Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Made Simple and My Objective

Over time, I’ve found that one of the most commonly asked questions from patients is “How does TCM work?” People express interest in the workings of this medicine and I want to share what I can with those that are interested. However, Traditional Chinese Medicine is a subject that’s just too complex for me to unravel for someone’s understanding in one sitting.

With a blog though, the situation is different. Readers can take their time to read and review the articles they find to be of interest and I only need to write about a given subject once! It’s time-efficient for me and there’s plenty of information that can be provided for the readers. Win-win!

At the same time, TCM is a discipline that has no shortage of topics to talk about; if I write willy-nilly with no specific objective in mind, it will be quite difficult to impart knowledge that is both coherent and understandable for everyone reading through this blog. For that reason, I want to make it known that my key objective is to provide an understanding of Traditional Chinese Medicine for the general public. [Teaching of TCM’s application for medical purposes will NOT be covered to the depth required of practitioners.]

What that means is that I’m aiming to explain things in simpler terms, breaking everything from the jargon we use to the medical paradigms we use down into conceptually easier-to-understand pieces of information. I want everyone that comes across this blog to be able to learn what Traditional Chinese Medicine can do for long-term health as well as any immediate ailments.

I also want to show everyone the beauty and complexity of the medicine that exists behind-the-scenes. The logic that goes on behind its workings. By understanding what goes on in the process of evaluation and diagnosis through TCM’s methods, it will become evident that this isn’t a balancing act based on a simple scale, or a medicine akin to a card game where the results are a complete luck of the draw. 

I want everyone to see this medical system for what it really is-- a refined system of medicine based on logic and clinical evidence. A system of medicine that doesn’t pat itself on the back for merely being able to identify that there’s an issue, but aims to break that issue down piece by piece and has the tools to do so. It’s a system of medicine that genuinely puts a patient’s well-being first.

This isn’t new-type hooblah someone made up and put on the internet. This isn’t an archaic medicine that relies on some kind of faith. This is stuff that works because it’s been refined over and over again throughout centuries of use across countless generations of people. TCM is a medicine that has been demonstrating its effectiveness all across Oriental Asia for a long, long time.

TCM's potency in treating the ailments of the human body is one of the reasons I want to share what I know as a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine. This information is something that I know I would want to have available if I were the one in a position without this knowledge, because it would be of benefit to both myself and those around me. At the same time, if any reader is like I was when I was still a student, a question such as this may have been raised while hearing these claims about TCM: "If TCM is so great, why is it considered 'alternative' medicine in some regions?"

I personally think that TCM is considered “alternative” medicine in many areas because of a lack of understanding. Not by a fault of the people themselves, but from lack of access to the medicine's concepts. Because of a lack of access to the concepts, people don’t have a chance to understand the medicine, let alone recognize the problems that practitioners of TCM can help with. And naturally, if people don’t recognize that they can get help, many are left fending for themselves without treatment despite its availability.

Some people might even be unaware that they are in a state that would warrant treatment. Ever hear of someone having been “perfectly” healthy until some serious illness “suddenly” appeared? Is that kind of jump from healthy to severely ill logical? No, it’s not. Illnesses all have a buildup-- even externally contracted ones [HIV contraction -> AIDS -> opportunistic infection, for example]. Therefore it should be concluded that the person in question was NOT “perfectly” healthy. Their problem was simply unidentified or written off as being within the spectrum of “normal” when it shouldn’t have been.

Imagine being in the position of the person that thought their health was perfect with assurance from general lab tests and machinery to support it, only to suddenly learn otherwise. That’s scary stuff. It’s not something I want happening to myself or others, but it is something that really happens. 

Naturally, I want the above scenario happening as infrequently as possible, even if it’s for milder ailments, so I want my patients, the general public, friends, and family to understand when it may be a good time to get treatment. I want everyone to have the knowledge necessary to recognize signs and symptoms that indicate problems in the body before they worsen, and I want everyone to understand that they can get help when they need it. Hence… this blog. Again, this is all stuff that I would want MYSELF to know if I didn’t already-- that’s how valuable this is. And this blog will have the information I would want to give my hypothetically unknowledgeable self, made available for all of you.

Welcome to “Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Made Simple” by YeRang Choi, LAc.

If you have any questions regarding TCM, please feel free to contact me at: 3hjsringer@gmail.com

*All written content is 100% original and the property of the author, YeRang Choi, LAc. It may NOT be copied or republished in any form without permission. (Seriously, if you want something, contact us.)

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