I bumped into an old friend in the street the other week. I asked him how he was doing and he responded that he was terrible. His back had ‘gone’ and he’d been signed off work for over two weeks. Further to that he was on a waiting list to be seen by a consultant at the hospital.
‘Bad news’ I sympathised and asked him why he hadn’t come see me at the Tui Na Walk In clinic and get it sorted out? His reply was somewhat odd but enlightening… He said that he was going to come as soon as he was better!
After talking a while longer and heading our separate ways I started to think about the meeting with my old friend and why he was waiting until he was better before coming for a treatment with me. I related the story to a number of my professional colleagues, It was a common response for most of my Tui Na, Reflexologist and other healing therapist too. People would generally wait until they were in good health before taking a treatment. Why?
It occurred to me that describing what I do as a Tui Na Practitioner and reflexologist does not translate to other people in tangible benefits. It’s like describing swimming to another without the benefit of water. you just don’t get it until you’ve tried it! It obviously is easier to ‘try’ a therapy while your in good health.
What a dilemma for us practitioners of ‘alternative medicine’ and tragedy to the millions who have never experienced anything other than western medicine. Because even if I placed an advert that said ‘try before you buy’ there is a heavy scepticism out there in the general population towards alternative therapies. Further to that there are distinct differences between good practitioners and bad ones.
For me personally I’m not even comfortable with the term ‘alternative medicine’ for me, as for millions of Chinese, Tui Na, Acupuncture, Herbs and Chi Gong are main stream.
Indeed for millions and millions of Chinese people and most eastern countries, TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine)is dominant. Not only is it vastly more complete it is also far more ancient and researched than western medicine. It’s just that here in the west we’ve not been exposed to it on a daily basis and it’s not part of our history. TCM comprises of Tui Na, Acupuncture, Chinese Herbs and Chi Gong. All four aspects are able to treat most illnesses but each does lend itself better to certain conditions. So Tui Na for physical problems, Acupuncture for internal and chronic conditions, Herbs for acute internal and to support the healing of TuiNa and Acupuncture treatments. Chi Gong for long term internal and external health.
My question is why do we just pass the responsibility of our life and health into a person that we have never met and that we have no idea if they are a good or bad at what they do?… I’m talking about your GP! I think it’s the same reason that the Asian people turn automatically to TCM for health. History and the fact the system is already set up in that country.
Here in the west GP’s do a great job of frontline medicine and are there to identify larger problems for referral onto the hospitals. They are part of a system of health. It is worth spending a small amount of time to place that in perspective. There is a system of health here in the west largely bases on allopathic medicine principles (treating symptoms with opposite action to result in balance). There are other systems of medicine such as TCM and homeopathic medicine (which means to treat like symptoms with like response to promote the body to recover it’s own balance).
In the East TCM is a system of health care started in it’s development thousands of years ago and continually researched and developed to it’s current form today. There are thousands of TCM hospitals all over Asia using Tui Na, Acupuncture, Chinese Herbal prescription and Chi Gong therapies to provide heath care to entire populations.
There is
no doubt in my mind that turning to TCM for all your health issues is absolutely
fine.
My speciality is Tui Na so I can diagnose and treat a wide variety of problems
(see advert). I can refer to other therapies as required, also like a GP if
there is anything that is remotely abnormal you will be referred to a specialist
or to your GP for referral onwards to the hospital. A good practitioner knows
his or her limits and is educated well enough to know when to refer for peace
of mind.
So I’m back to the original point which how do we get to treat people when we are of most benefit? Truth is I don’t have the answer to that but I do know that as word of mouth spreads and more people are treated they feel and understand on a different level so the true benefits of Tui Na is understood. Also the general awareness across the west is growing in favour of the more documented Acupuncture.
This is all good news for you as more practitioners are qualifying and more clinics are becoming available and accessible. My Tui Na ‘Sifu’(teacher) Errol Lynch and I are operating ‘Walk In’ clinics where you can turn up and be treated there and then ( Clinic times and locations here). We are both also available privately by appointment. Errol Lynch also runs a Tui Na training programme that can will give you the knowledge and skills to make a career as a Tui Na practitioner too (details here). The TuiNaUK group of practitioners is a way of knowing that you are getting a well trained and qualified practitioner. Never be afraid to question your therapist about their clinical experience. I could read fifty books on the techniques of swimming but if I’ve never jumped in a pool of water or the sea then how can I judge if I can swim well or not? So must a Tui Na therapist have sufficient time treating a variety of disorders in clinic.
So next time you are ill, have an injury or just plain worried about anything come see us at the Walk In Clinic. We are there with Chinese Tea, ready to listen to you in confidence and give you the treatment you need.
Yes you
can come when you feel great too and use us to help you stay that way. They
say that the best medicine is preventative… So eat well, take vitamins
and minerals, drink plenty of water, work out and get Tui Na once a month minimum!