Traditional Chinese Medicine

Maybe you have seen friends with dark circles on the neck and back like a ladybug. Or maybe you have seen someone with light bruising on the back like a zebra. Surely they did not fight with someone. That’s traditional medical treatment. Have you ever heard of traditional Chinese medicine?

Traditional Chinese Medicine has developed and formed a unique system for more than 2,000 years. The Physiology of Chinese medicine holds that the human body’s life is the result of the balance of yin and yang. As TCM widely spreads around the globe, more people get benefit from it.

The diagnosis methods of TCM are mainly four: observation, auscultation and olfaction, interrogation and taking pulse and palpation.

Observation indicates that a patient’s condition can be judged by outward appearance including skin pallor, tongue and the white of the eye,etc.

Auscultation and olfaction is a way of diagnosis through hearing the sound and selling the odor.

Interrogation suggests that doctors question the patient and his relatives to know the symptoms.

The taking of pulse and palpation means that the doctor could judge the inner change of symptoms from intensity, speed and frequency of a patient’s pulse.

Once you go to see a TCM doctor, feel normal to receive therapies like massage, cupping glass, acupuncture and taking Chinese medicine (which tastes bad but works well).

Do you want to have a try? It would be great if you learn Chinese expressions you may use when going to a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine.

Here are some useful expressions in Chinese Mandarin for TCM:

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) 中医（zhōnɡyī）

the taking of pulse and palpation 把脉（bǎmài）

cupping glass 拔罐（báɡuàn）

acupuncture 针灸（zhēnjiǔ）

scraping 刮痧（guāshā）

Chinese medicine 中药（zhōnɡyào）

Chinese massage 推拿（tuīná）

softer 轻一点（qīnɡyìdiǎn）

harder 重一点（zhònɡyìdiǎn）

I have a pain here 这里疼 (zhèlǐténɡ)