The Role Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) And Acupuncture Can Play With Functional Medicine

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been in practice for literally thousands of years and is still alive and well to this day. Elite hospitals including the Mayo Clinic, University of California San Francisco, and Duke University Medical Center incorporate acupuncture in their medical approach to health and healing. Published in America’s Best Hospitals list, by US News, all 18 of the hospitals highlighted provide some form of complementary and or alternative medicine in their prestigious medical center. Part of TCM’s core beliefs is that there is harmony that can and should be brought about in the body with proper and skillfully prescribed herbs, foods, and adding in medical procedures like acupuncture.  These modalities allow the body to achieve peak health and wellness. In today’s fast-paced world of avant garde medicine, there is a new voice emerging from the fray. It’s called Functional Medicine and it is taking the health and wellness world by storm. What is this new medical treatment concept and is it right for you and your family? In today’s article, we’re going to explore just that and how TCM and acupuncture play a
role in the complete picture of better health for you.

What Is Functional Medicine?

Believe it or not, there is no such thing as a Functional Medicine Doctor. There are doctors, and even nurses or those without medical degrees who practice Functional Medicine. There are no colleges, nor degrees or licensing exams that are Functional medicine. This comes as a huge surprise to many people. At Eagle Acupuncture, however, our doctor uses functional medicine as one tool to help diagnose and or treat many health conditions. Functional Medicine could also be called “comprehensive medicine”.  This is because at the core of Functional Medicine's ideology is a holistic and comprehensive way of looking at, diagnosing, and treating various ailments in the body, with a special focus on chronic and
systemic diseases.

We use labs to look at the body from a unique lens, often checking things that aren't looked at in a traditional bloodwork with your physician. Based on this information, we then assess what supplements or herbs are best for your condition. Usually, the providers only is familiar with single herbs similar to the way Naturopaths practice medicine. However, our doctor is trained in both single herbs and also how to combine herbs for a much more in-depth and comprehensive approach to treating complicated diseases. This approach allows the practitioner to take into account many or several factors when diagnosing and treating a patient’s conditions. These factors include, but are not limited to a person’s: diet, lifestyle (are you active, or sedentary, what do you do for a living? etc), your living environment, exposure to certain toxins or allergens, sleep habits, and even your lab work, among other factors. The patient-centered approach is essential to the core of Functional Medicine and to helping find the answers to the question “why are you ill?” There are many factors that contribute to a person’s illness and knowing all of these factors can be a powerful tool in combating them.

What Are Some Common Ailments That Functional Medicine Can Help With?

Functional medicine can help with a wide variety of health concerns and illnesses. It is best at helping patients deal with and treat chronic and/or systemic diseases with a focus on allergen exposure reduction, improved nutrition, and body detoxification. Here are some of the more
common ailments that Functional Medicine treats well:

  • Hormone Imbalance

  • Irregular Menstrual Cycles

  • HRT Hormone Replacement Therapy Monitoring

  • Infertility

  • Gut Issues

  • Adrenal disorders

  • Arthritis

  • Asthma

  • Autoimmune diseases

  • Cancer prevention and Complementary Care

  • Cardiovascular disease

  • Diabetes

  • Digestive disorders

  • Fibromyalgia

  • Allergies

  • PMS

  • Menopause and Peri-menopause

  • Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

  • Metabolic syndrome

  • Prediabetes

  • Insulin resistance

  • Thyroid disorders

How Can TCM And Acupuncture Help Work Alongside Functional Medicine?

TCM and acupuncture fit in nicely to the Functional Medicine equation since TCM is the original holistic medicine that has always gotten to the root cause of disease. Since a lot of the core principles behind TCM focus on creating a balanced nutritional plan and focus on introducing herbal medicine, it dovetails nicely with Functional Medicine’s holistic approach. More often than not, many ailments are just symptoms of a problem that stems from poor nutritional and dietary choices and can be fixed by addressing that rather than by taking a pharmaceutical pill.

As far as acupuncture goes, it is a natural and time-honored way to help reduce inflammation throughout the body and improve the overall function and health of each and every organ, hormone and musculoskeletal system. That makes it a perfect accompaniment to TCM in its overall role in improving one’s health and as a part of Functional Medicine’s success. Think of Acupuncture and TCM herbal medicine as East and Functional Medicine as the natural West. Fusing Eastern medicine with the best of western, natural medicine, monitored by labs is the best of both worlds. 

At Eagle Acupuncture, our practice is unique in that you do not have to have labs drawn to have effective treatment. Whereas in a Functional medicine only practice, the providers do not have other trained skills to assess disease. Our doctor can marry the two medicines fluidly and the choice is always the patients. If the patient loves data, likes to see what their hormones are doing throughout their cycle and want to know labs values, adding in Functional Medicine is a great addition. However, if a patient does not care what the lab work shows, they just care about how they feel and want results, we do not require labs to be drawn. The choice is theirs to be made. We help our patients navigate the best approach to their health and can use one or the other form of medicine to address their health concerns. 

For The Road
We hope you enjoyed learning about TCM and its role in functional medicine. If you would like to know more about this or anything else along these lines, we are happy to help. Just contact us and we can go over your options and help you find the best path for your health and fertility goals. Schedule a consultation for acupuncture, herbal medicine, functional medicine, supplements or lifestyle modifications, by reaching out to Dr. Burris or our other medical providers HERE. We offer telemedicine for those who are not within driving distance from our office.


Colin Eggleston