Left: EULALEE THOMPSON - Right: Tracey-Ann Brown, oriental medicine practitioner, demonstrates the techniques of cupping on volunteer, Camille. In this oriental medicine technique, Brown creates a suction with a pump and special cup and slides the cup along the skin to relieve stress and muscular skeletal problems. - PHOTOS BY WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
'My mother believed in Chinese medicine. She lived 20 years longer than doctors thought with the treatment of Chinese medicine ... acupuncture does work.'
- Gloria Palomino
BUSINESSWOMAN GLORIA PALOMINO once went to visit her children in Hawaii with only one of her arms working properly. She used to play a lot of tennis and developed 'tennis elbow'. She was not interested in the steroids, which her doctor recommended, but jumped at the opportunity to visit an oriental medicine physician in Hawaii. She said that he placed acupuncture needles from her big toe to her head, and to cut the long story short, after a few treatments, Mrs. Palomino could again use her right hand to comb her hair and put on her belt.
"My mother believed in Chinese medicine. She lived 20 years longer than doctors thought with the treatment of Chinese medicine ... acupuncture does work," she stressed.
With this personal experience, it's no wonder that Mrs. Palomino gave such a confident endorsement of acupuncture, oriental medicine and oriental medicine practitioner Tracey-Ann Brown's decision to open her practice on Seymour Avenue, St. Andrew.
Mrs. Brown recently held a bold and elegant cocktail party to launch her practice at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in St. Andrew. The tools of 'her trade' - needles and herbs - were creatively displayed in a décor style depicting the minimalist theme of the East.
Oriental medicine or Traditional Chinese Medicine is a more than 3,000-year-old system of medicine involving primarily the use of not only acupuncture but of Chinese herbal medicine.
"Oriental medicine works along pathways or meridians in the body, which are associated with a specific organ. By stimulating meridians you effect change on the corresponding organs," Mrs. Brown explained.
VITAL SUBSTANCES
She further explained that the vital substances of the body, qi (energy), blood and other body fluids such as phlegm are manipulated in Chinese medicine through the action on the meridians.
Dr. Sonia Davidson, medical practitioner who also endorsed Mrs. Brown's new practice, said that she comes well-qualified having studied acupuncture and oriental medicine at The Swedish Institute in New York and at the Samra University of Oriental Medicine, in the U.S., after completing her bachelor of science in computer science and mathematics at the University of the West Indies.
"There is a lot of demand for alternative medicine and the assumption is that Western medicine has failed but this is wrong, it is because Western medicine has been successful, doubling life expectancy. But, changes take place and Western medicine has not kept pace. People are living longer, but Western medicine has not got all of the tools for an ageing population which is not taking care of themselves," said Dr. Davidson who is also advisor to the Ministry of Health on alternative medicine.
DIAGNOSIS ORIENTAL STYLE
It seems that conventional medicine's weakness is alternative medicine's strength - the patient is seen, not as a disease to be treated, but as a thinking, feeling person who needs to be cared for holistically. Mrs. Brown explained for instance that there are four primary diagnostic methods in Chinese medicine:
1 Inspection: The complexion, body movement, the tongue and general spirit.
2 Listening and smelling: Listening for coughs, breathing and speech patterns; taking note of peculiar mouth and body odours.
3 Inquiring: All organs and systems of the body are discussed including sleep patterns and energy levels.
4 Palpation: Palpating the pulse, abdomen and specific acupuncture points whose sensitivity may help reveal pathology.
Inspecting the tongue, she said, is particularly important in Chinese medicine - the colour and coating can indicate pathology.
With this bold launch of an oriental medicine practice, though not the first such practice here, it seems that whether conventional medicine wants to accept it or not, alternative medicine is here to stay.
You can send feedback to eulalee.thompson@gleanerjm.com.
