ontcmadmin    December 23,2016 14:41:59

A traditional Chinese medicine demonstration base has been launched in a bid to increase the use of TCM services across the world.

The base, jointly launched by the Beijing Diplomatic Service and the city's Chaoyang District on Monday, gives diplomats an opportunity to sample the healing power of traditional Chinese medicine.

The Guoyihui Hospital Management base played host to the first of what is set to become a regular event, "TCM Health Day For Ambassadors".

More than 200 diplomats and their families from more than 80 diplomatic corps attended.

The Grenadian Ambassador to China, Antoine Denis Godwin, tried a heat-sensitive moxibustion treatment.

"It’s amazing and really interesting. My shoulder was in pain but it feels warm and comfortable now."

In addition to traditional treatments, diplomats can check out a health pre-examination machine called Obron that combines elements of Chinese and western medicine.

"It adopts low voltage direct current technology to scan the whole body," machine operator Li Juan said. "The meridians along which acupuncture points are distributed and can be clearly seen in the 3D images."

"It was invented by Polo Smith, a German who has studied TCM in China for five years."

Acupuncture is becoming increasingly popular as a viable way to treat chronic disease and pain. It’s an ancient method to treat the ill, created thousands of years ago by the Chinese. 

 The World Health Organization recognizes at least 47 kinds of diseases that can be treated with acupuncture. Pain can also be treated with acupuncture and relieve symptoms. Pain that is treatable by acupuncture includes: headaches, migraines, dizziness, neuralgia, post-operation pain, stroke residuals and facial pain. It relieves symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, Bell’s palsy, tremors and memory loss. It can cure pain and weakness in: neck, shoulder, arms, hands, fingers, knees, leg, feet, back pain or aches. It also treats muscle cramping, localized traumatic injuries, sprains, strains, sports injuries, arthritis, carpal tunnel, disc problems, sciatica, varicose veins and heel spurs. Other treatable problems include: abdominal pain, hyperactivity, chronic diarrhea, indigestion, gastritis, colitis, constipation, hemorrhoids, fatty liver, diabetes, thyroid problems, neurogenic bladder dysfunction, nephritis, poor vision, degenerative eyes, tinnitus, nervous deafness, ear ringing, toothache, post extraction gum/tooth pain and gum problems.

Many sicknesses and lifelong symptoms can be relieved through acupuncture. Sicknesses that acupuncture can help relieve symptoms of include: allergies, sinusitis, common cold, tonsillitis, emphysema, bronchitis, asthma, flu, lung problems and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

 It can also help gynecological issues such as: PMS cramps, menopause syndrome, urinary tract infections, obstetrics care, prevent miscarriages, and infertility. For males: prostate issues, impotence and also infertility can be treated.

 Acupuncture can also help with: hypertension, coronary heart angiocardiopathy, cardiac arrhythmia, insomnia, depression, anxiety, nervousness, neurosis, shingles, lupus-erythematous, eczema, rashes, myasthenia gravis and after cancer surgery pain.

The Permian Basin’s dearth of health care options has grown increasingly infamous as certain segments of the community -- like veterans and those affected with mental health issues --struggle to find adequate services. This year, however, patients ailed with most any symptom have an option beyond conventional remedies.

Since February, Dr. Clay Collins has been practicing acupuncture on the west side of town. In a single room within the Family Wellness Center off West Wadley Avenue, Collins treats his patients’ ailments with needles and a convivial bedside manner. It’s a practice thousands of years old, but in Midland, Collins is somewhat of a pioneer.

He moved his practice to Midland after studying and practicing his craft in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for eight years. Then, after overcoming trepidations about how such a practice would be received in Midland, he opened his business to a welcoming reception.

“I love acupuncture and Chinese medicine, but when I came to town, I didn’t know if it would fly in Midland,” he said. “I had faith in the medicine. It’s a wonderful modality and good for so many things.”

Yet in bringing his practice to Midland, he’s faced incredulity -- usually those that stem from associating the practice to eastern religions.

“Generally people are outright skeptical; they’ll say they don’t believe in it. So I’m quick to say it’s not a faith-based medicine, you don’t have to believe in it for it to work -- it just works,” he said.

From cold and flu relief to psycho-emotional and neurological disorders, acupuncture can be effective for more than 40 common disorders recognized by the World Health Organization. For those suffering muscle and joint pain, acupuncture can help provide relief, Collins said. And for those suffering PTSD, depression or anxiety, acupuncture can bring comfort.

And especially so for combat veterans. Collins, who will soon begin accepting Tricare veterans’ life insurance, treats several veterans with physiological or mental pains.

One such patient, veteran John Qualls, discovered acupuncture several years after serving in the Vietnam War.

“When I came back from Vietnam, I had 14 years of migraine headaches,” Qualls said. “I had tried everything else -- every pill that you could think of, so I said ‘let’s just go and take a peek.’ I had three sessions, and three sessions stopped the headaches.”

ontcmadmin    May 09,2017 

Svetlana Shipetko and her two sons did not just come to South China's tropical island of Hainan to escape the freezing Siberian weather.

Shipetko had an equally important goal -- to ease her lower back pain.

Instead of prescribing painkillers, Shipetko's Chinese doctor Tang Yi performed the traditional Chinese therapy of "tuina," which literally means "push-and-pinch."

Every morning, Shipetko received the therapy at the Sanya Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, then spent the rest of the day bathing in the sun.

"It is great," she told Xinhua through an interpreter. "No pills, no injections, but I feel much better."

Shipetko is one of tens of thousands of Russians who flock to Hainan every year. The island province has received 800,000 Russian tourists in the past seven years.

Almost 80 percent of them tried some form of traditional Chinese therapy during their stay -- either to treat a particular ailment or simply for wellness, health authorities said.

Rooted in ancient Chinese philosophy, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has in recent years gained popularity in a world dominated by modern Western medicine.

Clinics have proliferated outside of China, but many face challenges such as getting herbs across the border or luring experienced professionals to work overseas.

As a result, more foreigners are coming to China for TCM treatment or therapy.

The boom is particularly felt in Sanya, where Russian-language advertisements for acupuncture pop up across the city.