“There is a deep interconnectedness of all life on earth, from the tiniest organisms, to the largest ecosystems, and absolutely between each person.”
Bryant McGill, Voice of Reason
The Amazon Rainforest And The Human Body:
TCM teaches that all organisms naturally strive to maintain balance. We look at the human body much like we would the amazon rainforest or any other ecosystem. If we let nature take it’s course it tends to (for a long time) keep things balanced in healthy ways.
If the ecosystem is out of balance we look at what has changed and work backwards to find the cause(s) of that change. If we continue with the amazon rainforest example we might look at:
- What changes do we see in the numbers of different animal species?
- What changes to we see in rainfall?
- Are there any changes to food supply or plant growth?
Looking at all these different changes helps us see the affect of some particular cause(s). In this example perhaps all these changes point back towards the introduction of a new animal species in the area or a beetle infestation that damaged a particular type of tree.
In the same way a dis-ease such as TMD combined with insomnia and IBS would point back towards the introduction of a new career or a bad case of pneumonia. In this case the TMD, insomnia, and IBS are the affect or some particular cause(s).
Is It Just Jaw Pain/TMD?
On page #1 you heard about 2 different types of people with jaw pain.
- Person #1 had jaw pain/TMD but was otherwise healthy and symptom free.
- In this example the cause of the change might be a fall from a bike, a stressful week at the office, or a recent head/neck injury.
- The affect of that fall/stressful week was jaw pain.
- In this case the ecosystem is still basically balanced (there are no other changes) and the best thing to do is simply fix the jaw.
- Here is when massage, heat, cold, and other similar therapies really shine.
- Person #2 had jaw pain/TMD but also had other health issues and symptoms.
- In this example the cause of the change might be years of menstrual problems, poor diet, or anxiety.
- The affect of these things are jaw pain, IBS, and fibromyalgia.
- In this case the ecosystem is out of balance (many different changes) and the best thing to do is fix the menstrual issues, diet, and anxiety (bring the whole ecosystem back into balance) and the affects like jaw pain and IBS will resolve on their own.
- Here is when TCM, herbs, diet and lifestyle coaching really shine.
Up Next: The Most Common Overlapping Health Issues With TMD And Their Most Common Causes.
