Also known as:
- Chinese Structural Alignment/Chiropractic
- Chinese Massage
- Osteopathic Mobilization
- Osteopathic Manipulative Treatments
- Qi Energy Issuance
Tui-Na is the branch of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) that treats the patient using only the physician’s hands to bring about a change in the patient’s condition. Like Chinese medicine itself, Tui-Na can be viewed as a sum of different styles or systems. It essentially boils down to three main skills:
1. soft tissue treatment
2. skeletal alignment
3. energy issuance
Tui-Na is the least invasive of the three modalities of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), with no foreign substance whatsoever penetrating the patient’s skin or being ingested. While the casual observer may draw parallels with massage, chiropractic, osteopathic mobilization or osteopathic manipulation, Tui-Na is a very different science when viewed as a whole, even though there are techniques within Tui-Na that resemble the other modalities of manual therapy.
The roots of Tui-Na (also spelled tuina) were developed long before acupuncture, using manual stimulation of affected areas to bring about pain relief. Primitive man instinctively knew that by rubbing painful areas on the body, discomfort would be lessened. With the discovery and evolution of acupuncture meridian theory, Chinese massage therapy also evolved, first known as An Mo (pushing & kneading) in ancient times. By the Ming Dynasty, the technical and theoretical level had risen dramatically, and the new science of manual therapy was renamed “Tui-Na” (pushing & grasping).
Tui-Na has always had a close relationship to Chinese martial arts, as traumatic injuries (such as dislocations, sprains, fractures, etc.) are commonplace in any combative training environment, and the most readily available treatment tools were right at the fingertips of the school’s headmaster. Most of history’s most famous Chinese martial artists were also exceptional physicians, most notably Sil Lum Hung Kuen’s Wong, Fei-hung, who oversaw the Po Chi Lam clinic in Futshan. Cantonese martial artists developed a special traumatological science known as “Dit Da” or “Tit Dar” in the Cantonese dialect (or “Tie Da” in Mandarin). Dit Da medicine generally combines manipulative therapies with the best internal and external use herbal formulas (commonly referred to under the blanket term of “Dit Da Jow” by foreigners) for traumatic injuries along with Tui-Na manipulations for treatment.
While some mistakenly dismiss Tui-Na as either Chinese massage or Chinese chiropractic, Tui-Na is in fact a complete system of medicine, giving it the ability to address both internal diseases and external injuries. Its unique logic and methods of diagnosis and treatment set it apart from all other medical sciences. By complementing the body’s natural healing processes, Tui-Na is used as a preventative health measure for its ability to bolster resistance to disease, and its effectiveness for a wide range of medical problems with pain and dysfunction including:
- Migraine Headaches
- Chronic Neck & Back Pain
- Motor-Coordination Impairments
- Colic, Autism
- Central Nervous System Disorders
- Orthopaedic Problems
- Traumatic Brain & Spinal Cord Injuries
- Scoliosis
- Infantile Disorders
- Learning Disabilities
- Chronic Fatique, Emotional Difficulties
- Stress & Tension Related Problems
- Fibromyalgia and other Connective-Tissue Disorders
- Temporomandibular Joint Syndrome (TMJ)
- Neurovascular or Immune Disorders
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)