There is knowledge behind western medicine, there is wisdom behind eastern medicine I am often asked how I decided to go from nursing to practicing acupuncture. In short, two things happened about 15 years ago:
1) I tried acupuncture for my pregnancy induced sciatica which was a huge success, and 2) I became quite cynical about the pharmaceutical reps who
used to inundate the hospitals and doctors offices offering free extravagant lunches and dinners while promoting the latest drug. I felt this was so wrong on many levels and stopped attending these ‘meetings’ Once I realized that western medicine is primarily surgery and medications I decided there are better ways to promote health and I wanted to help people in a more holistic
way. I will be the first to say that western medicine is amazing at what it does and there is definitely a time and place for it.
But I have found Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) with its
long history and deep philosophical roots, to be more interesting and rich in substance. The practice of TCM is rooted in nature. Thousands of years ago the Chinese people looked to the outside natural world around them and developed a complete theory and practice of medicine based on nature. The body is comprised of meridians and channels which correlate with and are
named for ‘streams and rivers and seas’, and there are muscles, tissues, and pathways which correlate with and are named for hills and valleys. Illness or dis-ease comes from imbalances of nature related conditions – damp, heat, cold, dry, wet, wind, excess, deficient, yin and yang, day and night, the 4 seasons, the 5 elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, water).
In TCM there is a saying: “Many diseases one treatment; one disease, many treatments.” For example five people may be seeking treatment for bronchitis. In TCM bronchitis can be the result of excess heat, or excess phlegm, or invasion of wind cold, or lung yin deficiency. Each person will have their bronchitis treated differently based on the root cause of their bronchitis. On the other hand if five people are seen for five different illnesses (headache, back pain, PMS, heartburn, urinary tract infection) but all are caused by excess heat, they will all receive the same treatment to treat the underlying excess heat.. “ Many diseases one treatment, one disease many treatments” .
I remember one of my Chinese teachers once said “In western medicine the proof is in the laboratory and in eastern medicine the proof is in the clinic”, referring to the millions of people that have been successfully treated with acupuncture.
I am fortunate to have the education and experience behind me in both western and eastern medicine. I blend the two. I am able to understand the diagnostic pathology, physiology, pharmacotherapy used in western medicine, and then I translate it into the eastern way of looking at illness and treat from that standpoint.
Western medicine treats symptoms – cuts out the problem with surgery or suppresses it with medications. Eastern medicine treats the root of the problem which results in longer lasting effects and virtually no side effects.
For an appointment contact Julie Hatch at
Phone: 401-323-4623
Email: juliehatch@hotmail.com
Website: acupunctureandalternativehealth.org
