Traditional Tibetan Medicine

Tibetan medicine is an ancient system of medicine with intricate theories of disease causation, diagnosis and therapeutics.

The medical system itself is founded on the principle of mind, body and environmental factors interdependently creating the conditions for health or disease. Mind, body and external environment are all seen to be composed of the same basic five elements at greater or lesser degrees of subtlety. These five elemental principles are traditionally designated as earth, water, fire, air and space and may be interpreted as matter, bonding, energy, movement and space. This enables the components of the world at large to be used, by the practitioner, to restore the patient to health as both are of similar nature. The individual is a part of a greater whole.

One major factor believed to trigger disease is the interaction between the person and the environment- diet, human relationships and climate being typical areas of interaction. Tibetan medical practitioners are also trained to track the elemental characteristics of each moment and hour. The understanding of the timing of symptoms can give clues to the nature of the underlying disorder the person is experiencing. Another factor is the influence of the individual's own mind, feelings and personal history. These factors affect the body and mind in multiple ways, grouped by Tibetan Medicine into three major areas of pathology, known as the nyes pa gsum.

Each of these three areas includes functions of the body's major subsystems, such as the cardiovascular system and digestive system. Each nyes pa is also related to the psychological makeup and welfare of the individual. The importance of compassion in healing is stressed in Tibetan medicine.

Diagnosis is principally based upon a complex analysis involving the following features: palpation of pulses to ascertain the state of the organs of the body, urine inspection, in-depth questioning to establish predisposing and precipitating causes of imbalance. Traditional Tibetan Medicine has developed an extensive range of clinical practice spanning psychiatry, paediatrics, gynaecology, obstetrics, geriatrics and neurology.

Traditional Tibetan medicine makes use of herbs to restore health and balance and gives advice on how to heal the mind and improve the way in which one lives.
Treatment is offered in the following areas:

advice on certain behaviours to adopt or avoid, since the way a person behaves can affect the subtle mind and more gross body elements and lead to health or disease
dietary advice in order to help restore the elemental imbalance, as foods made up of the five elements can affect the body’s balance of the elements
the prescription of herbal and traditional medicines
external treatments such as moxibustion (burning of dried mugwort on particular points on the body).

HERBAL MEDICINE

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