A Pain Case...

Pain cases are the easiest way to highlight how unquantifiable factors do indeed affect the degree to the ailment. The reader will appreciate this discussion much more if he has read my previous blogs on the impact of “subjective” variables. For those that did not, I stated that most Western practitioners diagnose the pain and formulate the subsequent treatment plan based mainly on objective-based measurements. They do not take unquantifiable factors into account when making their analysis of the pain. They usually just treat the pain based on regimented protocols that they learned in their schooling and training.

Again, I am just reaffirming the points I’ve already made in the previous blog. Conversely, TCM practitioners are trained to look at each pain case as unique to that patient, Therefore, we take into account subjective factors that are unique to that patient when making our diagnosis and treatment plan. One such factor is the stress/energy level of the patient. It is very common to see a TCM practitioner want to assess that patient’s energy/stress level before making his final diagnosis.

One can truly appreciate the differences between the intake process between the two fields by appreciating the impact that a factor like stress/energy has in TCM diagnosing. I have treated many pain cases where the pain was due or was exacerbated by some emotional or chronic disorder rather from some acute disorder like a twist or a fall. What I want the reader to appreciate here is not the treatment of the pain, itself, but the thought process a TCM practitioner undertakes in formulating the final treatment plan.

In fact, on my intake form, I have both a subjective and an objective assessment area that are clearly defined to aid me in completing the treatment plan. For the purpose of clarification, a Western trained practitioner would call this taking the history of the patient. Before continuing this contrast, lets first focus on the similarities between the TCM and Western manner in taking the history of a patient’s injury…