Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is holistic, meaning that the person's entire state of health, and not just the symptoms that bring the patient to the office, are relevant.

Symptoms are generally viewed as a result of an imbalance in the overall state of health, rather than arising spontaneously.

We may also feel the pulse on both wrists and look at your tongue.

The feel of your pulse and the look of your tongue (you'd be amazed at the variations among patients!) give us more information about what is happening internally and, used together with your answers to our questions, confirm the diagnosis.

All the information taken together enables us to make the decision as to what points to use and how many treatments it will take to get a good result.

For this reason, practitioners take the time to ask a lot of questions of the patient. For example, in our first appointment we'll ask about your quality of sleep, digestion, energy level, health history, diet, etc., in order to formulate a treatment plan (a series of treatments) that will bring your body back into balance again (alleviating symptoms).