Evaluation: Prior to being accepted into the TCM Restoration program you are evaluated for your level of determination and physical status and opportunity for healing and change. Just because someone applies to our program does not mean that they will be accepted. Because we have a number of clients here at any given time they must integrate well with the group and have the desire and ability to succeed in the program.

We are unique in that we see and work with clients daily and so we are constantly evaluating them and suggesting new techniques and exercises to maximize their personal outcomes for restoration. Every two weeks we complete a comprehensive evaluation to determine effectiveness of treatments and exercises. Because you are receiving TCM five days a week the doctors are also regularly assessing their treatments and modifying them daily as needed. This makes TCM Restoration truly unique and individualized in our approach. As we implied in Part 1 "attitude is everything" and it more than anything else will determine if an individual can be successful. We only maintain the highest standards and expectations so we look for and expect the best from our clients. Because this travel, program, and TCM medicine is extremely affordable and our margins are slim we currently can make no "scholarships " available but the amount is easily raised with a gofundme.com page so that no one who is seeking restoration cannot obtain it.

Environment: One of the biggest challenges that faces those recovering and trying to regain their independence is the "Environment" that people recover in. Typically survivors are in traditional rehabilitation programs as in-patients or are at home traveling to out-patient facilities. The problem here is that these individuals are treated like patients under the control and dictated to by physicians and other medical professionals. TCM Restoration is different in that each individual is staying in a five star hotel facility for the length of the entire program. Next each individual has control over their own schedule and we work together with them to accomplish their daily treatments and tasks.

They each have a full breakfast buffet...not that "complimentary breakfast" that has cold cereal, juice or coffee out of a machine and a piece of fruit. This is a full complete breakfast buffet that has vegetables, fruits, juices, Asian choices, fresh pastries galore, bacon, sausage, juices, coffees of your choice, and multiple chefs to make what you want and don't see. The staff here treat you like family and in the evening there is a happy hour offering, free wine, juice, or beer, two hot dishes, finger sandwiches, salad and a dessert bar. The facility is on the river walk with complete exercise facilities and each client is evaluated for a 24/7 medical personal assistant.

Each of our clients remarks that they feel like they are rehabilitating in a spa and vacation atmosphere. The one thing that they have and need is that level of control of their own lives and schedule. When you have a devastating disease or injury you need to regain that level of confidence that you once had, by exercising control over your own schedule you begin to regain that. Even at an out-patient facility you are dogged with travel and the tasks of daily living in between. In an out-patient facility you are also limited in the amount of treatment you are allowed to seek...and the choice of paying it by yourself is not even an option. Here you are a client not a patient and you are in control of your life and future.

The number one question that we are asked by stroke survivors is this..."can I do tomorrow what I did yesterday?" They are seeking desperately to regain their independence...the one thing that they lost in the instant the event occurred. We are going to look at what makes TCM Restoration and our program different.

Mind: Mindset of a survivor is particularly critical and anyone who says otherwise is deceiving themselves. Most often stroke survivors live in a "fog" as they recover. Their personal confidence is shattered and they typically react with fears of "what if". Physicians and other providers often share that what the patient recovers in the first six weeks to 6 months is all they will recover.

This makes that fear increase and can bring about depression. A new diagnosis has now been marketed in the drug arena, that of "Pseudobulbar Affect" which is often referred to as emotional incontinence, and is characterized by involuntary crying or uncontrollable episodes of crying and/or laughing, and/or other emotional displays. Typically PBA occurs secondary to a neurologic disorder or brain injury and once "diagnosed" drugs can be prescribed. Once these drugs are prescribed they come with multiple side effects and it is almost impossible to get patients off of them.

Neurologic disorders (such as stroke) or brain injury patients have that emotional switch affected but it can be restored with TCM. Inappropriate crying and/or laughter is indicative of the damage that has been done but the medication route does nothing to heal it. Drugs only cause temporary effects that are only maintained with continued use and whose use also brings about increasing side effects.

