Thankfully, TCM or Traditional Chinese Medicine is now widely accepted as a bona fide treatment for numerous ailments.
Why did we take so long to see it's value?
When you visit a acupuncturist, don't be surprised if Chinese herbs are recommended. They've been part of the tradition for as many years. In fact, when I started acupuncture, it was recommended that I start with the herbs. Apparently, my body would not yet tolerate the energy healing of the needles. I had to build my strength first.
How does an acupuncturist assess your health problems?
Your initial session includes an interview but the assessment is based on...can you believe this...your pulse and your tongue! Yup, she'll ask you to stick out your tongue. Apparently, they can tell you all they need to know from those two.
If you're new to holistic healing methods this might be a good place to start. Acupuncture today is widely accepted by mainstream western medicine. And, it thankfully has some solid research behind some of it's claims to fame.
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine has been researching acuptunture for several years. So far acupuncture has shown effectiveness for helping peolpe recover PTSD, chronic low back pain, osteoarthritis in the knee and nausea from chemotherapy. Now, it may help other conditions. This is just what they have put their research funding into and found significant results for (from Medline: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/magazine/issues/winter09/articles/winter09pg18.html).
