Oriental medicine (O.M.), also referred to as Asian or Chinese medicine, is a 5000 year-old complete healing system that originated in China. It incorporates acupuncture, herbal medicine, massage, nutrition, meditation, and martial arts (including tai chi and qi gong) to treat a similarly wide variety of illnesses and complaints as Western medicine. Like Western medicine, the practices of O.M. are based on the careful clinical observation and recording of their benefits. Unlike Western medicine, however, O.M.'s clinical efficacy has been studied and recorded for thousands of years. When one considers that the long-term safety and effectiveness of most drugs and surgical techniques that are considered standard in Western medicine have been studied for less than 100 years, O.M.'s standards seem extraordinarily rigorous! In Western medicine, pharmaceuticals that are considered standard are often accompanied by serious side effects, while the invasive nature of many surgical procedures can make them as potentially life-threatening as they are life-saving. In O.M., similar levels of side effects and risk are not tolerated. Instead, practitioners have been required to develop treatments that are safe, minimally invasive, and with only occasional mild side effects. As more and more health insurance organizations are discovering, it is also a cost effective approach to health maintenance. Fifty years of research in China and the West have reconfirmed the efficacy of Oriental medical modalities. Acupuncture is recommended by the World Health Organization for 29 conditions, including common cold symptoms, gastrointestinal & bowel disorders, neurological conditions, stroke hemiplegia, most pain syndromes, bronchial asthma, headache (including migraine), facial paralysis, sinusitis, and osteoarthritis. Recent research has demonstrated that it is a successful treatment for postoperative pain and nausea (when given before & after surgery); current studies indicate its effectiveness for hypertension, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other disorders. For more information on research, go to my links section.