As we've seen, individuals who have suffered a neurologic disorder (stroke) or brain injury the fog can and is removed through TCM. TCM Restoration is very different in our acknowledgement and dealing with this "fog". We work together with the TCM physicians to fix the problems permanently using acupuncture to reconnect pathways and open data streams. We constantly assess and work with clients to maintain and increase focus, build and maintain a positive attitude, and teach and educate the client and their family to the challenges that they face and need to overcome.

It's easy to talk the talk when trying to "sell" something but actual results speak louder than words. One our clients was involved in a vehicular accident that caused a compression injury to his spine and resulted in him becoming a paraplegic. Two and a half years after his injury he is in China seeking rehabilitation and treatment. Because the spine was not severed there is hope for his case. After 12 treatments he is demonstrating an increasing ability to control his limbs and voluntarily push and pull them. As demonstrated in the video captured below.

While this is exciting there is still a long road ahead to restore feeling, strength and more motor control. It demonstrates that there is continued hope and healing available even if it sounds impossible. He has his work cut out for him but the first two weeks have been extremely rewarding.

This client is demonstrating the ability to control his legs pushing and pulling on request of the action. After 12 treatments.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) views arthritis as a blockage in the smooth flow of Qi and Blood throughout the meridians in the body. It is classified as Bone Bi which is an impediment that affects the bones and joints. The pain and reduction in the range of motion determines the presence of a blockage.

The immediate cause of Bi syndromes is related to the environment. The influences of Wind, Cold, and Dampness are said to penetrate the body's defenses and become lodged in the muscles, tendons, and joints. They create the obstruction and cause pain, stiffness, and other symptoms.

The occurrence of these influences in the affected areas also can lead to the generation of Heat, manifesting as inflammation. Long-term Bi syndrome can lead to the formation of Phlegm and the deformation of bones and joints.

While the Qi is typically strong enough to resist effects of the environment, several internal disharmonies in the Qi and the Blood can make someone susceptible to Bi syndrome.

Individuals under stress frequently suffer from obstructed flow of Qi and Blood in the body because stress affects the Liver, which is responsible for the smooth flow of Qi. Obstruction creates an environment in which the people Influences can invade and become lodged.

Insufficient Blood and Qi can lead to the body's energetic pathways being completely filled, allowing pathogens to invade.

Genetic predisposition, poor diet, overwork, and insufficient exercise can weaken the Zang Organs, such as the Kidney or Spleen (responsible for supplying the kinds of Qi that maintain overall resistance) allowing Influences to occur.

TCM typically does not make a diagnostic distinction between osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Instead, it makes a diagnostic distinction based on the predominance of Wind, Cold, Damp, or Heat symptoms. While many of these pathogenic factors usually are found together—Wind is said to carry the others into the body—each has a separate set of symptoms, with one factor playing a primary role.

Diagnoses of secondary manifestations of conditions such as Blood Stasis and Phlegm are based on symptoms as well. Bone Bi may be differentiated into the following categories:

Wind Bi: Wind predominates when a patient exhibits pain that begins and ends rapidly, limits the range of comfortable movement, and moves among different parts of the body. Windy weather can make the symptoms worse. Such patients also may have an aversion to wind, have a floating pulse, and a normally colored tongue with a thin, white coating. Because this type of Bi moves from area to area, it is also known as "Wandering Bi."

Cold Bi: Cold predominates when the pain is severe, limits the range of comfortable movement, and has fixed locations. Cold temperatures worsen the condition, and warmth improves it. A patient suffering from Cold Bi may have an aversion to cold, his or her pulse may be tight, and the tongue may have a white coating. Because this type of Bi usually results in severe pain, it is also known as "Painful Bi."

