The Benefits of Chinese Medicine

Karina Smith is a Melbourne based Doctor of Chinese Medicine…

Chinese Medicine is an ancient system of healthcare. Each patient is taken care of holistically in order to determine their particular pattern of disharmony in order to create an individualised treatment plan for them.

This medicine utilises acupuncture and herbal medicine as its two primary interventions. Acupuncture aims to recorrect energy flow in the body and help to move or unblock areas where energy is not moving, and also to help the body to make more of its own energy. The herbal medicine also helps to recorrect energy imbalances, but as it is something being ingested, it can also be used to help restore the state of blood, yin, fluids and yang.

Unlike many aspects of western medicine where you might have to see a different specialist for each system of the body; cardiologist, neurologist, podiatrist etc, a Chinese medicine practitioner investigates all the systems of the body at the same time to get the big picture of the patients’ health.

For this reason, a Chinese medicine practitioner will not have a standardised treatment for western diseases such as fibromyalgia, atherosclerosis, or lower back pain to name a few, because each person presenting with a diseased state such as these, will have a different pattern. They instead will be looking at the organs systems in the body to figure out which one (it is usually more than one) has gone out of balance, and what will be the best acupuncture points, timeframe, and herbs for that patient to start regaining that balance. This medicine aims to treat the root of a health issue rather than just mask symptoms such as pain, rashes, or migraines etc.

As Chinese medicine was historically a preventative medicine, the aim was to keep people healthy before anything went wrong with their bodies. The traditional Chinese medicine practitioner was famous for his ability to keep their patients well. Unfortunately, in today’s day and age we tend to wait until something breaks down with our health before we decide to get it checked out. And often it has deteriorated to the point where surgery, medication or expensive treatments are then required. So, another benefit of having your health taken care of by a Chinese medicine practitioner is that it may help to prevent the need for invasive surgery, and keep you feeling great for many more years to come.

By Dr Karina Smith

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Dr Karina Smith

Karina Smith is a Melbourne based Doctor of Chinese Medicine and Yin Yoga Teacher, Teacher Trainer & Educator. With a passion for women's health, through Yin and Chinese Medicine Karina aims to improve the health of her students, patients and clients.After years of dancing and its emphasis on performance, yoga was an unexpected beacon of self-care and restoration for Karina, where her relationship to movement shifted to something that was there to nourish her mind and body.
A year after commencing practice at the Australian Yoga Academy (AYA), Karina knew she wanted to do the yoga teacher training on offer there - and from thereon it has been a deep-dive into the rich offerings of this ancient practice.
Karina has now studied and taught yoga extensively - including two 350hr Teacher Trainings (AYA and Shantarasa Institute, India), studies under the renowned Bernie Clark and Paul Grilley, over a decade of teaching at numerous studios in her home town of Melbourne, and lecturing for The Australian Yoga Academy.
In 2018, Karina launched her own 50 Hour Yin & Functional Anatomy Teacher Training and continues to run this course. Karina’s love of Yin Yoga revealed a deeper fascination for human anatomy and led her to pursue Chinese Medicine. After graduating in 2019, she now runs her own clinic offering acupuncture, herbal therapies, moxibustion and cupping treatments.