Therapies 治法

Acupuncture zhēn cì · 针刺

Fine, single-use sterile needles are inserted through the skin at selected points and usually retained for 15-30 minutes. Sensation is typically a dull ache, heaviness or a spreading warmth rather than sharp pain.

Serious adverse events are rare but not zero — the main risks are pneumothorax from needling the chest wall, and infection when sterile technique is not followed. Regulation varies enormously; in the United States most states require a licence and in many countries the title is protected.

Moxibustion ài jiǔ · 艾灸

Dried mugwort (Artemisia argyi) is burned near or on a point to deliver gentle heat — as a stick held above the skin, as cones, or on a needle handle. It is central to the classical treatment of "cold" patterns.

Because it produces smoke and heat it carries real risks: burns, especially in people with reduced sensation such as diabetic neuropathy, and airway irritation. Many clinics now use smokeless or infrared alternatives.

Cupping bá guàn · 拔罐

Glass, bamboo or plastic cups are held to the skin by suction — classically created with a flame, now often with a hand pump — creating a local pull on tissue. Sessions last five to fifteen minutes and typically leave circular marks that fade over three to ten days.

The marks are the most-asked-about part: they come from capillaries under suction, not from "toxins being drawn out". Wet cupping, which involves small skin incisions and blood, carries higher infection risk and requires proper hygiene and training.

Gua sha guā shā · 刮痧

A smooth tool is pressed and stroked along the surface of the skin with oil, producing red or purple petechiae that fade in a few days. In the classical description this releases "stagnation" at the surface; practically, the visible marks are small capillary changes.

It should not be performed over broken skin, bruises, varicose veins or areas of poor circulation.

Tuina tuī ná · 推拿

A structured bodywork tradition using pressing, rolling, kneading, vibration and joint mobilisation, often along meridian lines. Related traditions include shiatsu in Japan and acupressure in English-language books — all working on points without needles.

Anything involving forceful manipulation of the neck is worth special caution; that is a general statement about manual therapy, not only about TCM.

Herbal decoction tāng jì · 汤剂

Classically, several herbs are boiled together and the liquid is drunk — a formula, not a single plant. The reasoning operates at the level of the formula: individual herbs are combined with roles such as chief, deputy, assistant and envoy.

This is the one part of TCM where safety stakes are highest, because herbs have pharmacological activity and interactions with prescription drugs are real.

Concentrated granules pèi fāng kē lì · 配方颗粒

The modern default in most overseas clinics: single herbs extracted, dried into granules, and dispensed as a measured mixture to dissolve in hot water. It removed the need to boil herbs at home, which was the single biggest practical barrier for patients.

The trade-offs are that granular products vary between manufacturers, and quality-control failures — heavy metals, pesticides, adulteration — have been documented across the supply chain. Ask suppliers about testing.

Qigong and taiji qì gōng · tài jí · 气功与太极

Movement, breath and attention practised together — either for health maintenance or as a martial art. In English-language research it is usually studied as a gentle physical activity; trials most often look at balance, fall prevention in older adults, and quality of life.

That framing is a normal exercise-science one and does not require any claim about Qi. It is generally low-risk and adaptable — a large part of why it travels well across cultures.

Safety questions worth asking ān quán · 值得问的安全问题

Before any treatment: Are needles single-use and disposed of properly? What is the practitioner's qualification and registration? What are the risks of this specific treatment for my specific situation? What medicines and supplements should I mention?

And the one that matters most: what would make you tell me to go see a doctor instead? A practitioner who has a clear answer to that is a practitioner worth keeping.

Where TCM sits in modern care jié hé · 现代医疗中的位置

In practice, most people use TCM alongside modern medicine rather than instead of it. Insurance coverage has expanded in some places — in the United States more than eighty commercial plans have been reported to include acupuncture, and Medicare has covered it for chronic low back pain since 2020.

The workable pattern is straightforward: keep your physicians informed, do not stop prescribed treatment without medical advice, and treat complementary care as complementary.

Daoyin and Qigong dǎo yǐn · 导引与气功

Daoyin is the classical term for guided movement and breath practice; qigong is the modern umbrella term for the same family. What it involves: slow coordinated movement, attention to the breath, and a relaxed but held posture. Nothing is punctured and nothing is swallowed.

What the evidence shows: trials exist for balance, fall prevention and quality of life in older adults, with modest effects. It is not a substitute for treating acute illness.

What to watch for: avoid forceful breath-holding. If you have uncontrolled blood pressure, a recent injury or surgery, or you are pregnant, get medical advice before starting.

What Happens in an Acupuncture Session zhēn cì guò chéng · 一次针刺治疗的过程

What happens: a consultation first, then points are selected. Needles are single-use, sterile and hair-thin. You may feel a dull ache or a spreading sensation - this is described as deqi. Needles usually stay in place for fifteen to thirty minutes.

What it should not involve: advice to stop prescribed medication, a diagnosis of serious disease made by someone who is not a physician, or any promise of a cure.

