Traditional Chinese Medicine Making Its Way Between the Gaps of Western Methods

Trauma can include physical injury due to violence oraccidents, but it also refers to lasting effects of shock or emotionallydamaging occurrences. Patients who experience these types of injuries oraccidents often receive treatments in order to correct the physical damagealone. On the other hand, traumatologists aim to work with patients to heal everypart of the mind and body from the inside out.

In order to regenerate the flow of qi, traumatologists use a combination of internal and externaltreatments aimed at reconnecting any damaged or diseased organs to the rest ofthe body: yin and yang properties. TCM suggests that each organ in the bodydoes not just have its own distinct purpose. Instead, they all have a purposeto work together in harmony.

Many of the treatments involve the use of several herbalrecipes, depending on the type as well as the degree of injury. For example,several internal methods use herbal recipes that cause purging. This helps toeliminate stasis of both blood and qi,but some individuals cannot handle this type of treatment. Therefore, there areother protocols that can activate circulation in other ways.

As for external methods, many include the use of herbalpastes, herbal powders, or herbal plasters for therapies such as massagetherapy, fumigating and bath medicine, and hot compresses. For conditions suchas dislocation, traumatologists often practice different types of bodymanipulation.

Whatever the injury is, TCM traumatologists make it a pointto truly understand the needs of each patient.

According to the World Health Organization, “Herbalmedicines are the most lucrative form of traditional medicine, generatingbillions of dollars in revenue.” Traditional medicine originating from countriessuch as Asia and Africa has spread across America for thousands of years. Theproblem is that national policies for many of these methods have not yet beenadopted. As the use of TCM continues to expand, methods like TCM Traumatologycould just become newly licensed practices in the U.S.