Beyond Bone And Horn

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If you still think that we are living in an age where Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is an archaic medical approach struggling to gain a foothold in our modern society, think again. Medical practices based on Chinese traditions and pharmacopeia, some dating back two millennia, has seen it gain popularity among younger couples. While it used to be labelled as a treatment method for our grandparents—and walking into a medical hall surrounded by severed deer antlers and a plethora of bizarre dried herbs can be admittedly off-putting—there is more to TCM than meets the eye. And this practice is even tipping the scales in the childbirth department, once the trusted domain of Western medicine.

“TCM and Western medicine are two very different approaches to medicine, making it difficult to compare the two,” explains senior physician Dr Zhong Xi Ming of Eu Yan Sang Premier TCM Centre @ Paragon. “Western medicine focuses on therapeutics, while TCM also emphasises on the prevention of illnesses. Confinement practice is a good example of illness prevention as it aims to improve and aid the mother’s recovery to minimise the occurrence of post-pregnancy conditions in the future.”

Getting To The Point