What to watch for: serious adverse events are rare but reported - pneumothorax from deep needling over the chest, and infection where sterile technique is not followed. Choose a licensed practitioner in your own jurisdiction.

How a Herbal Formula Is Actually Built fāng jì kāi jù · 中药方剂是怎么开的

How a formula is built: the practitioner differentiates a pattern first, then chooses a classical formula and modifies it for that individual. The doses and the combination are set by the practitioner - they do not come from a book, a website or this knowledge base.

Why this matters: herbs are pharmacologically active. Interactions with anticoagulants, antihypertensives, antidiabetics and immunosuppressants are documented. Some herbs are restricted or banned in certain countries.

What to watch for: tell your doctor about every herb you take, buy from regulated suppliers, and treat any product with undeclared ingredients as a serious risk.

Food Therapy shí liáo · 食疗

What it means: choosing ordinary foods by their traditional warming, cooling, moistening or drying nature, as a daily habit rather than a treatment.

What the evidence shows: broad dietary patterns - more vegetables, less processed food - have strong evidence behind them. The specific warming and cooling classification does not have measurable evidence, and should be understood as a traditional framework.

What to watch for: food does not treat a serious condition. If a food or supplement is being sold to you as a replacement for medical treatment, treat that as a warning sign.

Herbal Baths and Foot Soaks zhōng yào yào yù yǔ zú yù · 中药药浴与足浴

Soaking in water infused with herbs is an old external method, recorded in classical texts on external treatment. Foot soaking in particular became a routine household practice rather than a clinical procedure.

The usual classical reasoning is that warmth opens the pores and moves the surface, and that the feet are where several channels begin or end. What the practice is not is a way to treat internal disease through the skin.

Real risks are simple and worth stating plainly: water hot enough to burn, especially where sensation in the feet is reduced; skin that is broken, infected or freshly injured; and allergic reaction to a herb you have not used before. Diabetes with reduced foot sensation is the clearest case where this is not a casual activity.

Auricular Therapy ěr xué liáo fǎ · 耳穴疗法

Treating the ear as a map of the whole body, with points on the auricle corresponding to organs and regions. A nomenclature for auricular points was standardised internationally under WHO auspices, which is why the same point names are now used across countries.

In practice it appears as pressure with seeds or pellets, fine needles, or electrical stimulation. Practitioners of acupuncture treat it as one technique among several rather than as a stand-alone system.

Risks centre on the ear itself: the cartilage of the auricle has poor blood supply, so infection there can become serious and is hard to treat. Unsterile needles or prolonged pressure dressings are the main avoidable causes. Evidence for benefit in specific conditions varies widely between reviews.

Paediatric Tuina (Infant Massage) xiǎo ér tuī ná · 小儿推拿

A distinct branch of manual therapy for infants and young children, described in dedicated classical texts. It uses light, fast techniques on the hands, forearms, abdomen and back, and its point locations differ from those used in adults.

Parents often meet it as a home routine for a restless or colicky baby. That is a different thing from a practitioner treating a sick child: in classical practice the technique is one part of an assessment.

The safety boundary is sharp. Any infant with fever, poor feeding, lethargy, breathing difficulty or an unexplained rash needs medical assessment first, not massage. Infant bones and joints are easily injured by force. Parents should be cautious of anyone offering to treat a serious childhood illness by massage alone.

Moxibustion: What the Modern Research Shows ài jiǔ de xiàn dài yán jiū · 艾灸的现代研究

Modern research on moxibustion is a genuine but modest body of work. Systematic reviews in this area repeatedly note the same limitations: small sample sizes, difficulty blinding participants and practitioners, and wide variation in how moxibustion is applied and for how long.

That combination means results are hard to pool, and reviews often conclude that evidence is insufficient rather than that moxibustion works or does not work. Where benefits are reported, they are typically described as short-term, with few studies following people for long periods.

There is also a safety literature. Moxa smoke is a combustion product and irritates the airway; burns and blistering are reported, particularly where sensation is reduced or where the person cannot report pain. Anyone with asthma or lung disease should treat smoke exposure as a real consideration.

Cupping: The Safety Literature bá guàn de ān quán wén xiàn · 拔罐的安全文献

Cupping has a documented adverse-event literature, and it is worth knowing before deciding to try it. The common, expected effect is a circular bruise from broken capillaries - it looks dramatic but is usually harmless and fades.

The more serious reports are burns from the flame method, blisters and subsequent infection, and scars. Severe events requiring hospital care have been published, though they are uncommon. Risk rises sharply when the person doing it is untrained, when the same equipment is reused without proper cleaning, or when cupping is applied over broken or inflamed skin.

Cupping is not appropriate over varicose veins, on anyone taking anticoagulants, in pregnancy over the abdomen and lower back, or on skin that is already damaged. Marked bruising in someone on blood thinners is a reason to seek advice rather than to continue.

Electroacupuncture: What It Is and What the Evidence Shows diàn zhēn · 电针：它是什么，证据如何

Electroacupuncture is needling with a small electrical current passed between pairs of inserted needles. It is a twentieth-century development rather than a classical technique: the needles are classical, the current is not. Textbooks describe it as a way of standardising stimulation that would otherwise depend on how long and how vigorously a practitioner manipulates each needle by hand.

