In this article I’m going to cover some of the most important things you need to know about Chinese medicine, including what it is, why it works, and how it can help you.
Let’s start with the basics: What is Chinese Medicine?
Chinese Medicine is an independent medical system that was developed thousands of years before modern Western medicine. It was developed through scientific observation, systematic record keeping, and extensive clinical practice.
Chinese Medicine has a unique system of medical theory and diagnosis, and a variety of treatment methods - the most important of which is Chinese herbal medicine.
Today, modern Western medicine leads the world in near-miraculous life-saving emergency medicine, and in treatment of late-stage disease. But it often has little to offer in the way of preventative medicine, early intervention, and treatment of chronic illness.
Chinese Medicine focuses on addressing the root cause of disease, which is the most important aspect of treating chronic illness, as well as acting as preventative medicine.
One of the most fundamental differences between Chinese Medicine and Western medicine is that we treat you, the person, not the disease.
What do I mean by that?
In Western medicine practice, a practitioner will typically diagnose your disease, and then apply a prescribed treatment to that disease. You might be thinking I’m just talking about your allopathic medical doctor, but this also includes naturopath and functional medicine doctors who operate within the same medical paradigm - even if they use herbs or supplements.
The problem with this method is that presentation of the same disease diagnosis can vary widely from person to person, and medications are not one size fits all. This way of treating has a high failure rate.
In Chinese Medicine we approach things differently.
We identify the specific symptom pattern for every individual for each individual's experience of a condition or disease. That way we can fit our treatment strategy specifically to you, and your experience. Unsurprisingly, the success rate is much higher.
Let’s talk about insomnia, for example.
The Western medical standard of care is to use sedative-hypnotic medication such as Ambien, which works for approximately 30% of people with insomnia. That means a failure rate of 70%. Not to mention that the sleep quality in those 30% is poor, and comes with significant side effects.
The problem is that Western medical theory is treating all insomnia patients as the same, when in fact individual presentations of insomnia can vary widely.
Chinese Medicine identifies more than a dozen symptom patterns of insomnia, and applies corresponding treatment based on the presentation. As a result, we see a significantly higher success rate, without nasty side effects like increasing your risk of dementia.
That brings me to another important distinction.
Chinese Medicine provides treatment. Western pharmaceutical interventions frequently only provide suppression, or symptom management.
And what happens to things that are suppressed, pushed down, and hidden but never truly dealt with?
Well, they usually come raging back, when given the smallest opportunity.
If you stop taking your Ambien and your insomnia immediately kicks up to eleven, can we really call that “treatment” at all?
Chinese Medicine identifies the specific symptom pattern of each individual, and, from there, pinpoints the root cause of dysfunction.
By getting at the root of your problem, we begin to unwind the complex pathological factors that led to your condition. We can resolve your issues from the ground up, which is the only route to lasting positive change. Unlike most medications, you won’t need to take herbs for life. When we’re done with treatment, you can stop taking herbs and continue feeling good.
That’s treatment.
To put it in a nutshell, Chinese Medicine is an entirely different paradigm than Western medicine.
Western medicine sees you in black and white, good and bad, sick or not.
Chinese Medicine sees you for what you are⸺constantly transforming, nuanced, three-dimensional, and in full cinematic color.
Chinese Medicine is dynamic because the world is dynamic; you and your health are dynamic.
Alright, now we’ve got what it is (an ancient adaptable and unique form of natural medicine), why it works (focusing on treating your pattern of disease from the root up), so let’s talk about how it works.
I practice Chinese herbal medicine.
This is the most advanced system of natural medicine that has ever been developed, and other approaches don’t even come close. Chinese herbal medicine has a long lineage of carefully collected case studies, observations, research and meticulous data collection going back 1000s of years. And it has not stopped, research into the chemical compounds active in herbs and herb combinations continues into the modern day.
Early I explained the system, what makes Chinese Medicine so powerful. The herbs are how we create the actual treatments, the intervention that will address that root cause of your pathology.
So how does it work?
In order to identify the pattern of your disease or problem, I will ask you a lot of questions.
I need to know your clinical history (when the problem started, etc), the metrics of your body’s global function (like your appetite, digestion, bowel movement), the nature of your problem (what makes it better or worse etc).
I will also use objective measures like examining your tongue–which actually tells us a lot about your body’s inner workings.
