Curing Fibromyalgia Naturally with Chinese Medicine

As an acupuncture and TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) student, I find that this book gives an absolutely wonderful overview of fibromyalgia in its various forms. It goes over the patterns very clearly, and because the patterns come with such a concrete example (ie, fibromialgia), it really helps learn the patterns. While I think this is a wonderful book to keep on hand for TCM students & practitioners, I don't know how useful it would be to someone suffering FM without TCM training. The sections on diet, exercise & teas would probably be useful, but the patent medicines would likely be confusing. Flaws' attempt to summarize chinese medical theory in the first 60 pages of the book would probably be more so. I think this is what the first reviewer unhappily referred to. On the other hand, it does spell out the symptoms fairly clearly, so I think that some people could pick out their own pattern(s) and attempt to self-medicate. I'm just not sure it's a good idea. The section on self-massage is a great idea -- but the pictures aren't enough for an untrained person to find the acupoints. HOWEVER, they would make a good reference guide for an acupuncturist to photocopy & give to patients to use, AFTER the practitioner has taught the patient how to locate the points & how to do self-massage.Overall, the book is wonderful for a student, and probably quite useful for someone fully trained. (I've only been in school for a year and a half). But I don't know how much a lay person would get out of it.

Bob Flaws focuses the view on fibromyalgia patients. It's very interesting not only for patients, but also for practitioners. He gives detailed information for (self-)curing fibromyalgia, treating with herbs, acupuncture and dietery management. He gives information about the underlying processes in the view of chinese medicine.