I am a former practitioner of Oriental Medicine. In Japan I ran my own clinic where I both prescribed herbal medicine and did acupuncture and moxa. This is an index post of my experiences and thoughts about Oriental Medicine (AKA: Traditional Chinese Medicine).
- Experience Qi Today! : To understand Acupuncture, you need to understand Qi. Here I get you to feel Qi.
- My Gateway to Acupuncture: My Intro (Part I)
- My Magical Introduction to Oriental Medicine: My Intro (Part II)
- Acupuncture Success : Personal success stories
- The Orthodoxy of Oriental Medicine
- Treating Hemorrhoids: Buddhist Hemorrhoids
- more coming !
Related posts:
- Health & Medicine Index
- My Other Confession Tales
Triangulations 
only thing that worked for my sinus and allergy problems. didn’t like the haze the prescriptions left me in, and they wouldn’t prevent the sinus infections anyway. since starting accupuncture and the health plan laid out by my doctor, haven’t had a problem with either.
I read through this series today. I think I was reading the Acupuncture Success for the second time. Anyway, that “magical” intro sank the hook in me. So when are you going to continue the series? I want to hear the tales of you working your own magic, beyond the basic acupuncture.
@ The Wise Fool,
I am a bad blogger — I don’t discipline myself to write, but write when I am inspired. The planned post on “Building Magic into my Acupuncture” came to me but the details and method of telling a short version are coming slowly. Mostly, I usually tell these stories with demonstrations — changing that into words is an obstacle. But your not inspires me. So I will slowly try. Another obstacle — no one likes long posts, so I am trying to break them up into sections. Lastly, I am impulsive: I go with whatever inspires me (now the Ramayana) until the muses quiet in my heart — so I get distracted easily and then forget. You should have seen me as a kid! Thanks for the encouragement mate.
@ Luke (zero1ghost), I treated my brother’s sinus issues and it also helped.
Hi
Now, I am a mature aged person who embarked on acupuncture training in Australia. I found classroom situation was very social. All like minded people in pursuit of being acupuncturists… everyone was starry eyed (mostly the chinese students in the beginning.Maybe thats the real reason for me going to college.
I lasted only one semester (owe about $8000) for the first semester of education.
I began to feel that there was a lot of bullshit associated with tcm.
In this modern enlightened age with high technology instrumentation, it is possible to rapidly determine the nature of illness.
You know….. the use of modern science to establish a definitive and precise diagnosis of illness.
TCM practitioners use as a means of diagnosis, the primary tools of pulse diagnosis & tongue diagnosis.
Both are very subjective and capable of misinterpretation.
It’s also a real test of faith to believe that an organ system has its own unique pulse.
More the case is that it is utter bullshit. I have also received much acupuncture and although I have wanted to believe that it worked on me…. it didn’t.
Maybe there is something in chinese herbal medicine… I just don’t know.
Some of the students I have talked to, swear they will never use western medicine again… favoring only chinese medicine. Well, my feeling is that should they suffer a very serious infection, they probably will be the first to go to a western doctor.
Many of the lecturers hold very advanced qualifications in tcm… why ??… well maybe they just get swept along by their peers.
Also, if they truly were making vast amounts of money in the practice of tcm, why would they be mucking around with teaching students.
Is it not that TCM just doesn’t work and is nothing but an elaborate hoax??
As I stated, I have received much acupuncture, by many different practitioners, have paid lots of money but guess what… it didn’t work. That’s the real test as far as I’m concerned.
Just consider that all those practitioners have slaved away for years to learn a lot of ancient hocus pocus.
You know, the tiny percentage of those that claim that TCM works are really misjudging the power of belief…the placebo effect… it is well known in western medicine.
I practice massage & reflexology and the laying of hands on a person can have a profound effect… not because of anything esoteric, but merely that you are being there, and giving comfort and attention to the person.
But at the end of the day…. learning TCM is interesting, but not worth spending $70,000 + and all the suffering that goes along with it.
Maybe afterwards you will starve trying to make a living out of TCM.
At my acupuncture school, 120 stutents started and by year 4 only 15 remained… all the others saw the light and left.
Out of the remaining 15 maybe 5 will make a living out of TCM.
What tcm colleges and universities do, is peddle education … what you do with the education is left to you to determine.
Lastly, in a gold rush, who do you thinks makes the most money?? answer : the people selling the fools the shovels, tents and picks.