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Essential Oils And Chinese Medicine By: Marc Gian

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The use of essential oils continues to be gain popularity. Many people are finding the use of essential oils and aromatherapy are beneficial to uplift their mood, increase depth of respiration and prevent symptoms of common colds. Individuals are becoming more conscious of the importance, even necessity, of using natural remedies for healing and quality of life.

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Peppermint: Releasing the Exterior and Spreading Qi By: Marc Gian

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Peppermint is a well-known and loved scent, commonly used for it’s soothing and uplifting effects. Peppermint is great for those that that desire to feel more awake and refreshed- and is great for those that struggle with damp conditions causing foggy headedness and inability to focus.

Don’t Let Tendinitis Keep you from Training and Competing By: Tom Bisio

Rigorous physical training can lead to chronic injuries which can affect performance or curtail training altogether. One chronic injury that can be particularly frustrating and debilitating is tendonitis. While tendonitis can be caused by a direct impact injury, more commonly it is the result of chronic misuse or overuse of the muscles around a joint. Most people who suffer from tendonitis cannot recall a specific injury, and there is usually no obvious acute stage accompanied by visible swelling or bruising. 

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The Athlete’s Nemesis: Muscle Pulls, Strains, and Tears, by Tom Bisio

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In Chinese medicine, the first step in a muscle injury is to restore free-flow of the local circulation, which aids in flushing out the dead cells and debris that are stuck in local area of the injury, while simultaneously bringing in cell building blocks and fibroblasts, which create new tissue. Restoring free-flow of circulation also reduces pain, because it is precisely the lack of free-flow that creates the pain. Restoring free-flow is best achieved by a multi-modal approach.

Lavender Angustifolia ~ Bringing into the World - Marc Gian, L.Ac, LMT

From the strong upward and outward direction of Rosemary, it follows suit that we discuss Lavender. Lavender also moves energy both upward and outward, but differently than Rosemary. As it is a flower, it calms with a cooler, gentler quality, being less direct, more accommodating and softer. It has a ‘friendlier’ smell. Its upward and outward direction is more like energy spreading up and out like the rays of a sunrise reaching up from the horizon. This can be seen in the way the Lavender bush grows.

The Practical Herbalist #03: Gui Zhi in the Clinic - Andrew Nugent-Head

The Practical Herbalist #03: Gui Zhi in the Clinic

 INTRODUCTION: The Practical Herbalist is not a list of shortcuts nor a substitution for a classical understanding of prescribing herbs from the Flavor and Nature paradigm that defined our medicine. It expects the reader to have this as a foundation and assumes this knowledge going forward. If the reader is new to the concept of prescribing from the Flavor Nature perspective that was established in the Nei Jing, or would like refreshing on its core principals, they are directed to the four excellent articles by JulieAnn Nugent-Head on classical herbalism published by the Journal of Chinese Medicine. If they wish more information, they can also watch her 3 hour introductory video The Nei Jing …

Rosemary: Cardinal Oil for Upward Direction - Marc Gian, L.Ac, LMT

To understand the directionality of Essential Oils, it is important to know the temperature and the depth that oils will penetrate into the body – or in terms of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Wei, Ying or Yuan levels. It is also important to understand how and where the plants from which the oils are obtained grow.  Understanding these basics help us to accurately predict and anticipate the desired effect. As this is the first blog in a series, we will begin with the Upward direction.

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Ma Huang in the Clinic - Andrew Nugent-Head

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INTRODUCTION: The Practical Herbalist is not a list of shortcuts nor a substitution for a classical understanding of prescribing herbs from the Flavor and Nature paradigm that defined our medicine. It expects the reader to have this as a foundation and assumes this knowledge. If the reader is new to the concept of prescribing from the Flavor Nature perspective that was established in the Nei Jing, or would like refreshing on its core principals, they are directed to the four excellent articles by JulieAnn Nugent-Head on classical herbalism published by the Journal of Chinese Medicine. If they wish more information, …

The Practical Herbalist #01: The Foundation of Practical Herbalism is Classical Thinking, Custom Formulas

Like everyone, when I began studying herbs, it seemed very complicated and somewhat arcane. Studying in China 30+ years ago, I had the good fortune to have my first teachers pull me out of the TCM learning paradigm and plant me firmly in the classical approach of understanding formulas and choosing herbs. After 28 years in China, I returned to the United States and, with my wife JulieAnn Nugent-Head, founded a teaching clinic in Asheville, NC where licensed practitioners can watch our treatments, see our formulas and judge just how effective a no nonsense, classically driven, clinically focused practice can be…

Acupuncture & Herbal Foot Soaks for Plantar Fascitis

The acupuncture plus herbal foot bath protocol achieved a total treatment effective rate of 91.8%. Using only TCM foot baths, the total treatment effective rate was 69.8%. Adding acupuncture to foot bath therapy increases the total effective rate by 22%. Relapse rates (determined at three months after completion of all therapies) plunged when acupuncture was combined with TCM foot baths. Using only foot baths, the relapse rate was 66.67%. The combination of acupuncture plus herbal foot baths yielded a 27.78% relapse rate, a significant improvement.

By James Heilman, MD (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

Could Ancient Remedies Hold the Answer to the Looming Antibiotics Crisis?

One researcher thinks the drugs of the future might come from the past: botanical treatments long overlooked by Western medicine.

Shutterstock. (n.d.). [Hands of a woman holding a pack of medicament]. Shutterstock. Available here.

White Paper - Acupuncture’s Role in Solving the Opioid Epidemic

Numerous federal regulatory agencies have advised or mandated that healthcare systems and providers offer non-pharmacologic treatment options, and acupuncture stands as the most evidence-based, immediately available choice to fulfill these calls. Acupuncture can safely, easily, and cost-effectively be incorporated into hospital settings as diverse as the emergency department, labor and delivery suites, and neonatal intensive care units to treat a variety of pain seen commonly in hospitals. Acupuncture is already being successfully and meaningfully utilized by the Veterans Administration and various branches of the U.S. Military.

Photo by Shutterstock 232755100. Image of acupuncture sourced from Shutterstock. Available here.

Love the Fig

The produce section of the grocery store is a botanical disaster. Most people know that a tomato is technically a fruit, but so is an eggplant, a cucumber, and a spaghetti squash. A banana, which grows from a flower with a single ovary, is actually a berry, while a strawberry, which grows from a flower with several ovaries, isn’t a berry at all but an aggregate fruit. The most confusing classification, though, will start showing up on American shelves this month. Shoppers will find mission figs with the grapes, kiwis, and other fruit, but a clever botanist would sell them at the florist, with the fresh-cut roses.

By Eric Hunt (Own work) [CC BY-SA 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

Dogs, cats, birds and even elephants are getting acupuncture to help treat their arthritis and spinal injuries

ABVA education director Dietrich Graf Von Schweinitz – who recently treated his first alpaca – said: “Acupuncture is not limited by what kind of animal it is. Every animal has a nervous system and reflexes to stimulation. It’s how, where and when one creates a certain stimulus as to what effect it has.”

By Peter Wadsworth (Flickr) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
 

The cost of chronic pain

Recently I attended a seminar on the topic and was immediately struck by the lack of attention to the expense of the nonpharmacological treatments being advised to take the place of opioids. I watched the doctors on the panel enthusiastically promote acupuncture, yoga, chiropractic care, biofeedback, massage, lidocaine patches, and TENS units. Yet, many of these treatments are not covered by most insurance plans and can be very expensive to pay for out of pocket.

Photo by Shutterstock 160707833. Image of infrared radiation hardening sourced from Shutterstock. Available here.