If you are a newcomer to the concept of acupuncture and Chinese medicine then we welcome you with open arms. We have served the Los Gatos, CA, and San Jose, CA. area for many years with our medical practice. There has been a debate for years over whether which medical methods are better, western or eastern practices. Well, we wanted to share the conceptual differences between the two, not to show which is better but to show how both medical methods can be very helpful.
To start both eastern and western medical practitioners would ask the patient a series of questions to identify the source of the person’s sickness. Where these two styles differ is that a western doctor would deduce the symptoms using such techniques as x-rays, MRI’s, or an endoscopic examination to get an internal look at the patient. Then the patient would be diagnosed with their sickness and the then lumped in with a statistical number of the population that might have a similar problem in the western medical practice. The eastern practitioner would take the same situation as the western doctor but they would start to explore all of the options to cure the individual. An example might be if a person has stomach pains then the eastern doctor would see if a cold press would work better than physical pressure. It’s really all about catering to each person’s different physiological case.
In terms or disease, western medicine will see this as a sickness that a patient simply “has,” thus any other patients that have a similar disease can be treated and cured from this sickness using similar treatment. The eastern medical philosophy believes that the disease is something that this patient “is.” Disease is seen in the eastern point of view as an imbalance in the patients being, so the goal would then be to restore balance through a personalized form of treatment like acupuncture or hot/cold stones.
These two styles are both extremely effective in terms of improving the quality of life of a patient, the main benefit of eastern medicine though is that it is much more personalized on a case by case basis. We would encourage you to call us at 408-203-7516 to learn more about our services and to come see us at our practice in Los Gatos, CA. We look forward to talking with you soon.