Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) came to America with the first Chinese immigrants.  Like many of the early immigrants to our country, they were not treated too kindly, consequently they became quite secretive in their practices and traditions.  Unfortunately in our society what ever is viewed as different becomes feared and separated and we lose their unique point of view. 

Back in 1971 when then President Richard Nixon was “opening the door” to China, Henry Kissinger, then Secretary of State, traveled there to make arrangements.  The press corps accompanied Dr. Kissinger not only to report on his progress but also the great opportunities of reporting day-in-the-life stories about China. One of the reporters, James Reston, a NY Times reporter, developed a case of acute appendicitis that required immediate attention.  He was taken to a hospital and his appendix was removed.  Post surgical pain became unbearable and a young acupuncturist came to his bedside.  Using only three needles, this acupuncturist took his pain away.  When Mr. Reston returned to the USA he wrote his story.  You can read it here:

http://www.eastwestacupuncture.net/reston.htm

It was after this story was published that acupuncturists began to appear, schools opened, and TCM began to take root as an alternative medicine. Mind you, it was already established in some European countries because of their more flexible political environment and openness to new alternatives.

Where did all of the teachers come from?  China?  Europe?  I don’t know for sure.  There were acupuncturists who had already been here like Miriam Lee, author of the book Insights of a Senior Acupuncturist published in 1992 by Blue Poppy Press.  Her book is primarily aimed at acupuncturists but the first few pages describe her story. 

Miriam Lee was born in China but left the mainland in 1949. In China, she was a nurse and midwife before becoming an acupuncturist. She lived through both the Japanese occupation and World War II there. After leaving China, Miriam lived in Singapore for 17 years before coming to the United States. When she arrived in California, acupuncture was illegal. So Miriam worked on a factory assembly line and gave treatments quietly out of her home. Later, she shared a space with an open-minded MD.  In April 1974, Miriam was arrested for practicing medicine without a license. With the overwhelming support of her patients, she was acquitted and made part of an acupuncture research project at San Francisco University where she practiced until 1976 when acupuncture was legalized in no small part through her efforts. During the late 70s, 80s, and early 90s, Miriam owned and operated a very busy acupuncture clinic in Palo Alto, CA. Throughout this time, she also taught hundreds of Western students in workshops and seminars and apprentices in her clinic. Currently, Miriam is retired, having practiced acupuncture for 50 years.  ( http://www.bluepoppy.com/about/bios/lee.cfm).  PS.  Marium Lee died in 2009.

Ted Kaptchuk authored The Web That Has No Weaver published in 2000 by Contemporary Books.  This is required reading for anyone who chooses to understand Chinese Medicine. 

There are hundreds of books, those translated from thousands of years ago and those published within the past 40 years by the many TCM pioneers, used in many TCM schools throughout the country.  It is an expanding medicine based on the individual because we are all so unique yet so similar.  We each present disorders with subtle differences that are manageable and treatable with acupuncture and herbal formulas.  Acupuncturists look at diet and lifestyle, ask many personal questions, listen to patients’ words and inflections, take pulses, and look at tongues.  We smell patients, feel patients, look at patients’ skin, nails, eyes, and hair all to get a clearer picture of why patients are coming to see us.  We speak of Qi & Blood, Yin & Yang, Shen & Essence, many things patients are not familiar with because our culture hasn’t included them as a part of our body.  We have techniques such as cupping, gua sha, e-stim, moxibustion, bleeding, tui na, and put needles and seeds on the surface of the ear to treat the whole body.  It all sounds so alien, so mysterious, yet it has all been around for about 5000 years. 

So where do we go from here?  How do we proceed?  The best we can hope for is to get the word out and educate as many as are open to listen.  It isn’t that we have discovered a great secret that must be heralded throughout the land, rather it is information to give people an opportunity to choose their own healthcare modality from an informed consensual position.  Most of my patients are not fully understanding of TCM but are willing to try it because they don’t want to take drugs or have lost faith in western medicine or their physicians are simply unable to provide relief.  That is why it is so important to educate our patients, friends, family, acquaintances, and people we meet in the course of our daily lives.  We can’t hit anyone over the head with everything at once but a little at a time never hurt and creates interest. 

It is important to understand that acupuncturists receive about 4000 hours of instruction over the four years of TCM medical school.  Add to that the yearly continuing educational requirements and you, the patients, are seeing a well trained practitioner.  Physicians and Chiropractics are only getting approximately 300 hours of training unless they attend an accredited 4 year institution of Chinese Medicine.  Who would you rather see?  The choice is yours.

This is a work in progress so in the future expect to see changes and new pages aimed at education, information, and clarification. 

Mailto: Bud.Rich@IBAcpt.com

Bamboo washout by Wu Chen (China, 1280-1354)

The best we can hope for is to get the word out and educate as many as are open to listen.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)