Your First Visit to a TCM Clinic
You've been suffering from nagging headaches for some time now. Up to this point though you've endured the pain or taken aspirin and rested when you could. Frequent recurring headaches eventually cause you to worry however so you consult your General Practitioner. He or she runs a few tests, which rule out anything serious and prescribes you some medication. This works well when you have a headache but doesn't prevent the next one. You go back to your doctor who refers you to a specialist. Further tests show there's nothing really wrong with you and you're back where you started.
This is a typical scenario for a person visiting a Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) practitioner for the first time. Many Western people try acupuncture for instance, as a last resort after they've been virtually everywhere else. Sometimes their conventional doctor will even suggest it, saying, "Well, at the very least it'll do nothing at all". Or a friend may talk you into it because they or someone they know had acupuncture and it worked for them. Desperate for a solution you find yourself in the waiting room of an acupuncture clinic, contemplating or even fearing, what's about to happen.
Although certainly not a cure-all, acupuncture has been used in the Orient for centuries to treat a wide range of acute and chronic conditions. It is increasingly being used in the West also and backed by modern scientific studies validating its effectiveness, particularly in cases involving pain. So, what happens then from the time you sit down at your initial TCM consultation to when your first treatment is over?
As with your first visit to any health care practitioner, the TCM practitioner starts by inquiring about your current complaint. How long have you had it? Is it painful? Is the pain constant or intermittent? Is it sharp or dull? Is the pain fixed in location or does it move around? What aggravates or relieves your pain? What other treatment have you tried or are currently using?
Once the practitioner has noted the necessary details of your complaint he or she will inquire about other seemingly unrelated aspects of your health. What foods do you eat? Do you sleep well or wake tired or during the night? Are your bowels regular? Do you frequently get depressed, frustrated, sad or angry? What type of work do you do? Do you exercise? Do you smoke? For female patients: Do you experience period pain? Is the pain before, during or after your period? Is your cycle regular? What color is your menstrual blood; dark, light pink, red or brown?
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