CAN YOU TRUST CHINESE MEDICINE? WE LOOK AT THE PROS AND CONS
5 Sep 2020
This is almost a contradiction in terms. Unless you have your head under a rock for the past nine
months, you cannot help but notice that Chinese Medicine – does not have the best public
relations. But let’s be fair. This is not the fault of the medicine, or its provenance, or its modern
interpretation. What we are talking about now is something di ff erent. It’s just life. Sure, we live in
a COVID society, but we are not stupid.
And we can hardly say that Western medicine has been wonderful at sorting out our modern
issues, not just viruses. We now know that overuse of antibiotics is creating a superbug
resistance. We are at the point where we go to hospital because it increases our chances of
getting sick.
It is an irony of enormous proportions, that the saviour of the day to day ailments that plague us in
our Western society, may well be Traditional Chinese Medicine, with its reliance on natural herbs
and intuitive therapies, that had su ff ered from such a bad press.
The question though – is, not whether we should seriously consider this – but what aspects should
we consider.
How so?
Because, Chinese Medicine, has now come of age. It is a marketable entity. In our growing
addiction and visits to the up market Spas that populate our chic hotels and retail environment, so
Chinese medicine has dumbed down, so to say, it is a health experience as much as a clinical
cure. The relaxation and wellness Content in so many Spa websites, and their fondness for
accentuating their heritage and proven good feelings, have blurred the boundaries of why we go
to Chinese medicine at all.
For Ting Wang, Consultant Therapist at Acuproclinic, this is a concern. What she says is:
“To be a successful Therapist, requires some 10 years of detailed experience, backed by
appropriate medical qualifications. You can’t just “wing” it. We see too many new clinics launch
with just the minimum of experience, – which means that the acupuncture procedures are not
deep enough – or as precise – and thus do not deliver the hoped for medical improvement”.
She continues: “ At the moment, there is no specific Trade Association with a recognised
qualification, which devalues those associations that in fact do have the right level of conditions of
entry”
The problem for the patient is therefore one of too much choice, in a market that has started
embracing social media and SEO marketing, and yet is still confusing for the patient, for whom
this may be a first-time experience.
What Ting says is; “first, do your homework, it is perfectly OK to consider the natural options
that we suggest, rather than reach for the Pharma drugs cabinet. Talk to several clinics and
choose one where you feel comfortable, and that understand your specific ailment. Be clear in
your mind – if you want a Spa, that’s fine too. And finally, at Acuproclinic, we make sure that every
patient understands what we are doing; we frequently choose then most expensive herbs but use
less of them per treatment, – because we can get better results that way”.
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