Tuina is a very important component of Chinese medicine alongside acupuncture and herbal prescription. However, Tuina can be a complete healing system in itself as not only does it work on muscle groups, joints, sites of pain and poor circulation, but it works the same meridians and points used in acupuncture and employs the same basic theory as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM): "Injury or disease causes blockages in the channels of the body. Blockages cause pain."