Perhaps Western doctors and pharmacies don’t have all the answers.

“The oneness of all life is a truth that can be fully realized only when false notions of a separate self, whose destiny can be considered apart from the whole, are forever annihilated,” writes LiJunfeng, Sheng Zhen Wuji Yuan Gong in “A Return to Oneness.”  Please support your family and friends by informing them about the benefits of acupuncture and herbal medicine.

We are all connected with people who have ongoing health issues that inhibit them from living a full life. Today I will offer a perspective as to why the health of our body, mind, heart, and emotions is a key aspect of living a whole and fulfilled life. I will then talk about why Asian medicine is an alternative and a support to Western medicine.

The health of an individual’s body, mind, heart, and emotions is an essential aspect of living a whole and fulfilled life. Anyone who has ever experienced a chronic illness (mental or emotional), or been in chronic pain can tell you how difficult it can be to enjoy their life, their relationships, and their family. An individual is unable to fulfill their aspirations in life if they are hampered by illness.

This can intensify the ailment for the individual, because as said by Hicks, Hicks, and Mole in the text “Five Element Constitutional Acupuncture” in 2004, “…the Chinese consider it detrimental to people’s health not to achieve their potential as human beings.” The happiness of the individual is an aspect of the peace and unification of our families and communities.

Asian medicine is complimentary to Western medicine and at times offers an alternative, or a support to Western medical treatment and/or medicine. Western Medicine is very good for acute and emergency situations. Asian medicine is not appropriate for emergency situations.

However, it can treat some acute issues (such as colds/ flu, sprains, back pain, etc) without the negative side effects that medications, such as antibiotics or pain medications, can cause. A comment from the NIH Consensus Conference in 1998: “…promising results have emerged, for example, showing efficacy of acupuncture in adult postoperative and chemotherapy nausea and vomiting and in postoperative dental pain.”

Asian medicine is very good for treating chronic conditions (in addition to many acute conditions). The extent of treatment that Western medicine can provide for many chronic conditions (such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and rheumatoid arthritis) is to prescribe pharmaceuticals. These medications very rarely resolve the source of a person’s illness and often have negative side effect.

There are certain chronic illnesses in which long-term pharmaceutical use is essential, such as thyroid replacement hormones, certain mental illnesses, and more. Often the individual is given an additional medication to treat the side effects of the original pharmaceutical (some patients are on a “shopping list” of 10 or more medications). I call this a biochemical nightmare! Asian medicine can successfully treat the side effects of many medications, without creating additional complications.

Asian medicine is non-invasive and is oriented toward harmonizing or balancing the patient. Acupuncture and herbal treatments are holistic, which means that there are rarely negative side effects. If a negative response does arise, it can be treated. The individual’s body and source energy is supported and strengthened through acupuncture and herbal medicine treatments. Lu H states in “A complete translation of the Yellow Emperor’s classic of internal medicine (Su Wen)” 1972-chapter 78 that “The way of medicine is so wide that its scope is as immeasurable as the heaven and the earth, and its depth is as immeasurable as the four seas.”

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Yasmin Spencer is a licensed acupuncturist who specializes in Five Element Acupuncture: www.eastbayfivelements.com, [email protected].  Her unique style of practice is intended to balance all aspects so as to become unified as a whole person.