Brief Overview

Oriental medicine encompasses a variety of health care therapies, and is an integrative medicine unto itself.  Acupuncture and herbology are the most popular treatments in the United States. Other aspects of oriental medicine include: diet, nutrition, lifestyle counseling, tai qi (martial arts/ physical exercise), tui na (pushing/grasping) which is a manual technique for the treatment of the muscles and joints, zheng gu (correct bone) which is a joint mobilization technique, cupping (gently drawing the skin into cups with suction), gua sha (stimulation of the skin by a round-edged instrument), and feng shui (environmental balance).

Oriental Medicine looks at illnesses from a different perspective than conventional medicine. The underlying principle of oriental medicine is that we have a life force that energizes all the metabolic activity in our bodies, and this life forces (often referred to as "Qi") is always moving and flowing. When qi flows unimpeded, we are healthy. When qi is blocked, we experience pain and ultimately disease. The treatment strategy is to find the areas of blocked energy, and help remove those blocks, which in turn helps the body return to its natural healthy state.

The Integrative Approach

As discussed on the homepage, integrative medicine is an extremely powerful approach in helping patients with a variety of health conditions.

The National Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine  (NCCAM) of the National Institutes of Health defines complementary and alternative medicine as:

"A group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine."

The NCCAM also defines integrative medicine as:

"Combining mainstream medical therapies and CAM therapies for which there is some high-quality scientific evidence of safety and effectiveness."

As you will read on the following web pages, we offer many integrative health services from both eastern and western philosophies, bringing them together resulting in a unique treatment approach. When used in concert with additional services offered at the Feldman Center for Optimal Health / Holy Cross Hospital, you have one of the most progressive integrative medical programs available at one of America's finest hospitals.