Hi – Welcome to my site. Consider it a resource for both basic and more in-depth information on Chinese Medicine.

An intro to Chinese Medicine: Chinese Medicine has been used to treat people for thousands of years. Practitioners used qi gong/tai chi exercise, diet, herbs, and needles to treat hundreds of maladies. The doctrines of Chinese medicine are rooted in books such as the Neijing (Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon) and the Shang Han Lun (Treatise on Cold Damage). Chinese medicine views the body as a landscape, and the points of many of the acupuncture points are named accordingly. Over the past several thousands years other amazing practitioners have come about, just in the last several decades: Daoist Master Dr Lillian Chang, Herbalist/ Pharmacist Dr John Chen, Dr Mark Seem, Dr Tan, Master Tung, pediatrics specialist Robin Green, sports medicine master Matt Callison…and the list can continue forever.

Health in Chinese Medicine is perceived as harmonious interaction of the function of your body with the outside world, disease is interpreted as a disharmony in interaction. It is important to have the body in a good flow, with no stagnation- this is why qi gong and tai chi are very important in Chinese culture. Diagnosis consists in tracing symptoms to patterns of an underlying disharmony, mainly by palpating the pulse and inspecting the tongue.

Qi gong and Tai Chi exercises are ways to cultivate your qi, your life energy. There are simple and complex exercises to move qi within your body, to remove blockages, and to generate more energy. Cultivating your Qi can take as little as 5 minutes and the benefits are very worthwhile. Cultivating your Qi will help your kidneys which will help all aspects of your life. It decreases stress and is helpful for asthma, high blood pressure, eye issues, breast tumors, and pain amongst many other maladies. I use Qi Gong therapy on almost every patient and have noticed that it works better than with points alone as it balances the body and removes many stagnations. Some patients who have been in pain for years have had instantaneous results. This is an aspect of the medicine that I have been practicing since I was 8 years old.

Diet includes eating what is right for your body and avoiding what does not work for your body. Though the Western diet varies greatly, Chinese medicine advocates for avoidance of dairy and sweets and it is not evident in their culture. A dietary adjustment may recommend certain vegetables, meats, or teas to combat an illness.

Herbs are used as supplements when needed. Herbal formulas can combat many problems including menstrual irregularity, digestive issues, pain, and colds amongst others.

Acupuncture is an aid in moving the qi and using the body’s own immune system to correct itself. Acupuncture treats not only the symptoms but also the cause. Conventional medicine may seem fast acting, but may have side effects. NSAIDS unfortunately only increases your pain threshold making you be able to experience more pain without the feeling of it, they actually do or clear the pain or the reason for it. Acupuncture is as effective as the best pain meds out there and uses the body’s own immune system to repair itself without the side effects.  An Acupuncture session releases endorphins, the body’s own natural pain-killing chemicals, and regulating the brain’s release of dopamine and serotonin. This is very helpful for working on mood and addictions.

These are some of the disorders that Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine can help with (from the World Health Organization):