Essentially, when you see an acupuncturist or Chinese herbalist, you are always treated according to a Chinese medicine framework and your unique Chinese medicine diagnosis. Whilst the goal of improving well-being is shared, this is distinctly different to a western medicine framework, using different words, treatment intentions and approaches. Let’s use endometriosis as an example. Acupuncturists undeniably treat many women who also happen to have been medically diagnosed with endometriosis. Acupuncturists study a bachelor of health science for 4 years and commit to ongoing education throughout their career. They well understand what endometriosis and other western medical diagnosis mean and how they might affect your body. To be absolutely clear though, acupuncturists aren’t technically treating endometriosis. We don’t open an acupuncture or Chinese herbal medicine text book and look up endometriosis. It’s simply not there. What is there, are large sections on gynaecological symptoms like pain – an example of something often experienced in endometriosis. There are then multiple and different causes for this pain. They involve words like cold, dampness and blood stagnation. An acupuncturist and Chinese herbalist asks a myriad of questions to work out which of these are relevant to the individual’s experience of pain. “Is the pain better for warmth?” for example. They consider your whole symptom picture and how this effects your overall wellness. They put all the pieces of the puzzle together, look at your tongue, feel your pulse and formulate your Chinese medical diagnosis. The many different causes of gynaecological pain, according to Chinese medicine, explain why five women presenting to an acupuncture clinic with period pain may, in fact, all receive five slightly or even very different treatments. The acupuncturist and herbalist is treating the individual, their unique presentation and consequent Chinese medicine diagnosis, never the western diagnosis like endometriosis.