Chinese medicine suffers from an image problem. Let’s dispel a few myths here and now to help you understand what to expect when seeking out treatment at The Elemental Family… MYTH #1: Chinese medicine treatments must include acupuncture.
TRUTH: Chinese medicine treatments certainly can, and usually do, include acupuncture, but that is just one tool in a wide and varied toolbox. At the Elemental Family, I choose the most appropriate and efficacious treatment methods based on your individual needs and comfort level. This is especially true when it comes to working with kids! Many pediatric treatments are completely needle-free (although I find the majority of kids to be both curious and brave enough to try a “tap” or two).
Aside from acupuncture, Chinese medicine offers herbal formulas, nutritional recommendations, hands-on techniques including massage techniques, gua sha and cupping, as well as moxibustion and heat therapy. Your treatments will incorporate as many of the above as needed to create the most healing protocol for you.
MYTH #2: Chinese medicine is actually magic/voodoo and cures you in one treatment.
TRUTH: Sorry to burst the bubble on this one, but the healing process takes time, no matter what the intervention. Chinese medicine is a full medical system that has been used for thousands of years all over the world. It has powerful effects, but it is also a subtle intervention that requires time, patience, and trust to create the conditions necessary for lasting change in the body and mind. If you are ready to make this commitment to your health, Chinese medicine will provide the well-worn, centuries-old scaffolding to support you.
Progress is seen most rapidly with consistent weekly or bi-weekly treatments. Consistent treatment allows you to see how your body actually responds to this medicine, and it enables me to make adjustments on a regular basis to optimize your healing process. Chinese medicine treatments have a cumulative effect in the body, meaning that the more frequently you remind your body of the healthy patterns you are trying to establish, the more quickly you will reach your goal.
MYTH #3: You must choose only one type of medicine for yourself and your family and stick to that philosophy for all ailments, at all times.
TRUTH: Different types of medical systems have very different strengths and they should be recognized and utilized accordingly. Integrative medicine (combining Western and Eastern therapies in the same clinical setting) is gaining a huge foothold in this country for this very reason. Western medicine provides life-saving and life-altering treatments with the use of miraculous technology. It also excels at damage control – think of any episode of TV medical dramas (Greys, ER, you get the picture). However, the vast majority of ailments, including many of the health epidemics that are afflicting our society (allergies, ADD, the Autism spectrum, diabetes, etc), are of a chronic nature and they don’t require or respond to emergency medical treatment. Chinese medicine and other holistic systems excel at jump-starting your body’s own healing capacity and setting the stage for stronger health down the road.