Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine comprise the two main forms of medicine practiced in the world today. Each uses a different vocabulary and framework of belief in its approach to diagnosing and treating illness.

Western Medicine is based on the studies of Anatomy, Biology and Pathology, relying upon a principle philosophy that disease is a defect within the human body or a destructive process caused by a specific outside pathogen. Doctors and researchers study pathogens and the human body by breaking them down into smaller and smaller parts, looking for causes of disease in specific organs and tissues, then at the cellular level, and even examining the DNA inside the cells. Answers are sought in laboratory tests, and these findings are then developed into treatments.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a complex medical system of healing arts that developed to prevent and treat a variety of health issues in China and Asia over the last 3000 years, It was founded on the idea that our health is primarily an expression of the balance and strength of our Qi--life force, or vitality. In the vocabulary of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Qi travels through the body along pathways called Meridians.

Central to TCM are the concepts of Yin and Yang - two opposite energies that complement and feed each other (cold and hot, feminine and masculine, stillness and movement, night and day, etc.) and the Five Elements: Earth, Wood, Metal, Water, and Fire. The Five Elements work together in the natural world to balance each other's strengths and weaknesses, and this correlates to the five major organ systems of the body (Zang Fu).

TCM utilizes a holistic approach, viewing the body as a microcosm of the universe. Rather than targeting only the symptoms or outward manifestations of an illness, TCM seeks to treat the root cause, the deeper source of the imbalance, solving the individual problem by restoring strength and order to the whole.

Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine are based on different philosophies and foundations; thus, each uses a different approach.