…For one, Western and TCM practitioners will both assess factors that are outside the scope of the presenting ailment. It is standard protocol for the Western practitioner to ask about the emotional health in the intake even when dealing with a pain case. However, in my experience in dealing with Western clinicians, this inquiry regarding emotional health is, more often than not, done to fulfill the required practice in taking medical notes. That is, it usually makes zero difference in affecting the diagnosis or the manner by which to treat the pain.

In contrast, the TCM practitioner not only assess emotional health as fulfilling the requirement but are trained to implement any relevant findings in their treatment plan. Just to emphasize how important such subjective factors may be in the final treatment plan, I will discuss one of my pain cases.

I recently treated a patient in her 60’s for pain in the left lateral aspect of her left knee. I took the history, as usual, and spent time actually talking with the patient about the history. This is rarely performed today by clinicians in Western medicine.

She stated that she believed the pain to be directly related to being in a minor accident a few years back. In the intake, I asked her about her current stress level and her history regarding stress. She acknowledged that she has been very stressful recently. She then stated that her primary care physician was prescribing a medication to help relieve the stress. I suggested that she use natural herbal formulas but that will be discussed in future blog.

I explained to her that her stress may be a factor with her current experiencing of pain or, at the least, be a factor in exacerbating the symptoms surrounding the pain. I will never forget the dumbfounded look on her face after I told her this…