What to expect with a Traditional Tibetan Medicine consultation

The practice of Tibetan Medicine is just starting to spread here in the West. With several newly graduated doctors of Traditional Tibetan Medicine and many more being trained, access to its countless benefits is becoming much greater for Western people. For that reason I thought it would be good to explain how to take advantage of what Tibetan Medicine has to offer.

Traditional Tibetan Medicine addresses the well being of the whole individual in the observation, healing and prevention of physical, mental, and energetic imbalances. If you are interested in Tibetan Medicine, it is likely you want to maintain good health and it is possible you are dealing with some major or minor imbalances in your health. If that is the case, scheduling a consultation with a certified Doctor of Traditional Tibetan Medicine could be appropriate. Traditional Tibetan Medicine takes the approach of first trying to prevent major health problems. For that reason, if you feel even the slightest change in your system or have even the most minor concerns it can be useful to visit a Tibetan doctor for a consultation.

In order to help prevent a slight imbalance from becoming something major, Tibetan doctors offer both dietary and lifestyle recommendations to keep your system in balance.  Your age, constitution, environment, the season, diet, lifestyle and so on are all taken into account. With this information specific foods to integrate in your daily diet and things to avoid can be suggested. Likewise specific lifestyle changes can be suggested. Some of these things can be very minor such as adding a specific seasoning to your foods, however, when taken seriously and applied over the long term, they can really make then difference in preventing serious problems. 

Because Tibetan doctors draw on different observational methods than Western doctors such as checking the organ system through the pulse, urine, sense organs and so on, they can find slight imbalances that might not be found with Western testing methods. That is because Tibetan doctors are working with a different fundamental theory, the theory of the five elements: earth, water, fire and wind. According to this theory, all of our body’s materials and functions are built and controlled by the five elements. Likewise the entire external world, food we eat and so on is built of the five elements. . By relying on this theory, we can see how trends of exposure to external conditions of the five elements are directly affecting the internal bodies five elements.  In this way we can see how to prevent imbalances by balancing the affect of the external conditions through diet and behavior. This approach deals with prevention at the very cause of illness. For example in the winter the earth and water elements are dominant. Internally, these elements increase as well, which can cause us to feel more heavy, tired and so on. Therefore we might suggest something warm nature such as ginger tea in order to prevent a serious problem such as chronic indigestion or seasonal depression.

Once the body is really out of balance the signs of illness show. Tibetan doctors take the same approach for both physical and mental problems. This is because we see the mind and body as one. When coming in for a consultation you will be asked many questions regarding your complaint. Not only will the above factors mentioned for prevention be observed, but also the time of day you have symptoms, how your digestive system is working, how you are sleeping, your emotional state and many other questions may be asked so that the elemental imbalances and organs involved can be accurately ascertained.  After a series of questions, the Tibetan doctor will check the pulse, the tongue, the eyes and the urine in order to specifically classify the imbalance according to the theory of Tibetan Medicine. The pulse, tongue, eyes and urine give specific information on how the organs are functioning as well as what elements are involved in the imbalance.

In conclusion, the Tibetan doctor discusses what they have observed. Dietary and lifestyle recommendations are given to help prevent further exposure to the causes of the imbalance and as well as to help heal the imbalance. Generally, 3 to 4 herbal formulas are recommended to take throughout the day in order to strengthen the organs and rebalance the elements of the body.

Tibetan herbal formulas are composed of various natural herbs. Some contain as little as 3 or 4 ingredients and some contain between 25 – 70 ingredients. These formulas have been used in Traditional Tibetan Medicine for centuries. They tend to be very balanced for the function of all of the organs in the body while addressing specific imbalances in the elements and organs. For that reason, there are rarely side effects with Tibetan herbal formulas.  Some common ingredients are nutmeg, pomegranate, ginger, sandalwood, saffron and so on.  Depending on ones condition, herbs might be taken anywhere from 2 weeks to a year or two. In some cases herbs might be even taken on an ongoing basis if the root of the illness is difficult to cure. Based on the theory of the five elements mentioned above, these formulas are composed of the five elements and bring our internal bodies five elements back into balance.

Lastly, a Tibetan doctor may recommend some external therapies such as kunye Tibetan Massage, me btsa (applying heat), dug (compresses), lums (medicinal bathes) and so on. These are often suggested in more serious cases or to help cut the root of the problem.

Please feel free to ask any questions about this by posting a comment on this post.