Practiced in the East for millennia, the traditional Chinese medicine is highly appreciated today in Western countries for its holistic and personalized approach.
Far from our modern medicine, the chinese medicine fascinates and fascinates, but is still relatively unknown to us. It finds its place in the treatment of innumerable pathologies, including back pain, a recurring symptom seen by more than 60% of the world's population of a certain age.
To better understand it, this article will discuss the different bases and concepts at the origin of this ancestral medicine, as well as its contribution to the diagnosis and management of back pain.
Contents
Contents
Traditional Chinese medicine, the basics
Born more than 2000 years ago, the traditional Chinese medicine ( MTC) is based on an energetic, dynamic and global analysis of the individual.
Two central ideas are at the origin of the MTC.
Le Qi (Ki or Chi): energy or vital force. In chinese medicine, an individual is formed by a body animated by a breath: the Qi. This circulates throughout the body via a system of channels where blood and fluids also circulate, which in a state of equilibrium ensures good health.
The treatments offered by the traditional medicineChinese focus on ways to establish and maintain the flow of Qi.
Le Yin et Yang : symbol of bipolarity, describe the qualities of Qi. Yin is associated with night, cold, feminine, cool and negative, etc. Yang on the other hand is associated with day, warmth, positivity, momentum and masculinity, etc.
According to MTC, these ideas are expressed in our body. When there is a balance between these energies, you feel good and healthy. So when they are out of harmony, you feel sick. The chinese medicine aims to promote harmony and healthy flow of Qi in the body.
In Western medicine, two people with a similar pathology can be treated with standard drug therapy. However, in medicinetraditionalChinese, each person may receive different treatments for the same disease.
Despite the beliefs of each other,la chinese medicine struggles to demonstrate its effectiveness in clinical and therapeutic trials. Indeed, thousands of scientific studies have been conducted to assess its effectiveness.
They massively led to the observation totally ineffective, with the exception of a few herbal remedies, now integrated into scientific medicine.
This is why many doctors around the world are concerned about the loss of MTC and its claims to complement or replace contemporary medicine.
Chinese medicine pain concept
The body maintains a balance between Yin and Yang, Qi and blood which circulate in the body according to well-defined paths called meridians.
Invisible channels interconnected 12 in number, connected to one or more organs, the meridians would allow the conduction of the four substances:
Energy (Qi)
Blood (Xue)
Body fluids (JinYe)
The Vital Essence (Jing)
When there remains a lack of Qi or blood (emptiness or insufficiency) or when they accumulate in a region of the body (stagnation), an imbalance between yin and yang is formed.
Body homeostasis is disrupted, the internal viscera no longer function optimally and pain develops. Whether acute or chronic, pain can have many causes.
La sharp pain is usually characterized by an abrupt onset, short duration, normal functioning of the nervous systems: peripheral and central, a predictable course and a positive outcome in most cases.
Fullerenes chronic pain are different, they are continuous pains, the treatment of which is difficult especially if feelings such as frustration, anger or fear persist, thus causing an exacerbation of pain.
Can Chinese medicine relieve back pain?
Concept of back pain in chinese medicine
En chinese medicine, the back is an area through which many meridians pass.
When external perverse energies (wind, cold, humidity, heat/fire, drought) enter these meridians, they prevent Qi and blood from flowing properly, hence the appearance of back pain (back pain).
A sensitivity to cold and humidity is favored by the weakness of the yang energy of the kidneys whose role is to warm the body, to transform liquids to prevent the accumulation of internal humidity and to strengthen immunity. innate.
The diagnosis of back pain will consist in determining the affected meridian according to the location of the pain points, as well as by identifying the internal organ affected by the external evil energy.
BACK ACHE ? ANSWER THIS SHORT QUESTIONNAIRE AND BENEFIT FROM ADVICE ADAPTED TO YOUR SITUATION
La MTC offers a variety of therapies for the treatment of back pain such asacupuncture, suction cups, Tui Na massages and Chinese pharmacopoeia.
Acupuncture
It is a non-intrusive method of care used for millennia in the chinese medicine. It consists of inserting fine sterile needles at various precise points along the meridians in order to allow a restoration of the flow of Qi.
The technique does not induce any painful sensations and generally causes a bonus relaxation effect.
THEacupuncture helps relieve pain by stimulating the production of a specific hormone: endorphin (happiness hormone), as well as by relaxing a muscle or nerves.
suction cups
Also called " Cupping », this technique allows to dissolve the blockages which hinder the circulation of Qi through the meridians. These blockages are the result of an accumulation of body fluids that settle under the skin, such as blood.
La suction cup looks like a bell jar of varying sizes that is applied to the skin after having previously expelled the air, with the aim of inducing a depression.
The application of the suction cups takes place by buckling. The combustion will cause an air vacuum which will create a negative pressure allowing the suction cup to adhere to the skin by a suction effect.
This is a painless method. The patient will simply feel the heating and the traction associated with the action of cupping. The suction cups make it possible to suck up the deposits on the surface of the skin, where they will be eliminated by the body.
Tui na
Refers to Chinese massages which help to annihilate energy blockages, thus promoting the stimulation of Qi within the body.
Fullerenes Tui Na massages help relieve tension in the dorsal region, and also to act on pain of muscular or skeletal origin which emanate from energy disturbances.
At first, the practitioner will exercise superficial palpations in order to perceive and locate the blockages from which the patient suffers. Then, he devotes himself to the stimulation of energy points by bi-digital pressure.
Finally, he massages the back muscles where the pains are felt with the help of massage oil (differs according to the type of reaction to the pain of the patient.)
The Chinese Pharmacopoeia
La chinese pharmacopoeia is a therapeutic approach based on the use of minerals, animal products, but especially plants (phytotherapy). These can be used as a curative treatment or as preventive care in order to maintain and restore harmony and balance within the body.
For example, the dried fruits ofHawthorn have interesting properties to fight against problemsdeBoth of you, especially those affecting the lower back region. The same goes for theEucommia, a plant considered fundamental in Chinese herbalism and known to relieve illdeBoth of you.
Some Chinese plants or preparations are easy to acquire given their availability over the counter in Chinese pharmacies or shops.
However, some require a medical prescription from a practitioner specializing in chinese medicine.
My name is Mehdi Toufik, I am a general practitioner and French-speaking web editor. As a health professional, I spend my time reading, studying and documenting all the scientific information to extract the essentials. My passion for literature and writing led me to start writing articles on the theme of health and well-being, by offering unique and original articles, pleasant to read.
