Exploring ALTERNATIVE ROUTES

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is one of the world's oldest healing options. But how effective and safe is it?

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Studying medicine and becoming a registered practictioner sounds like every South African parent’s dream for their child, but there’s been a change of scenery among South African students. Many are studying TCM at institutions like the University of Johannesburg, which offers a post-graduate diploma in acupuncture, and the University of the Western Cape, where the School of Natural Medicine is reconstructing a course in Chinese Medicine and acupuncture.

Sinovuyo Mkula, a fourth-year student, said in an address at the 2022 Global Generation Z Forum in Beijing: “A TCM practitioner has more of an authentic and natural approach to healing. I wanted to become part of a community that would help save our Earth and the many people looking for a way out of ‘normal medicinal approaches’.”

WHAT IS IT?

Traditional Chinese Medicine centres on the concept of qi (pronounced ‘chee’), a vital life force flowing through the body along certain paths or meridians. Illness and disease are seen as the result of imbalance in the body caused by a blockage of qi. TCM therapies therefore focus on restoring balance between the body’s internal organs and the Earth’s five natural elements – of which humans are believed to be a microcosm: earth, fire, water, wood and metal. Unlike allopathic (sciencebased) medicine, which provides specific treatment for the affected organs, TCM aims to strengthen the body overall.