When I see a patient for the first time, after she fills out my intake form, and I have introduced myself, I usually break the ice by asking her if she found our clinic easily, and how she heard about my services. Then I ask why she decided to see me and what can I help her with.

And then the real consultation can start. A huge part of Chinese medicine diagnosis is asking patients questions, in order to figure out what patterns their symptoms form.

What’s fascinating as a practitioner, is that I have to dig deeper with most patients, as they often brush off some of my questions. Here’s an example of a common conversation with some patients:

Me: “Do you suffer from headaches?”
Patient: “Not really.”
Me: “So you never ever have headaches?”
Patient: “Well, yes like everyone else, just a couple of times per month.”

Another common one may go like this:

Me: “Do you sleep well?”
Patient: “Yes”.
Me: “So, you fall asleep easily, stay asleep through the night, and wake up refreshed?”
Patient: “Well, no…It takes me a long time to fall asleep.”

As practitioners, we truly have to be detectives, keep looking for clues, and get all the facts, in order to make a tailored treatment for each patient, and get a successful outcome.

In this new series, I have decided to divide the Inquiry part of the TCM diagnosis methods by each System.

Today, I look at the TCM HEART and how to differentiate all its patterns with symptoms, and what questions to ask.

Enjoy the video below and let me know what you think.
And as always keep rocking with TCM!

Clara
TCM Geek

PS: check out my other TCM method of diagnosis post on “Observation” Be sure not to miss these 9 steps for diagnosis and differentiating common symptoms!