Traditional Chinese
Veterinary Medicine
Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TVCM) has been used in China for about 3000 years. Originally the practice was handed down from father to son and you were only paid if you made your patient well. So you either got good at it or your family line died out. Records dating back thousands of years still exist defining methods of diagnosis and treatment. Many of the herbal formulas are well over 500 years old.
TCVM is based in the belief that if the body is balanced, it will keep itself well. When the body is sick - a pattern develops. Schools of Chinese Medicine revolve around the method of defining the patterns. The two most common are The 8 Principles and The 5 Elements Schools. The 8 principles define the problem and the 5 elements classify it.
8 Principles
Exterior/Interior
Are internal organs effected ?
Hot/Cold
How do they feel and smell ?
Deficiency/Excess
Are they young and strong or old and weak ?
Yin/Yang
Yin is cool, dark, quiet, pale
Yang is hot, loud, infected
Fire
Heart, Small intestine, Mind
Earth
Spleen, Stomach, digestion
Metal
Lung, Large Intestine, immune system
Water
Kidney, Bladder, genetics
Wood
Liver, Gallbladder, circulation
Each of the 5 elements is related to many different things - seasons, colors. times of day, sounds, etc. Thorough and detailed histories help establish the patterns. Once the pattern is defined, treatment is aimed at bringing the body back to balance so it can heal itself. Treatment involves one or more of the five different branches of TCVM - Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine, Tuina, Food Therapy and Qi Gong.
