Acupuncture
Herbal Medicine during the Pandemic
Bill Schoenbart

With great appreciation, Bill Schoenbart, associate chair of the Department of Herbology at Five Branches University, shares his clinical expertise of treating hundreds of Covid-19 patients over the last 3 years. Bill shares common patterns he has seen along with five case studies including how the TCM treatment plans evolved as the diagnosis changed partnered with recommended formulas to support those cases.
Read MoreWind and Cold Damp Bi
Skye Sturgeon, DAOM, Quality Assurance Manager, Mayway

One of the most common reasons that patients seek treatment from licensed acupuncturists is for musculoskeletal aches and mild pain (Tòng 痛), both acute and chronic. There may also be decreased range of motion, inflammation, swelling, and numbness. Primarily, these issues are due to minor injury or dysfunction of joints and related soft tissues, including tendons and ligaments. In traditional Chinese medicine, this often is interpreted as Obstruction Syndrome (Bì zhèng 痺症).
Read MoreCold Weather Kidney Tonics
Mark Frost, MSTCM, L.Ac.

Moxa Strengthens the Kidneys and Mingmen Fire
Susan Johnson, L.Ac.
Moxa is an excellent way to deeply warm the body, more important now, as we head into fall and winter. In fact, between the change of seasons, there is a two to four week period referred to as “Moxa Season.” During this interval, it is said that the “Life Gate is open.”
Perfect Partners: Acupuncturists Without Borders & Mayway
Acupuncturists Without Borders

Carla Cassler of Acupuncturists Without Borders provides a recap of 2022: New modalities added to the AWB trauma-informed toolkit, disaster response work, and ongoing support for refugees, veterans, and underserved farmworkers providing 250,000 treatments worldwide with 600 integrative practitioners. Read more about AWB and how you can get involved.
Read MoreCharlotte Maxwell Clinic: Health, Hope and Healing
Charlotte Maxwell Clinic

For 31 years, the Oakland-based nonprofit has provided free access to compassionate, integrative care for thousands of San Francisco Bay Area low-income women with cancer. Inspired by the vision of Ms. Charlotte Maxwell, a progressive public health advocate who recognized the importance of combining complementary therapies with conventional cancer treatment. Read more about CMC and how you can help.
Read MoreAbdominal Distension: (fu zhang 腹脹, pi man 痞滿)
William Maclean, M.Sc. Chin. Med.
Fu zhang refers to a sense of fullness, discomfort, blockage or obstruction across the either the upper or lower abdomen, or across the abdomen as a whole. Pi man is distension specifically in the epigastric area. As a general rule, abdominal distension is due to an obstruction to the correct movement of Spleen and Stomach qi. The obstruction itself may be due to the presence of some pathogen, internal or external or due to weakness or stagnation of qi.
The Chinese Medicine Treatment of Cough
William Maclean, M.Sc. Chin. Med.
Coughing, in the language of TCM, is simply a failure of the natural descent of Lung qi, or a rebellion of Lung qi upwards. There are two general mechanisms: Lung qi which is too weak to descend, and simply ‘floats’ upward or blockage of Lung qi’s downward movement by a pathogen.
Fires and Metal: Fall Lung Formulas
Laura Stropes, L.Ac.
Autumn is the season of metal, and pertains to the Lung and Large Intestine organs. It is the season of dryness in Chinese medicine, and as we have experienced here in California, it is also the season of wildfires. With colder weather coming, burning leaves and smoking chimneys can cause patients across the country to react to the change in air quality.
Exploring Blood and Immunity in TCM
Skye Sturgeon, DAOM, Quality Assurance Manager, Mayway

There is often a tendency in TCM education to equate the TCM concept of Wèi Qì (衞氣) with the immune system and this leads to oversimplification and misunderstanding. In traditional Chinese medicine, while there are obvious areas of conceptual overlap, the biomedical “immune system” must also include other facets of Qi plus aspects of the TCM concepts of Blood, Yang, Yin, Jing, and Marrow to be properly understood. In this article, Dr. Skye Sturgeon explores a more complete understanding of how to assess the condition of a patient’s blood by providing insight into the use of a common laboratory test, i.e., the Complete Blood Count (CBC) with Differential.
Read MoreProtect them with Jade Windscreen
Mark Frost, MSTCM, L.Ac.
For countless generations, Jade Windscreen (Yu Ping Feng San) has been utilized to address surface deficiency patterns that lead to aversion to wind and frequent invasions of common pathogenic influences. These complaints are the result of surface deficiency due to deficient or unregulated Wei Qi. The etiology of Wei Qi deficiency are manifold and determined by a comprehensive differential diagnosis. The most common causes of deficient Wei Qi include Lung, Spleen and Kidney deficiency patterns.
Five Spirits, Five Paths
Dr. Kim Peirano, DACM, L.Ac.

cPTSD is different from PTSD in that it is not so much associated with the trauma or reaction to outward events, but instead manifests inwardly - how we see and think about ourselves - and as a result, how we see the world. It may be caused by a single traumatic event, but more likely is the accumulation of smaller, more covert trauma that usually revolve around the core issue of not being seen or valued in a way that we needed to be or not being able to escape a situation or event that was a threat. As we look around at our communities of people hurting deeply, acting out in ways we would have never imagined, it seems easy to cast it aside as being an issue belonging only to that person, but truly this is a systemic community issue that begins in childhood and continues into adulthood.
Read MoreHelping Children with Autism, a Chinese Medical Perspective
Lola Burmeister, L.Ac.

Formulas for children with Autism will vary according to the defining symptoms. A typical pattern in Autism is Shen disturbance and a deficient middle jiao, accompanied by impeded movement of qi and Blood resulting in blocks in the meridians and collaterals, and Liver and Kidney deficiency.
Read MoreAcupuncture Treatment Strategies to Support the Shen
Mark Frost, MSTCM, L.Ac.

As practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine, we understand the importance of balancing emotional and psychological health. Shen disharmony not only affects our emotional experience, but can also have a significant impact on our physical health. What follows is a discussion of four acupuncture treatments to harmonize the emotions and balance the Shen.
Read MoreInclusion in Your TCM Practice
Katrina Hanson, L.Ac.

LGBTQI patients are more likely to have had a negative experience with a previous healthcare practitioner–anything from the practitioner using the wrong name to refusing to treat them unless they stop taking gender-affirming hormones. We can help repair our patients’ trust in their healthcare providers by building a more inclusive practice. Even those of us who are part of the LGBTQI community have a lot to learn about being inclusive practitioners.
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