Syndrome differentiation and treatment:
Acupuncture treatment for alcoholism and other addictions usually involves using acupuncture points on the inside of the outer ear. This is known as auricular acupuncture. Short, thin, sterile acupuncture needles are inserted at three to five auricular acupuncture points. Patients sit or lie comfortably for about forty-five minutes. The acupuncture treatments often have a profoundly calming effect on the mind and body.

Besides using acupuncture points to calm the spirit, a typical acupuncture treatment could also consist of three or more acupuncture points to strengthen the liver, kidneys and lungs, which are the major organs of elimination. These organs have often grown weak in addicts because they have been subjected to the daily burden of eliminating an excess of toxins from the body.

People addicted to most substances are advised to receive daily acupuncture treatment until they are free of craving. They then receive acupuncture treatments one or more times a week to help them to remain so. Alcoholics typically require daily acupuncture treatments during the initial period of treatment. To insure long-term abstinence, addicts are encouraged to seek counseling and participate in a support group. Interestingly, alcoholics receiving acupuncture during the withdrawal period rarely experience seizures.

In Chinese medicine, when treating a disease, the doctors take everything into into consideration, including climatic changes, environmental variations, emotional changes, the diet, the urine and the stool, the sleep, and the disorder of sex life. That is the feature of the Three Pathogens Theory in TCM. This etiology doctrine built on the basis of the macro methodology entirely differs from that of Western medicine. It is on the basis of the microscopic and pathologic anatomy. But it is exactly a biological, psychological, social and new medical model that Western medicine is attempting to pursue. While Chinese medicine established its own system with this medical model two thousand years ago.

Chinese doctor doesn’t considers static anatomy as a starting point for understanding the diseases, and does not rely on detection equipments. On the contrary, Chinese doctor depends on the unique ways of TCM diagnosis to experience and study the human dynamic life information. Also it is based on syndrome differentiation to guide the disease therapy. This method not only can save a lot of examination fees for patients, but also can help doctors exchange with patients more closely, thus reflecting a real humanistic spirit.