"Chinese Medicine is a complete medical system that has diagnosed, treated and prevented illness for over thirty centuries. While it can remedy ailments and alter states of mind, Chinese medicine can also enhance recuperative powers, immunity, and the capacity for pleasure, work and creativity."
     - excerpted from
     Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine by H. Beinfield and E. Korngold

Oriental medicine is the oldest continuously practiced medical system in the world, and this abundance of knowledge has been transmitted and enriched from generation to generation via the Chinese written tradition which has basically remained unchanged for thousands of years.

Originating in China, TCM has been used in other parts of Asia, Europe, and South America for about 200 years. In the U.S., acupuncture has been available since 1972 when an aide of President Nixon was successfully treated in China. All told, acupuncture is used by nearly one-third of the world as a primary health care system and many more as an adjunctive therapy.

The fundamental principles of TCM are to treat the person as an integrated whole in body, mind and spirit, and to remedy the root cause of illness and disease--not only the symptoms. In Chinese Medicine, great emphasis is placed on preventive techniques. Doctors of Oriental Medicine use time-tested principles of effective diagnosis, interpretation, and therapeutic treatment methods, completely set apart from conventional medicine. Oriental medicine is still very much in existence today because of its simplicity, beauty, and attunement to Natural Law.

Today, modern Chinese medicine represents a combination of ideas and methods from earlier times coupled with the findings from modern research methods – chemical analysis, pharmacological testing in laboratory, and clinical trials. In fact, the TCM health care system has been selected by the World Health Organization to meet the health care needs of people worldwide, in the 21st century and beyond. The reason for this distinction is its effectiveness, not only medically but also in terms of cost-control.

The foundation of oriental medical analysis is a holistic perspective on health & illness, which treats relationships between a symptom and the person as a whole, and includes factors of environment, behavior, emotional state, stage of life, and season. The Chinese Medicine theory of nature, health and disease was set forth in the concepts of two essential forces – Yin and Yang, the three essences, Five Elements (which coordinate organs within categories of Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, and Wood), six climatic influences, seven emotional factors, and the concept of Qi, a vital life energy flowing throughout the body along meridian pathways.

Today in China, TCM uses various methods to achieve health, including acupuncture, moxibustion, cupping, herbal medicine, the ancient therapeutic use of food as medicine (Chinese Macrobiotics), acupressure and tui-na (medical massage therapy), zheng-gu (Chinese "osteopathy" or "chiropractic"), fitness exercises such as t'ai chi and qigong ('chee-gong') which cultivate vital energy for health, and several other supportive practices such as meditation, practiced in an integrated way. Both TCM and its separate components are complete methods of holistic and preventive medicine.

Although acupuncture is well known in the U.S. for pain relief, qualified acupuncturists are able to address a much wider variety of problems. Its healing modalities have been endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). These bodies have declared acupuncture an effective treatment for the following conditions:

Addictions Arthritis Back pain Carpal tunnel Chemotherapy nausea Cold, flu, allergies, asthma, sinus problems and infections Depression Digestive (ulcers, nausea, gastritis, irritable bowel) Ear problems (ringing, earaches, deafness due to nerve problems) Fatigue Insomnia Fibromyalgia

Headaches, migraines and other neurological conditions Heart disease, hypertension, poor circulation Hypoglycemia, thyroid disorders, diabetes, gout, weight loss & maintenance, etc. Male sexual dysfunction, infertility, prostatitis Menstrual & female disorders Muscle & joint pain (tendonitis, bursitis, sprains) Post-op. dental pain Sciatica, numbness, paralysis or nerve pain, stroke rehabilitation, certain symptoms of multiple sclerosis, epilepsy Skin disorders Stress, anxiety, panic attacks Urinary problems

Mr. Singleton, Dipl.Ac., Dipl.C.H./Dipl.O.M. (pending) is a traditionally trained master practitioner of TCM and employs the five major therapeutic modalities in his balanced approach to healthcare. His approach has emerged from a thorough and unique understanding of the body developed from nearly 30 years of healing practices, allowing him to effectively integrate various therapies as needed by each patient.