Before beginning a therapy, a comprehensive patient interview is conducted. We are interested in current afflictions, previous medical assessments, medications, etc. In addition to this, we also take personal sensitivities into consideration which are not subject to conventional medicine but may be essential for a Chinese diagnosis.
We examine the patient with all our senses:
In the practice of Chinese Medicine, various features of the face, the eyes, nose, mouth are evaluated in regard to color, shape, wrinkles, swelling, etc.
The tongue is the only body organ that can be examined without intermediate skin. In a complex diagnosis, we analyze size, shape color and topography (coating, fissures, hollows, etc.) and assign the results to the five phases of change, also called elements: The tip of the tongue corresponds to the heart (fire) and the lungs (metal), the middle of the tongue relates to stomach and spleen (earth), the edges correspond to liver and gall bladder (wood) and the base to the kidneys (water).
This method of diagnosis is another complex, several 1000-year-old procedure which has proven to be very effective. We differentiate six spots on the wrists, where the pulse is measured for depth, velocity and characteristic.
Medical findings and individual sensitivities of the patient can be assigned to the meridians or circulation channels. These offer valuable information about diagnosis and therapy.
A patient’s medical findings and specific sensitivities are assigned to the 8 guiding criteria of diagnosis. In Chinese Medicine these are: deficiency – excess, cold – heat, interior – exterior, Yin – Yang. This results in a description of the vegetative function of the body (soma) and the soul (psycho). The diagnosis is combined with the results of the conventional medical examination. Then, a therapy plan congruent with the five pillars of Chinese Medicine is developed.