The tongue body proper is going to give you information more about the yin organs, the blood organs in particular. We specialize in using acupuncture, chinese herbal medicine, diet, and lifestyle changes to create health and alleviate or eliminate uncomfortable symptoms and. The tongue is such an important diagnostic tool for chinese medicine. In addition to acupuncture, treatments may also include heat therapy, herbal prescriptions, nutritional supplements, and diet and lifestyle advice. Red spots on the sides of the tongue livergallbladder area may also indicate a more severe illness. Tongue the tongue is one of the major pillars of diagnosis, the other main one being the pulse. Why do you keep on asking me to stick my tongue out. Pulse diagnosis and tongue diagnosis are widely used in traditional chinese medicine. Tongue diagnosis, yin and yang in tongue, swollen tongue. In tcm, its thought that different areas of the tongue reflect the health of five corresponding organ systems. The best sleeping position for back pain, neck pain, and sciatica tips from a physical therapist duration.
Tongue diagnosis is a key factor in creating a chinese medical diagnosis. A normal tongue is moist and has an appropriate red color. Tongue assessment in traditional chinese medicine verywell health. The tongue is a map of the body in chinese medicine. As you continue treatment with acupuncture and herbs, your overall health will improve, and it will be reflected in your tongue. I learn a lot about a patients health from examining their tongue. Changes in the tongue color usually reflect chronic illness.
Inspection and tongue study methods in tcm shennong. Jun 14, 2016 the tongue is a map of the body in chinese medicine. It can be a strong indicator of a persons overall harmony or disharmony. See more ideas about chinese medicine, traditional chinese medicine and acupuncture. You may also notice a bluishgreen or purplish hue or spots in this zone. Tongue diagnosis is an important part of the chinese medicine. My question to you is why do you keep closing your eyes when you stick your tongue out. Giovanni maciocia discusses tongue diagnosis, including the. They are based on imagination, not on anatomical and physiologic reality. If there are red spots with a thin coat, this usually indicates damage to the ying or xue level. Giovanni maciocia acupuncture tongue diagnosis part 10 red. A scalloped tongue one with ridges on the outside edge indicates fluid retention. The tongue is normally covered with tiny, pinkishwhite bumps papillae, which are actually short, fine, hairlike projections. Dark red, bruised spots or patches, blood stasis with heat.
The two large, elevated papilla on the back of the tongue are a normal part of the taste buds. Tongue diagnosis in tcm is comprehensive and much information can be gathered from it such as the degree of the pathogenic factor and the state of. Learning to read the 28 pulses that are an essential part of chinese medicine diagnosis takes years of study and practice. White tongue is the result of an overgrowth and swelling of the fingerlike projections papillae on the surface of your tongue. The tongue is normally covered with tiny, pinkishwhite bumps. The four examinations, part 2 tongue diagnosis in chinese. During your acupuncture visit your acupuncturist will want to look at your tongue.
However, sometimes your symptoms might occur due to an underlying ailment that requires medical treatment. Colour of the tongue body, including red prickles or black dots coating on the tongue surface colour, thickness, dryness or moistness of the coating shape of the tongue fissurescracks in the tongue. The tongue reflects the health of the internal organs and blood circulation. The treatment of diseases with acupuncture and chinese herbs, 2e. Soothing music will be played to help you relax during this time many people even fall asleep during treatment. Apr 25, 20 when a practitioner of tcm looks at a patients tongue heshe is looking at many things such as the tongue body, shape, movement, coating as well as the yin and yang organs reflected on the tongue. Sides of your tongue the sides of your tongue display the wood element. Knowledge of tongue diagnosis is one of the unique treasures of traditional chinese medicine tcm. Giovanni maciocia acupuncture tongue diagnosis part 1 introduction duration. Mar 18, 20 tongue diagnosis is more traditionally associated with organ diagnosis, and herbal formula prescriptions whereas pulse diagnosis is more traditionally associated with meridian diagnosis and acupuncture prescriptions.
Geographic tongue results from the loss of tiny hairlike projections papillae on your tongue s surface. Question about tongue diagnosis acupuncture fertility. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Pulse and tongue diagnosis are two of the most important diagnostic tools used in chinese medicine. They are both used to derive a tcm diagnosis for your condition which is used to plan your treatment. The reddishpurple colour indicates blood stasis with heat. Click on the combination that matches your symptoms to find the conditions that may cause these problems. With geographic tongue, patches on the surface of the tongue are missing papillae and appear as smooth, red islands, often with slightly raised borders.
Sep 28, 2016 understanding tongue diagnosis in chinese medicine jennifer dubowsky, lac, is a licensed acupuncturist with a practice in downtown chicago, illinois, since 2002. The tongue body is also swollen which indicates the presence of phlegm. The tongue is an important useful organ for many animals. Understanding tongue diagnosis in chinese medicine midwest. Tongue and pulse reading according to chinese medicine. Tongue diagnosis is more traditionally associated with organ diagnosis, and herbal formula prescriptions whereas pulse diagnosis is more traditionally associated with meridian diagnosis and acupuncture prescriptions. This condition, also known as benign migratory glossitis, is named for the maplike pattern of reddish spots that develop on the surface of the tongue. The pack comes with the map of the body and the pressure points used in acupuncture, telling me where to place the patches. Tongue diagnosis in acupuncture mairead fahy body matters.
