Try Chinese Bodywork

Tuina can help a host of help problems

If you’re watching the Beijing Olympic Games this summer, you may see Chinese athletes being treated by bodyworkers. These are likely to be practitioners of tuina (pronounced tway-na), a therapy that dates back thousands of years in China. It can not only heal sports injuries but also address a range of health problems from asthma to post-stroke complications. I hope that the Olympics help to make this versatile approach better known in the United States and other countries. Here is a quick primer on how it works.

Balancing energy Tuina is an important component of traditional Chinese medicine, along with acupuncture and herbal medicine. Like acupuncture, it seeks to enhance and balance the flow of vital energy (qi) along invisible channels called meridians. But instead of using needles, tuina draws upon a wide variety of hands-on techniques that include massage, acupressure, and joint manipulation. Bill Helm, a longtime teacher of tuina and director of the Taoist Sanctuary of San Diego, says that practitioners often use repetitive movements to generate a rhythmic “wave of force” rather than just pressure. This enables older people or those with serious health problems to receive tuina treatments without being unduly uncomfortable.

Who may benefit Although tuina can help reduce muscular and emotional tension it’s typically used as part of treatment program for musculoskeletal disorders and chronic gastrointestinal, reproductive, and respiratory disorders. Helm says that it’s used in China to help manage blood sugar levels in people with diabetes and to prevent complications of the disease such as peripheral neuropathy and hard-to-heal sores and wounds. He also asserts that it can benefit stroke patients by helping “the nervous system regroup and relearn more quickly.”

What to expect A typical session lasts 30 to 60 minutes, and may cost $50 to $100. To assess the flow of vital energy, the practitioner may examine the client’s tongue and check various pulses on both wrists. The client wears loose clothing (rather than be nude and draped) and lies on a bodywork table or padded surface on the floor. The practitioner uses hands and elbows to press, tap, knead, rub, vibrate, grasp, push, pull, or pinch various parts of the client’s body, and may also apply herbal poultices, compresses, and liniments to enhance the hands-on healing methods.

How to find a practitioner You can ask a local Chinese acupuncturist for a referral. Or you can check the website of the American Organization for Bodywork Therapies of Asia at aobta.org

To learn more about this therapy, see The Handbook of Chinese Massage: Tui Na Techniques to Awaken Body and Mind by Maria Mercati (Healing Arts Press, 1997)