How Does Acupuncture Compare To Conventional Medicine?
In order to get a complete picture of the patient’s health and the possible causes of their illness, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners ask many questions. Many of the questions may not seem relevant to the condition at all, but little pieces of information add up to a better diagnosis and treatment plan. Acupuncturists also use the tongue and pulse differently to assess the patients’ condition. In Chinese Medicine there are 28 different ways to classify the pulse. More information can be obtained from “reading” a pulse than just its rate. Similarly, there are many different “tongue types,” that are based on characteristics (such as the moistness of the tongue’s coating, color and thickness, among others) which is used to support a diagnosis or lead to another.
