Traditional Chinese Medicine is a comprehensive system of techniques and methods developed over the course of China's long history, and whose fundamental tenets provide the starting point for an understanding of wellness. The main elements of Chinese medicine are comprised of acupuncture, acupressure, herbal medicine and qi gong. As a therapeutic system, Chinese medicine developed a holistic approach to treatment through experiences accumulated over the past two millennia in the battle against illness and through observations of natural and physical forces on the human body.

At the core of Chinese medicine are the dynamic principles of ying and yang; complimenting these is the concept of one's life-force, or qi. The body and mind are construed as a unified whole, with a constant flux of energy coursing throughout - this constant interaction within the body is regulated by and affects qi. In respect to ying and yang, all organs in the body have both a passive and cold ying quality as well as an active and warm yang quality; imbalances of ying and yang result in illness and hence disturbances in qi flow. Diagnosis and pathology of illness reside in an understanding of the disruptions of one's ying-yang balance; once the causing agent is known, Chinese medicine works to re-establish the harmonious flow of qi by balancing ying and yang.

Qi is distributed via meridian channels, represented by lines spanning the torso and the limbs. These passages allow communication between the exterior world and the body. Sites on the body where disharmony in qi may be adjusted are known as points. A common prescription for energy imbalance is using acupuncture; this practice employs the insertion of fine stainless-steel needles into the skin surface at specific points to treat the locus of imbalance. Acupuncture creates openings at these points along the channels causing external pathogenic factors to leave the body. In a discrete sense, with the treatment of points on the body, the entire body benefits.

Nutrition is a key component of Chinese medicine and there is an inextricable relationship between diet and health. Since all functions of the body may be related to the elemental composition of a person in conjunction with one's ying-yang balance, diet therapy and herbal medicine assist in qi regulation. A balanced diet preserves or restores a balanced physical status, and improves qi. Herbal remedies draw from a range of natural plant products, including flowers, stems, leaves, roots and barks. Each portion of an herbal remedy is filled with life and contains rich and complex compounds vital to the body's well-being. Herbal treatments are administered according to an individual's particulars and are made into different prescriptions that will have the required effects. It follows that, diet therapy and herbal medicine are essential parts of an effective treatment plan. As Chinese medicine recognizes that health involves bodily strength and power, not just absence of disease, it may be considered truly holistic.
What can be helped by acupuncture and herbal medicine

• auto or sports-related injury 
• chemo or radiation therapy associated side effects 
• chronic fatigue syndrome 
• chronic pain in muscles/joints or neuralgia 
• dysmenorrhea 
• endometriosis 
• facial palsy and spasm 
• fibromyalgia 
• food allergy 
• frozen shoulder 
• hair loss 
• hay fever 
• headaches and migraine 
• irritable bowel syndrome 
• lower back pain 
• menopausal syndrome 
• paralysis 
• PMS 
• refractory hiccup 
• sciatica 
• smoking cessation 
• stiff neck 
• stress/depression/anxiety 
• tennis elbows 
• weight management