TCM diagnoses a disease mainly through four methods, namely, observation, smell, questioning, and palpation. These methods occupy a core position in the TCM diagnosis system. The following is a detailed point-by-point representation and summary:
Observation diagnosis:
Observation diagnosis mainly refers to the doctor observing the patient's surface symptoms through his eyes to diagnose the disease.
Observation content: including the patient's face, tongue coating, body shape, complexion, hair, eyes, etc.
Tongue diagnosis: Tongue diagnosis is one of the most important parts of observation diagnosis. By observing the tongue coating, tongue color, tongue shape, etc., you can understand the patient's internal organs and pathological conditions.
Other observations: such as observing the patient's complexion, expression, body shape, etc., can also reflect the patient's health status and changes in the condition.
Olfaction diagnosis:
Olfaction diagnosis is a method of judging the condition through hearing and smell.
Hearing: The doctor listens to the patient's voice, such as coughing, breathing sounds, and the pitch of the voice, to judge the patient's condition.
Sense of smell: The doctor smells the patient's body odor, excrement, secretions, etc. to understand the patient's physical condition and condition.
Medical interview:
Medical interview is a method for doctors to obtain information about the condition by asking patients or related personnel.
Inquiry content: including the time of occurrence, cause, course, medical history, location of pain, living habits, eating habits, etc. of the disease.
Through medical interview, doctors can fully understand the patient's condition and provide a basis for subsequent diagnosis and treatment.
Palpation:
Palpation is a method for doctors to diagnose the condition by touching the patient's pulse and other parts of the body.
Pulse diagnosis: Doctors understand the function and pathological conditions of the patient's internal organs by feeling the pulse, and the frequency and beating characteristics of the pulse can reflect the patient's health status.
Other touches: such as abdominal diagnosis, doctors understand the functional state and pathological conditions of the internal organs by touching the patient's abdomen.
Summary:
The four diagnostic methods of traditional Chinese medicine, namely, observation, smell, questioning, and palpation, are interrelated and complementary, and together constitute the basis of the traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis system.
In actual application, doctors will flexibly use these four methods according to the specific conditions of the patient, and obtain accurate information about the condition through comprehensive analysis.
Traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes "four-diagnosis combination", that is, combining the four methods for comprehensive analysis to improve the accuracy and reliability of diagnosis.
This diagnostic method not only focuses on the patient's overall condition, but also emphasizes individual differences and the dynamics of disease changes, providing strong support for traditional Chinese medicine treatment.