Damp Bi: Damp predominates when the pain is characterized by soreness, limits the range of comfortable movement, and is accompanied by feelings of heaviness and sometimes numbness. While many areas of the body may be affected, the pain tends to remain in those places. Dampness worsens the condition and there may be swelling in the affected areas. These patients usually have an aversion to damp weather. Their pulse may be slippery and their tongue may have a greasy coating. Because this type of Bi is characterized by fixed areas of pain and sensations of heaviness, it is also known as "Fixed Bi."

Heat Bi: Heat predominates when a Wind-Cold-Damp syndrome results in a greatly reduced flow of Qi and Blood through a joint, causing constraint. Constraint in TCM theory can cause Heat. Heat Bi is characterized by inflamed, red, swollen joints. The tongue may be red with a yellow coating, and the pulse may be rapid.

We spend our days helping those individuals who have suffered Central Nervous System Diseases, arthritis, stroke, and the like and see daily changes and outcomes that confound western medicine. We see feeling restored, movement and mobility return, pain and discomfort removed. Most individuals see it as a miracle but we know better, " it's not a miracle, it's medicine!" Traditional Chinese Medicine to be precise and we are looking the world over for those individuals that are tired of suffering and are seeking solutions.

Because we offer treatments daily (5 days a week), we see things happen at a greater speed, the treatment is intense. Offering the opportunity for treatment in China mean that we provide the best in TCM treatments available, with rapid access to TCM medications, that unlike western drugs that are perpetually given, these TCM medications are given for a short period with a cure as their goal. Many of these medications are not available in the US due to excessive regulation of the FDA and those that are often have critical ingredients removed or sulfur and other stabilizers added for long transport and shelf life...dramatically reducing the effectiveness of the medication. We offer this treatment in a five star hotel to maximize comfort and improve mental attitudes and therefore physical outcomes.

We are aggressively seeking partnerships with American physicians, Acupunctrists, and TCM practitioners that are seeking the best for their clients and would have an automatic method for follow up established. If you are seeking the best for your clients you owe it to yourself and to them today... to reach out and contact us in order to discover the possibilities. Please visit http://www.tcmrestoration.net/contact.html and put Provider in the comment field and we'll begin a conversation with you to see how we can add an increasing level of cure to your care!

​Ruth

15 and a half years after my original stroke and 10 year after my last treatment here in China...I am going to have 6 weeks of TCM treatment. The doctors agree that there is more that I can regain now. To say I'm excited is an understatement at the least. It proves that it is never too late to have expectations and hope for advances. Follow me as I post pictures and comment daily beginning April 17th.

One of the things that is often not taken into consideration is that when individuals receive acupuncture treatment, Tuina (medical massage), and other TCM treatments, is the pain of spasms that occur. These spasms begin to occur in increasing frequency as the muscles begin to increase in movement and function. It is an outcome of the increases in movement and function and needs to be recognized and acknowledged upfront. It's too easy to feel pain or discomfort and want to quit treatment but it is the payoff for getting movement and mobility back.

We need to plan for the spasms as a necessary evil that must be overcome on the road to restoration. Foods high in potassium that decreases these spasms are: sweet potatoes, tomato and tomato sauce, beet greens, white beans, yogurt, clams, dark green leafy foods like spinach, baked potatoes, acorn squash, salmon, white mushrooms, avocados, bananas, kiwi, persimmons, cantaloupe, apricots, cherries, nectarines, and grapes...just to name a few.

Increasing muscle movement and function spasms are typically short lived and diminish with time, usually within two weeks, and are greatly reduced in frequency when appropriate dietary choices are made. Most of us have been told by moms or grandmothers that we are what we eat. As a result we always need to be aware of what we put into our bodies. Restoration is something that involves and affects the entire body. We need to be much more aware of everything we eat and do! We are a highly functioning and miraculously made human being. Often we remain ignorant of that fact until we have issues with our health. If you are reading this you can no longer claim ignorance...do not wait but change habits today to improve output and results...physically, emotionally, and spiritually.