Sponsored by Shanxi Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Pharmacy, and administrated by the Public Health Department of Shanxi Province, Journal of External Therapy of Traditional Chinese Medicine is an academic periodical with a distinct focus on EXTERNAL THERAPY. The Journal aims to disseminate theories of Chinese medicine and pharmacy， and actively promote the modernization and development of TCM. While accumulating outstanding academic achievements in China, the Journal combines popularization with the raising of standards, and attaches dual importance to both practice and theory. It has influence both at home and abroad. The abundant content, high quality, and huge capacity of the Journal have made it indispensable reading for numerous grass-root clinical practitioners and others interested in Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is also a household reference book.
   With a long history and the features of being easy, convenient, inexpensive, and effective, the external therapy of TCM has a distinctive curative effect and works quickly. It has wide application in internal medicine，surgery, gynecology, pediatrics, orthopedics, dermatology, and department of five sensory organs. Compared with internal therapy, though it is different in approach, it reaches equally satisfactory results. Specifically, the external therapy of TCM demonstrates its distinctive characteristic when applied to patients refusing or unable to take drugs orally. If numerous grass-root clinical practitioners can learn a certain number of theories and methods of External Therapy of TCM, thus grasping another technique besides conventional treatment, their vision will be broadened and clinical effectiveness will be definitely enhanced. In the context of current medical structural reforms, conventional TCM is forming a new fervor which emphasizes professional treatment for specific diseases and distinctive medical treatment. During more than ten years of publication, the Journal has led many clinical practitioners to the developmental path of professional treatment for specific diseases and distinctive medical treatment.
   Since the beginning of 2005, the Journal has initiated a new column for Transdermal Drug Delivery System Research to publish the achievements of key research projects.

CN14－1195／R ISSN1006－978X