At present, massage has been getting more and more attention and spreading to the USA, UK, Italy, France, Sweden, Spain, North Korean, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, India, Argentina, and so on.
a. Herbal Ingredients
Nowadays Chinese herbal medicines can be classified into two: raw herbal ingredients and Chinese patent drugs.
Raw herbal ingredients (usually sun-dried herbs as well as animals such as snake gall, minerals such as magnetite, ostracum such as pearls, etc) are available in private TCM clinics, pharmacies and hospitals. People can decoct them with water and drink the decoction following the doctor’s advice. Due to natures and characters of different medicinal herbs, the decocting time and decocting methods may vary. Therefore, people should pay attention to that to gain the best curative effect while decocting.
By contrast, Chinese patent drugs (decoction, pills, electuary, pulvis, vinum, troche, syrup, electuary, medicinal tea, etc) are more convenient, as they have usually been processed by modern medical technology and patients can take them directly. Generally speaking, herbal therapy is most widely used among all of the TCM treatments.
b. Acupuncture and Moxibustion（针灸）
Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medical treatment of pain or disease by inserting the tips of needles at specific points on the skin, while moxibustion treats patients by burning moxa strips or moxa cones above the skin to warm specific acupoints up to regulate the qi and blood of the body.
Clinically, acupuncture and moxibustion are adopted on different acupoints according to the pathogenesis diagnosed by traditional Chinese medical treatment. As a miraculous part of TCM, the acupuncture-moxibustion therapy has been spread to the world early in the 6th century.
There is a story between this old treatment and James Reston, former director of New York Times, who was sent to Beijing for covering news in July of 1971. During his stay in Beijing, Reston had a successful appendectomy but felt pain on the next day. With his permit, Doctor Li, who is an expert of acupuncture and moxibustion, treated Reston by acupuncture and moxibustion therapy. Unimaginably, Reston’s symptom eased and never relapsed after that. Returning to the USA, this famous journalist published an article about his personal medical experience in China, which made this old Chinese medical treatment known in his country.
So far, acupuncture and moxibustion have been used in over 120 countries and regions; in addition, acupuncture and moxibustion organizations, educational institutions and research institutes (such as Medical College of Paris University) were set up in the world. It is reported that acupuncture and moxibustion therapy is effective at 307 diseases, of which over 100 get significant effect. In 1980, 43 diseases were recommended to use the therapy by the World Health Organization (WHO). Then in 1987, the World Federation of Acupuncture and Moxibustion Societies (WFAS) was established in Beijing, which marks acupuncture and moxibustion is officially notarized as a part of world medical community. On November 16th, 2010, this therapy was listed as “Intangible Cultural Heritage” by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
c. Massage（推拿）
Massage refers to series of techniques by hand that press on one’s injured parts or specific acupuncture points. It originated and accumulated from daily life in the ancient age and was improved for thousands of years. In Sui and Tang dynasties (6th-10th century), colleges had been set up to provide professional trainings of massage. Nowadays, it has become an important content of TCM with long development. For patients, it is helpful for easing the local symptom as well as accelerating the recovering; and for normal people, it is also a good way to exercise and build up resistance. Being naturopathy (physical therapy), it is widely accepted by more and more people due to its simple and convenient methods, favorable therapeutic effect and no side-effect.
