone whose high temperatures and humidity cause bacterial growth and fungal growth. According to traditional Chinese medicine, hot and wet weather makes it easy for exogenous heat and dampness evils to attack the body. They consume chi (vital energy), impair body fluids and cause…

The tongue is a highly sensitive organ that can easily be influenced by physical changes. Tongue “signs” are an important factor in traditional Chinese medicine assessment, as changes are believed to reflect the development of a disease. After a TCM physician has checked the pulse, they look at the tongue.…

Food taboos are an important part of Chinese culture, when someone suffers from a particular disorder or is taking medication, they often ask TCM practitioners what food they should avoid. The Chinese have a long history of dietary practice. There are records of court physicians dealing with dietary problems more…

Traditional Chinese medicine categorises the major types of body constitution as neutral, yin-cold, yang-hot, phlegm-damp and dry, these five constitutions form a crucial guideline in clinical applications. Knowing your body allows TCM physicians to better advise you on what to eat and how to live to maintain good health. Yang-hot…

Flexibility is one of the main reasons herbal decoctions have remained the clinical mainstay of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for thousands of years. They’re therapeutic, quickly absorbed and have few toxic side effects, and the ingredients can be modified on a daily basis, allowing physicians to cater to the patient’s…