|
THE
HIERARCHY
of
Traditional Chinese Medicine Healing Methods
TCM has a
hierarchy of healing methods. Sources vary (as they do in any field of study
and practice which is several thousand years old) but most commonly the
hierarchy has seven or eight healing techniques or methods which are ranked
by two factors. First is the degree of invasiveness. Second is who performs
the healing; professional or self (patient). Use of the different techniques
is not limited to moving one step at a time from the bottom to the top. The
realities of an imbalance (illness) often require different levels of
treatment simultaneously and they may be not even be adjacent to each other
in the hierarchy. The hierarchy has to do with the nature of the techniques
in specific and only in a general way to do with the level of health
(balance) of the person. The chart below displays one version of the
hierarchy.
|
Self
Administered
|
Meditation
(right-thinking or not-thinking but alert & being)
|
|
Exercise
which cultivates Qi
|
|
Exercise
|
|
Diet -
Nutrition
|
|
|
Practitioner
Administered |
Cupping
and other manual
manipulative techniques
|
|
Moxibustion - burning herbs
|
|
Acupuncture
|
|
Herbal
medicines
|
THEORY
|
Yin & Yang Pt 1
|
Yin & Yang Pt 2
|
5 Elements
Qi
Anatomy-Physiology
| Functions
of Qi |
Organ Functions
Shen: Spirit & Mind
|
Pathology Types
|
Healing
Hierarchy |
