Once a diagnosis is made, then a treatment can be selected with the ultimate goal of restoring balance to the humors. There are many types of treatment in Tibetan medicine, but in order to avoid applying a treatment that is too harsh for the illness in question, they are prescribed from least to most invasive. If the gentler treatments are not effective, then more potent treatments are applied. In order of increasing intensity and thus the order in which they are generally recommended, the principal treatments are: Diet/lifestyle changes, pharmacotherapy, mild physical therapies, and rough physical therapies.
Diet/Lifestyle
Diet
Foods are associated with their taste (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent and astringent) and the elements that compose the taste. For example, earth and water generate the taste of sweetness, earth and fire create a sour taste, and the combination of water and fire make a salty taste.
Dietary changes prescribed by a physician would involve eating foods with qualities that contrast with those of the humor in excess to counteract it. For instance, sweetness comes from the earth and water elements, so sweet foods could be prescribed to a patient with rLung (air-like) or mKhris-pa (fire-like) disorders (earth pacifies air, and water pacifies fire). The physician would also give advice to ensure the patient's overall diet is healthy through the balance and moderation of the elements. |
Lifestyle
Treatment through lifestyle change addresses behavior that can be classified into three categories: Daily Conduct, Seasonal Conduct, and Occasional Conduct:
Daily Conduct – The patient should ensure adequate time spent in spiritual practice, and that they are not committing any of the ten non-virtuous actions (Taking of life, Adultery, Stealing, Lying, Gossiping, Verbal Abuse, Divisive Speech, Covetousness, Harmful Intent, and Erroneous Views). Seasonal Conduct – The patient must act in accordance with the seasons. For example, during the autumn months, the environment is warm and oily, which disturbs mKhris-pa (fire-like), so to remedy this, one should eat sweet (earth/water), bitter (water/air), and astringent (earth/air) food to pacify mKhris-pa. Occasional conduct – The patient should not suppress natural bodily functions like hunger, thirst, sneezing, sleep, and tears. |
Pharmacotherapy/Medicine
In deciding which medication to prescribe, a physician must take into account a variety of factors such as the patient’s body constitution, strength, age, metabolic rate, the condition of the disease, location of the disease, climatic factors, time of manifestation, bodily nature, and the patient's familiarity with the potential medication. Then a medicine with the appropriate attributes is selected to fit the particular needs of the patient. These qualitative descriptors are seen in the characterization of Tibetan medicines with their taste (see taste descriptors under Diet) and function (heavy, oily, cool, blunt, light, coarse, hot, and sharp).
The main substances utilized for pharmacological purposes are precious gemstones, metals, minerals, soils, animal parts, and plant-derived items/herbs. This is a particularly unusual list in that Tibetan medicine is one of the few medical systems that uses precious metals and gemstones in remedies meant to be consumed. These items are used to create medicines, typically pills or creams, that can contain anywhere from 3 to 157 different ingredients. Remedies are created using ingredients with qualities opposite the disrupted humor, in order to pacify it. Items with similar qualities will aggravate the humor. |
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Physical Therapies
Mild:
Rough:
Moxibustion
This method of treatment utilizes an anti-inflammatory, detoxifying, coagulant flower. The flower is dried, formed into a cone shape, lit on fire, and left until the fire dies out, leaving the tool smoking. The cone is applied to specific points on the patient’s body to guide the humors through the body and impart the flower’s healing benefits. This treatment is useful for rLung and Bad-Kan disorders like indigestion, tumors, and nerve disorders.
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Bloodletting
This therapy is used to treat illness by extracting impure blood, which is effective for blood disorders and mKhris-pa diseases. Tourniquets are used to control the flow of blood, then blood is drained by making incisions at certain points on the body using a small, double-sided knife, called a lancet (far left and upper-right corner in image).
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Points of Application: