E Earth The material realm of human existence, belonging to Yin, including the soil, seas, and rivers, as well as the visible influences of the seasons and climates. In the human body, that which is below the navel corresponds to Earth. Eclectic System Of Herbal Medicine Developed In The United States In The 19th Century. EEG (Electroencephalograph) Sometimes used in biofeedback therapies. Emetic Causes Vomiting. Emollient Softens And Soothes The Skin. Energy Medicine Addresses the seven major chakras and their individual characteristics and functions. Epidural injection of local anesthetic into the epidural space, the region through which spinal nerves leave the spinal cord, for pain relief during childbirth or surgical operations. Episiotomy cut made in the vulva during childbirth, supposed to prevent tearing. Essential Oil Commercially Available Volatile Oil Extracted From Plants By Steam Distillation And Containing A Mixture Of Active Constituents; Highly Aromatic. Ether The most subtle of all elements, it is associated with space in the body. Expectorant Encourages The Loosening And Removal Of Phlegm From The Respiratory Tract. Eight Guiding Principles Four diagnostic sets of polar categories that define patterns of distress within the organism: Cold-Hot (relating to the nature of a disease process); deficient-excess (indicating the strength of the organism relative to the virulence of the pathogenic process); internal-external (referring to the location of the disease process relative to superficial and deep tissue and functions); Yin-Yang (general categories that summarize the interaction of the other six: a Yin condition is Cold, deficient, and internal, whereas a Yang condition is Hot, excess, and external. Mixed Yin and Yang syndromes are more often the rule, such as Hot, excess, and internal or Cold, deficient, and external). Of the eight categories, four (excess-deficiency, Hot-Cold) are the most critical in differentiating one pathogenic process from another. Cold - lack of body heat locally or systemically, subjectively or objectively. Heat - excess body heat locally or systemically, subjectively or objectively. Deficient - lack of basic constituents (Qi, Moisture, Blood); organic hypofunction of any organ or physiological system. Excess - surplus, congestion of basic constituents (Qi, Moisture, Blood); organic hyperfunction of any organ or physiological system. Internal - affecting the deeper levels of biological activity or occurring in the visceral organs or areas such as body cavities, bones, glands, major blood vessels, and nerves. External - affecting or occurring in the superficial tissues or organs such as the body hair, skin, subcutaneous tissue, muscles, joints, and peripheral blood vessels, and nerves. Yin-Yang - concepts that summarize the fundamental or composite nature of any disease process. Electroacupuncture A variation of traditional acupuncture treatment in which acupuncture or needle points are stimulated electronically. The use of battery-powered instruments that generate alternating current to stimulate acupuncture points through metal needles, rubber electrodes, or by direct contact with a metal probe. Electromagnetic signals The minute electrical impulses that transmit information through and between nerve cells. For example, electromagnetic signals convey information about pain and other sensations within the body's nervous system. Energetic A term loosely and widely used to identify or describe the intangible processes that underlie and govern the material bodily events that are the tangible expression of the "energy" or "forces" of life. Energetics is often part of the vocabulary of alternative or unorthodox healing systems that do not rely on the conventional empirical scientific model that is the basis of modern Western medical theory and practice. Essence (Jing) That which is the material basis of an individual’s life, which can be transmuted and transformed into a new and separate individual life through procreation. Essence is the most refined substance of the body, which forms the basis of all tissue, especially male and female reproductive secretions, including sperm and ova. Essence also represents the reserve or stored Qi of the body, some of which is derived from parents at conception (inherited or prenatal Essence) and some of which is derived continuously from food and air (acquired or postnatal Essence). It is the capacity to generate, conserve, and preserve Essence that determines a person’s freedom from de-generative disease and potential life span. Essence can be observed in the luster and texture of the skin, hair, and tongue and in an individual’s fertility, creativity, and potency. Exaggerated A subtype of the Five-Phase types corresponding to Yang categories of overconcentration and accumulation of Qi. When a Phase is exaggerated, the Organ Network or individual associated with that Phase shows signs of dominating and oppressing other Networks or Phases. External Illness Engendered by external climatic conditions; exists in the exterior layer of the body.