Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine
Theory of TCM
Why do so many suffer from pain, specifically low back pain? This is a question that patients and doctors ask with varying degrees of frustration. I'd like to provide an alternative angle of understanding low back pain through the model of Chinese medicine.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a system of medicine that has been practiced for several thousand years in the Orient and has gathered more acclaim in the last decade here in the West. TCM encompasses the modalities of acupuncture (ak-u-punk-chur), herbal medicine, moxabustion (mox-ah-bust-shun), Tui Na (twee-nah) or medical massage and often includes nutritional therapy and breathing therapy, or Qi Gong (chee-goong).
In November of 1997 the National Institute of Health published a consensus statement stating there is, in fact, sufficient evidence to support the use of acupuncture (for some conditions). Though, further study of its physiology and clinical value was encouraged, promising results emerged regarding the efficacy of acupuncture in low back pain. I'd like to also note that the use of acupuncture does not preclude the concurrent use of Western medical therapies and often, both are utilized to successfully treat a patient.
The Theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine
When an individual is diagnosed with a "back problem" in Western medicine be it spondylosis (spon-dee-low-sis), spinal osteoarthritis (os-t-o-arth-rye-tis), prolapsed lumbar disc, or muscular/ligamentous lumbar strain, the focus is primarily on the lower back region and within the Western medical model the options become therapies like spinal surgery, physical therapy, pharmaceutical intervention, and cortisone or epidural (ep-e-do-ral) type injections. These are perfectly acceptable modalities but what if they don't alleviate the pain? And, what about the underlying cause for the back weakness in the first place? Can that underlying weakness be strengthened? Let us consider this possibility via Chinese medicine.
Though the system of TCM is logical and scientific in it's own way, it is a separate system from modern Western medicine and can't always be explained via Western medical logic. To include the successful system of TCM within our minds, we need to expand the way we think and consider both systems as valid while learning how to accept the similarities and differences within the two systems.
One could say that Chinese medicine was born out of the theory of Yin and Yang. As well as describing that which exists in nature, Yin and Yang perfectly describes all the parts and functions of the body. Yin and Yang are in a constant state of dynamic balance, when this balance is threatened disease is possible. An example in nature of this dynamic balance is the rhythm of the sun (Yang) and moon (Yin). In a 24-hour period each is unique, change over to the other and require each other for overall balance (from the perspective of earth that is). Yin and Yang each have an individual expression in the body and yet requires the other to exist, for example Yin represents stillness, form and blood whereas, Yang represents activity, function and Qi (chee).
Qi needs blood to nourish it and blood needs Qi to move it. Qi can be described as energy, material force, electromagnetic current, matter, ether, vital force, or life force. Qi travels throughout our entire body in channels or meridians reaching every aspect of our body. These channels are understood to be separate from the pathways of the nervous, vascular, and lymph systems in Western medicine. Loosely, when we are born we begin with a gas tank of Qi and when the tank of Qi is empty our life force is gone or in other words, we die. This tank of gas is rooted in the organ system of the Kidneys according to Chinese medicine theory and is distributed throughout our organs, glands, and channels in a very systematic way. Because of this intricate channel system within our body when we refer to an organ such as the Kidneys, that includes much more than the organ alone according to anatomy. Each organ system has representations of Yin and Yang, hormone balance, as well as specific Qi and blood functions, which play a vital role in connecting, via the channels, with other organ systems and the entire body to render the body a holistic system. In other words, it isn't possible, within TCM, to deem an organ or body part as an isolated problem without considering the whole body system. So, you say, what might this have to do with low back pain?
This article is an excerpt from the book Save Your Aching Back and Neck: A Patient’s Guide, edited by Dr. Stewart Eidelson.