These examinations paint a picture of your current state of health. Using this data, I will create an herbal formula designed to address the pattern of dysfunction causing your complaint.
I gather this information through my Client Intake Questionnaire, an adaptive online form I designed over the years to collect every piece of information I need in order to analyze and treat a case.
Since Chinese Medicine is inherently dynamic⸺one of its superpowers, as I mentioned earlier — your herbal formula will change over time as you change. I check in with my patients every two weeks for an update on how they are feeling, what’s progressing, examine their tongue pattern, and we adapt accordingly.
Regularly assessing and adjusting the course of treatment is one of the most unique things about Chinese Medicine, and a major reason why it works so well.
It's common in the Western medical paradigm for a doctor to give you a protocol (whether drugs or supplements or herbs) and see you again in three to six months. This is convenient for the doctor, a "set it and forget it" type of approach. Except you're not a crock pot or a low-key house plant. You are a complex and unique human being that wants to feel better ASAP! So if the protocol they put you on is ineffective or incorrect you just wasted six months not feeling better and hundreds or thousands of dollars.
By checking in and adjusting the treatment frequently throughout the process, I can use the subtle metrics of your body (tongue, sleep patterns, digestion, mood, etc) to make sure we are always headed in the right direction as quickly as possible.
But let’s rewind for a second here. I mentioned your “herbal formula”.
What is that anyway?
An herbal formula is a combination of medicinal herbs that are taken together and work in tandem to create a desired effect in the body.
This is one of the things that makes Chinese herbal medicine stand head and shoulders above other herbal medicine systems.
By combining the natures and actions of different powerful herbs, we can create a balanced, focused, and effective treatment that is infinitely adaptable.
I create the formula by selecting from hundreds of single herbs in the Chinese herbal pharmacopeia, and then combining these with each other, each with its own specific dosage within the formula.
It’s exactly as complicated as it sounds, and also a lot of fun (for me).
Two questions are probably coming into your mind right now...
One, “what herbs would I be taking for ... (insert whatever is bothering you right now)?”
And two, “how do I know these herbs are safe to take?”
Let me ease your mind.
Many people have concerns about the safety and quality of Chinese herbs. The truth is, Chinese herbal medicine is incredibly safe when sourced properly and prescribed by a skilled and qualified practitioner.
In fact, it is orders of magnitude safer than many over-the-counter medicines, common adulterants in foods, and environmental contaminants in everyday products. I live and breathe Chinese herbal medicine, and I only source high-quality herbs that are rigorously tested for purity and potency.
For a deep dive into the safety of Chinese herbs and specifics about my sourcing, please read my blog article, Chinese Herb Quality and Safety.
As for what herbs will be in your initial herbal formula, that will vary widely depending on what we are working on!
Chinese herbal medicine is powerful not because we have some secret herbs that are magic, it's powerful because of how we select and apply herbs for each person.
This comes back to the idea of treating you, rather than your disease.
In Chinese Herbal Medicine there is no, “valerian is for sleep” or “ginger is for nausea”, because that type of prescription only works some of the time. It has a high rate of failure, just like giving everyone with poor sleep Ambien.
In Chinese herbal medicine practice we ask the important question: "Whose sleep are we talking about?"
Valerian root is not a cure for insomnia in general; it's helpful for a very specific insomnia pattern, and only that pattern. The same is true for all herbs.
Chinese Herbal Medicine is an amazing modality, but it did not get that way by being simple, or easy to understand. It has its own rules, its own language of diagnosis, and the field of study is enormous. I have worked for years to understand the natures of individual herbs, then more years to master herbs in combination.
And I say “master” with a grain of salt. The work of learning in the field of Chinese medicine is never done.
Chinese medicine is a time tested, holistic (in the truest sense of the word), dynamic and effective modality.
In a time when we are throwing bandaids and symptom-suppressing medications at anything and everything, and as a nation only growing sicker and more depressed, person focused medicine is exactly what we need.
We need treatment, not an easy temporary fix, and Chinese herbal medicine can offer that.
If one-size-fits-all medical solutions have not worked for you, you’re in the right place. I fit the solution to you, not the other way around.
Thanks for sticking with me through this lengthy article!
I look forward to hearing from you.
-Sean Dugan L.Ac.
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