How does Chinese medicine achieve accurate diagnosis and treatment?

there are mainly four methods for diagnosing diseases in TCM, namely, hope, smell, inquiry and pulse, which are called "four diagnoses" for short. The human body is an organic whole, and local lesions can affect the whole body; The pathological changes of internal organs can be reflected from all aspects of the five senses and four limbs. Therefore, by observing, smelling, asking and palpating the symptoms of the disease in all aspects, we can understand the cause, nature and internal relationship of the disease, thus providing basis for further syndrome differentiation and treatment.

Visiting the doctor means that the doctor observes the changes of the patient's whole body and local look and shape with his eyes. Through a large number of medical practices, Chinese medicine has realized that the exterior of human body, especially the face, tongue quality and tongue coating are closely related to the internal organs. If the five zang-fu organs have pathological changes, they will inevitably be reflected on the body surface. Therefore, we can understand the internal diseases of the body through inspection. When the doctor came into contact with the patient at first, he saw that the patient's condition was serious, but if the patient's spirit was good, it showed that the patient's vital energy was still strong, and the treatment effect was bound to be better; On the contrary, it seems that the illness is not too serious, but the spirit has been depressed, which shows that the healthy qi has declined and the treatment effect may not be as good as the former. Different colors of the face can reflect the pathological changes of different viscera. Blue, red, yellow, white and black colors, corresponding to the five internal organs of liver, heart, spleen, lung and kidney. If there is a blue face, it may be a liver lesion; Yellow face may be a lesion of the spleen and stomach. From the shape of people, we can also see the change of illness. Obese people are prone to symptoms of insufficient yang and retention of phlegm and dampness; Thin people are prone to symptoms of insufficient yin and blood and flourishing yang.

The most distinctive feature of TCM inspection is "tongue diagnosis", which includes looking at the quality and coating of the tongue. Tongue quality refers to the body of the tongue; Tongue coating is the coating on the surface of tongue. You can know the rise and fall of healthy qi by looking at the quality of the tongue, and the depth of evil qi by looking at the coating of the tongue; Normal people have a thin white coating on their tongue, which is called tongue coating. If foreign pathogens invade the human body and affect the digestive function of the spleen and stomach, the moss will thicken. The tongue surface is as smooth as a mirror, which is because the vital qi is too weak. The reason why tongue coating can reflect diseases is that it has a close relationship with the internal organs through "stomach qi", which is the functional state of the spleen and stomach, and its physiological and pathological state has a very important influence on the activities of other organs. The observation of tongue images in traditional Chinese medicine includes observing the color of tongue quality, the color and thickness of tongue coating, and the shape of tongue body. In clinic, because the tongue picture can accurately reflect the physiological and pathological conditions of the body, some people think that the tongue picture is a mirror of the physiological and pathological conditions of the human body. Medical education network collects and sorts out

smell diagnosis, that is, doctors listen to the patient's language with their ears and smell the patient's body or excrement and secretions with their noses. These are also valuable for identifying the state of the disease.

consultation, which is very important in TCM clinic. The time, cause, course of the disease, what diseases have been suffered in the past, the parts of the patient's pain, and the living habits, eating habits and other diseases-related situations can only be understood by asking the patient or his family. In order to emphasize the importance of "consultation" and summarize the main contents of "consultation", ancient doctors also compiled a "Ten Questions Song": "One question about cold and heat, two questions about sweat, three questions about head and body, four questions about defecation, five questions about diet, six questions about chest, seven questions about deafness and eight questions about thirst, nine questions about old diseases and ten questions about causes, and then taking medicine to change the machine. Women especially ask about menstruation, and late closure and collapse can be seen. Add a word to tell pediatrics that smallpox and measles are all tested. " This shows that it is very important for Chinese medicine to see a doctor and ask for advice.

pulse diagnosis and pulse diagnosis's "cutting" means touching the patient's body with their hands. The doctor touches or presses a certain part of the patient with his finger to understand the change of the condition, which includes two parts: pulse-taking and pulse-pressing. Massage is a method in which doctors press the patient's chest and abdomen and touch other parts of the patient. Pulse-taking is also called "pulse-feeling". The vein of the whole body is a closed pipeline system in the human body, which extends in all directions and covers the whole body like a net. Driven by the heart-qi, blood circulates throughout the body in the veins. Therefore, as long as pathological changes occur in any part of the human body, it will affect the changes of qi and blood and show it on the pulse. This is the reason why Chinese medicine can diagnose diseases by feeling the pulse.

There are two methods of pulse-taking in traditional Chinese medicine: one is called full-time diagnosis, which is to touch the arteries in specific parts of the whole body; The other is also often used by Chinese medicine, that is, the method of cunkou pulse. "Cunkou" is located in the superficial part of the flexor artery behind the wrist. If your finger gently touches the skin, you will feel the pulse beating, as if a piece of wood is floating on the water. This is called floating pulse. Seeing this pulse is generally a relatively mild exogenous disease. If you feel the pulse beating after pressing again, this is called sinking pulse, which is generally a pathological change of internal organs. The pulse rate of normal adults is generally about 7 times per minute, and a little slower and faster is not morbid. If the adult's pulse is more than 9 times per minute, this is "pulse counting" and it must be considered as "heat syndrome"; Pulse is less than 6 times per minute, which is a "late pulse" and should be considered as a "cold syndrome". Fluctuating pulse can identify the location of the disease, and late pulse can identify the nature of the disease. To distinguish between the deficiency and the excess of a disease, we can distinguish it from whether the pulse is strong or not. For example, the pulse of empirical evidence is strong, but the pulse of deficiency syndrome is weak. Because the disease is often a complicated process, the pulse condition is also diverse. Through long-term clinical practice, traditional Chinese medicine has summarized rich pulse theory. There are as many as 28 common pulse conditions, and there are also strange pulses that can only be seen when the condition is dangerous.

The four diagnostic methods of looking, smelling, asking and palpating have their own unique functions in the process of observing diseases and making diagnosis, and they cannot replace each other. Some people say that Chinese medicine doctors only look at the tongue coating and feel the pulse, which is not comprehensive because it separates the four diagnoses of Chinese medicine. Of course, tongue diagnosis and pulse diagnosis have a prominent position in TCM diagnostics. However, the four diagnostic methods of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) are a unified whole, and they must be combined in clinic, which is called "four diagnostic methods combined with reference". In addition, because the manifestations of diseases are very complicated, the nature and manifestations of diseases are often different, which requires doctors to rely on experience to judge, distinguish between true and false, and recognize the nature of diseases.