Geographic tongue is an inflammatory but harmless condition affecting the surface of your tongue. I can often tell when someone smokes, or has been drinking a lot of alcohol by the state of the tongue. Red spots on the entire tongue may indicate a more severe illness. Thorough and clinicallyoriented, this text describes the principles of tongue diagnosis in great detail. In fact, im surprised when acupuncturists dont use it. Be sure to check out the free ebook on the top 5 acupuncture points on the left side of the page. The first area is the front portion of the tongue, which is related to the organs of the chest the heart and lungs. Tongue diagnosis in tcm beachside community acupuncture. Pulse and tongue diagnosis is often a part of the first acupuncture appointment, and always part of our herbal consultations. By observing the body, color and coating of the tongue, a practitioner can easily understand underlying conditions and ailments and make a prognosis for the healing course. However, your chinese medicine practitioner will talk to you about your pulse diagnosis, and the most common descriptions are. The chart above gives a glimpse into chinese tongue diagnosis. Tongue diagnosis traditional chinese medicine and acupuncture.
May 29, 2017 the tongue reflects how a persons body is balanced, generally in a more longterm way than pulse diagnosis. In this case, the tongue colour is consistent over the whole tongue so we cannot determine from the tongue alone where the blood stasis is located. Teeth markings on the sides of the tongue usually mean stagnant energy in the liver network. Spleen qi deficiency, especially if teeth marks on the sides or damp heat. The appearance of a white coating is caused by debris, bacteria and dead cells getting lodged between the enlarged and sometimes inflamed papillae. Tongue diagnosis is a very traditional and effective method which has been used to diagnose diseases for over two thousand years. In this article i am going to share with you knowledge about tongue diagnosis.
Generally the tongue, is much easier to learn and less subjective than pulse diagnosis. This papillae loss appears as smooth, red patches of varying shapes and sizes. Back of your tongue the back of the tongue reflects many of the bodys functions, but is mainly the domain of the water element, or kidneybladder network, which includes the hormonal system and sexual glands. How tongue diagnosis works by transformational acupuncture. Acupuncture what to expect, pulse, tongue diagnosis. The appearance and qualities of the tongue is a critical part of diagnosis in chinese medicine tcm. Stress and anxiety will show up as red color and red dots on the tip of the tongue. The tongue itself usually cant tell you what formula to take. I sometimes see red dots on your tongue and this signifies the energy pattern of empty heat this often accompanies a yin deficiency pattern.
As you look at your tongue then, check the following regularly, note their location on the tongue, as well as any changes over time. Excerpt from demystifying chinese medicine class 4, taught by danny geren, l. For example, if the tip of the tongue has lots of very red dots, the patient. Causes of papillae hypertrophy or inflammation include, for example. Feb 03, 2014 we specialize in using acupuncture, chinese herbal medicine, diet, and lifestyle changes to create health and alleviate or eliminate uncomfortable symptoms and conditions. Understanding diagnostic reasoning in tcm practice.
Tongue diagnosis in chinese medicine by giovanni maciocia. Each of the major aspects of the tongue body color, shape and coating and its relationship to the diagnostic process is described systematically. My community acupuncture patients sometimes ask me what i see when i look at their tongues. The aims of this study were to 1 understand cognitive strategies and diagnostic reasoning processes of tcm practitioners engaged in tongue diagnosis and 2 investigate tcm practitioners. Tongue diagnosis is used all the time by acupuncturists and practitioners trained in chinese medicine it is an important way to diagnose a patients health and sometimes can be crucial in deciding what to do first. Tongue diagnosis is a primary method in chinese medicine for. Tongue analysis can be used in complement with pulse, nail, and facial diagnosis in order to really see what is going on.
When looking at a patients tongue we examine the tongue body color, tongue body shape, and tongue coating. A tongue that is pale indicates a deficiency of qi and blood or the presence of cold. Needles are typically retained for about 30 minutes. You can also get a pulse and tongue diagnosis checkup as part of a holistic health counseling appointment. The color, coating, shape and texture of various parts of the tongue yield information about the state of the organs.
A misguided study to test the reliability of traditional. Tongue and pulse diagnosis are two of the more important diagnostic tools in chinese medicine. Jul 01, 2014 tongue diagnosis is a powerful tool for me to gauge progress of a patient along with discussions of symptoms. Tongue diagnosis is one of the most ancient and highly reliable techniques for discerning a patients root cause of a disease. But once we know what the symptoms are then the tongue is useful in finding the right formula. Webmd symptom checker helps you find the most common symptom combinations and medical conditions related to white patches on tongue. It is especially important in confirming the tcm diagnosis. However, the most likely pattern is that of liverblood stasis. Introduction to chinese medicine diagnosis chinese medicine diagnosis is made by integrating a myriad of symptoms.
Theyre bioelectromagnetic patches that contain high purity zinc and cooper in a magnetic field. Some of this can be affected by what a person did that day. This is an excerpt of my book with over 400 acupuncture points. Tongue color varies widely from person to person, but is a good indicator of the overall nature of what is going on in the body. It is a very accurate view into the inner health of an individual. During an examination, the overall tongue coating, shape, and color is taken into account. Each area represents the current state of health of its designated organ and organ system.
For most new patients, it seems odd to stick out your tongue at someone. To enlarge the chart for readability, click on it once, pause, then click on it again. Observation of the tongue, also known as tongue diagnosis, is an important procedure in tcm examination. A red tongue indicates that there is heat present in the body, and the redder the tongue, the greater amount of heat present. Tongue diagnosis in acupuncture february 19, 2014 in tongue diagnosis by mairead when you visit an acupuncturist for the first time, you will go through a huge amount of questions involving diet, stress factors, lifestyle choices, past medical history, etc, but one of the most astonishing things you will be asked to do is. Dec 22, 2019 the tongue, according to ayurveda, is a strong diagnostic tool for looking at ones systemic health. Tongue diagnosis is an important part of the chinese medical assessment.
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