Traditional Chinese Medicine in Zurich

Traditional Chinese Medicine in Zurich

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM, 中醫) is an ancient system dating back to 4000 years. The practices within the TCM system include Herbal Medicine, Acupuncture, Tui-Na massage, Qi Gong exercise, and Nutritional Therapy.

Over centuries of evolution, TCM has emerged as an integral and holistic approach that can treat many modern-day health concerns, diseases, and conditions. TCM views the human body as a part of nature. It considers how disturbances in our environment, diet, and emotional well-being can affect our natural constitution and lead to imbalance. TCM believes that most illnesses can be successfully treated by addressing our lifestyle habits so that deficiency and stagnation end and balance can be restored.

In simple terms, TCM developed through the observation of nature’s natural opposites, Yin and Yang, internal and external, Empty and Excess, Cold and Hot, and the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. These concepts of TCM are based on classic texts of tradition, such as Huang Di Nei Jing and Shang Han Lun.

In TCM, health is seen as a balanced relationship between the inner and outer worlds, with disease being an imbalance in this relationship. TCM diagnosis, which can be likened to finding ways to bridge the gap between discomfort and ease, is a practical process. It involves pulse diagnosis, examining the tongue, skin, and eyes, and checking nutrition and sleeping patterns.

TCM is not only widely used in Taiwan, China, and other Asian countries like Japan and Korea, but it has also been integrated into Taiwan’s medical system. Over the last two decades, it has worked in close collaboration with conventional medicine. This growing popularity and acceptance of TCM are due to active research and an evidence base that is leading to deeper integration with Western medical approaches.