Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine
According to Chinese medicine, the human body is part of the natural world and shares the characteristics of nature. The five main meridians share the nature and energy of the five elements. The liver meridian and sharing the same nature as wood and wind. The heart meridian is related to fire and heat. The spleen meridian goes with the land and humidity. The lung Meridian shares the same energy as the metal and the drought and the kidney meridian is related to water and cold.
The cycles of Shen and Ko explain the relationship between the elements. Shen described the cycle of generative relationship between the five elements: fire burns wood, the fire feeds earth, earth produces metal, metal can be melted and the water allows the growth of wood. The emotions of these elements have the same generative (Shen) and the same relations. The liver can generate joy (fire). Joy (heart) leads to the self-confidence (the earth). Self-confidence leads to empowerment (metal), which induces the motivation (water) and motivation can once again give the feeling of accomplishment.
The cycle describes the relationship Ko degeneration among the five elements: water extinguishes fire, fire melts metal, metal cuts wood, wood splits the earth and the earth blocks water. It is the same in the degeneration between the different emotional and meridians. The kidneys (water) prevented the stimulation (heart, fire), the excitation can overcome the sadness (lung, metal); Sadness can repress anger (liver, wood), anger can mask the concern (spleen, earth), and the problem can hide the fear.
For example, a patient may cry to cover his anger behind. But the anger expressed his concern. Fear can be used to control the excitement. Finding thrills and action can be used to avoid mourning. The goal of homeostasis is a living system is in equilibrium with the five elements. One element that has an excessive or insufficient qi will be affected in its relationship with other elements.
Excess wood qi promotes rebellion which prevents the checks made by the chi of metal and it overwrites the qi of the earth. When liver qi is stagnant due to an excess of anger and resentment, it causes symptoms in the lung meridian, such as coughing, wheezing or pain and affects the meridians of the spleen, causing symptoms such as indigestion, fatigue and anxiety.
When one element is deficient, it can generate and control. For example, if the kidney qi is deficient because of its relations of generation and degeneration, it causes a deficiency in the liver meridian, which disrupts sleep, dizzy and leads to depression. A surplus of qi in the meridian of the heart, gives rise to palpitations, anxiety and insomnia. Therefore, the clinical symptoms of a meridian – element may come from this meridian, element or be secondary to a meridian – something that acts downstream. It is the experience of a practitioner of Chinese medicine that evaluates these issues and determines whether the problem is primary or secondary.
According to the theory of Chinese medicine, meridians are points on the surface of the body are in constant communication with the outside environment. These points called acupoints are used to manipulate the state of qi meridians that run inside the body. In the traditional practice of Chinese medicine, the practitioner must assess the patient by the state of Qi meridians concerned and decide on a treatment strategy accordingly. He or she will choose and combine the techniques of manipulation and acupoints to restore balance. A well-trained practitioner will make a systematic survey of symptoms and signs that it examines. He will watch as the tongue and pulse of the meridians to his diagnosis.
In modern times, acupuncture is not always practiced by the theoretical framework of traditional Chinese medicine. Some add electrical stimulation of needles to improve their effectiveness. Others have developed a fixed treatment protocol for each patient with a given condition without diagnosing the state of qi and meridians involved. The inconsistency with which acupuncture is used approximate and may be partly responsible for differences between studies that seek to establish its effectiveness.
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