Frequency is the main variable clinicians discuss. Low and high frequencies are described as producing different effects in laboratory and animal work, and different devices offer different waveforms. This matters for reading the research: two studies that both say "electroacupuncture" may not have applied anything like the same stimulus.

The evidence base has the same shape as the rest of this field - small trials, difficulty blinding, and heterogeneous protocols. Systematic reviews tend to describe possible short-term effects and call for larger, better-controlled work rather than declaring the question settled.

Safety deserves the most attention. Electroacupuncture is not appropriate for anyone with a pacemaker or another implanted electronic device, and it is used with real caution in pregnancy and in people with epilepsy. Before starting, a practitioner should be able to explain why a particular current and placement is safe for the person in front of them.

Pricking bloodletting (Cìluò) cì luò fàng xuè · 刺络放血

A classical external method in which a sterile lancet or three-edged needle is used to make a quick, shallow prick at a selected point so that a few drops of blood emerge. The classical rationale comes from the Huangdi Neijing: where there is accumulation and stagnation, remove it through the luo vessels. It is described in the classics for conditions of "heat" and "stagnation", and it is historically distinct from the large-volume wet cupping traditions of other cultures.

This is a skin-breaking procedure. Infection control, single-use instruments and trained hands are not optional extras — they are the procedure. It is unsuitable over broken skin, and people on anticoagulants or with bleeding or blood-borne conditions should not receive it. Red flags such as fever, spreading redness or unexplained bruising belong with a physician, not a lancet.

Herbal steaming (Xūnzhēng) zhōng yào xūn zhēng · 中药熏蒸（药蒸）

A heat-plus-aroma method: a decoction of herbs is kept hot so its steam rises toward the skin, or the whole body sits in a warm herbal vapour cabinet. In the classical frame it combines warmth (to move what is "cold and congealed") with the herb's surface-reaching quality; it is traditionally used for sore, stiff, cold-sensitive muscles and joints. Modern practice uses controlled steam cabinets with temperature settings.

The physical risks are straightforward: scalding from overly hot vapour, dizziness or dehydration from prolonged heat, and aggravation for people with certain cardiovascular or skin conditions. Pregnancy, high blood pressure and open wounds are standard reasons to skip it. Any "custom formula" sold with the steaming session should be viewed with the same caution as any herbal product — it is a pharmacologically active decoction, not just a pleasant smell.

Die-da: the trauma tradition diē dǎ sǔn shāng · 跌打损伤（跌打）

"Die-da" ("fall and strike") is the Cantonese-rooted name for the tradition of managing everyday musculoskeletal injuries — sprains, bruises, strained tendons. The classical model reads a fresh injury in stages: first blood stasis and swelling (qi and blood do not move), later chronic stiffness and "cold" sensations in the injured tissue. External applications, liniments, tuina and gentle mobilisation are its tools; the famous "die-da jiu" (medicated wine) liniments belong here.

One honest boundary matters more than the whole tradition: the classical model cannot tell a bad sprain from a fracture. Numbness, deformity, inability to bear weight, or swelling that does not improve belongs with imaging and a physician first. The tradition itself always assumed an experienced hand reading the injury — self-treatment of an unexamined injury is the failure mode, not the method.

Bone-setting (Zhènggǔ) zhèng gǔ · 正骨

The manual tradition of assessing and repositioning displaced joints and misaligned bones, described in classical texts such as the Yuan-dynasty "Yinshan Zhengyao" lineage of orthopaedic writing and the Qing-dynasty "Yizong Jinjian · Zhenggu Xinfayaozhi". Its vocabulary includes "sinew out of groove, bone wrong seam" (筋出槽、骨错缝) — the idea that soft tissue can slip from its channel and joints can sit fractionally out of place. Diagnosis is by hands: palpation, comparison of the two sides, and listening for joint movement.

Here the safety boundary is unusually hard: the difference between a "fractionally out" joint and a fracture, dislocation, ligament rupture or unstable spine is exactly what training and imaging exist for. Forceful neck and lumbar manipulation carries documented risks regardless of tradition. A responsible practice refers out anything with trauma history plus red flags, and works with — not instead of — modern orthopaedics.

External liniments (Yàojiǔ, Dieda jiu) wài yòng yào jiǔ · 外用药酒（跌打酒）

Alcohol-based herbal extracts rubbed onto unbroken skin over sore or bruised areas — a fixture of the die-da tradition and of martial-arts injury culture. The alcohol base carries the herbs and produces a warming sensation; formulas vary enormously by lineage and region.

Two cautions recur in the literature. First, "external use only" is a real instruction: several traditional liniment herbs are toxic if swallowed, and poisoned-children case reports exist. Second, broken skin, mucous membranes and bandaged heat-wrap over fresh liniment can all increase absorption — the warming that feels therapeutic is the active extract entering tissue. Keep it on intact skin, and keep it away from children.