Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has a holistic approach to health and focuses on both disease prevention as well as treatment. TCM adopts the philosophy that a healthy body has an abundance of qi (pronounced chee) or life energy. It is this life energy that flows through the body's meridians (a network of invisible channels through the body) to enable optimal health and well-being. When a person's qi is disrupted or blocked, there is an inadequate supply of vital energy travelling through the body, which creates disharmony and can progress towards disease or illness. A TCM practitioner is trained to detect these changes by identifying symptomatic patterns of disharmony that can indicate how the body is functioning sub optimally. TCM practitioners look carefully for these signs of health and dysfunction by paying particular attention to the presenting condition, medical history, general constitution, and through pulse and tongue changes. TCM treatments work through individualised prescriptions of herbal medicines, massage, moxibustion, cupping, and acupuncture. Acupuncture enables TCM practitioners to use fine, sterile needles into acupuncture points along the body's meridians to clear energy blocks and encourage the normal flow of qi through the body.