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No matter your type or time of travel, the family First-Aid kit is an essential item. Though the standard First-aid kit contains the usual emergency care items, traditional Chinese medicine has its own special list of medicines to address common health issues that can come up during many adventures. Over the decades of teaching traditional Chinese herbal medicine, countless students have asked me to share my list of recommended herbal formulations to always have on hand. The Plum Flower® Travel Kit includes covers the most common emergency needs.

During these times of isolation and physical separation, we like to make the best of it and take advantage when an opportunity presents. Sometimes, "Making Hay While the Sun Shines" comes with a cost: unexpected and unwanted aches and pains.

Harmonizing is one of the eight treatment methods used in traditional Chinese medicine. In the contemporary practice of TCM, harmonizing prescriptions fall into four sub-categories: Shao Yang disorders, Liver and Spleen disharmonies, Stomach and Intestine disharmonies, and malarial disorders.

From the view of traditional Chinese medicine, several emotions make up what we presently describe as anxiety. On close examination four emotions stand out as comprising what we call anxiety. According to TCM theory, the emotions of fear, pensiveness, grief and anger cause the Qi to sink, stagnate, dissipate, and rise respectively.

When the Shen, frequently translated as “Mind”, is disturbed this can cause someone to experience sleep complications. We will take a deeper look at three formulas for Calming the Shen that lead to a more peaceful sleep, An Mien Pian, An Shui Wan, and An Shen Bu Xin San/Wan.

As the needs of patients are becoming more specialized, the demand for custom herbal formulas is on the rise. We've created tips for using our Dispensary service, links to a fillable decoction instructions document you can create for your patients, and a how-to video demonstrating how to make a custom formula.

Ling Zhi (Reishi) is one of the most recognized Chinese herbs, both in appearance and in its many significant medicinal properties. It has been used for thousands of years to enhance health, clear mind and spirit, and to promote longevity. Ling Zhi's effects are subtle, its therapeutic results take time to show themselves, and its primary action is to strengthen and promote optimal health. Ling Zhi's most profound quality is in maintaining health and preventing illness over the span of one's life.

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.

In the second webinar broadcast in our COVID-19 series, Michael McCulloch, L.Ac., MPH, PhD, Epidemiologist shared new research regarding traditional Chinese medicine herbal prescribing with modern research on antiviral activity of herbs, practical skills acupuncturists can share with their patients, research-based insights into preparing the body to have a more balanced immune response to the virus, and positive news of solutions and innovations in progress. Recorded live on April 15, 2020.

Our manufacturers and suppliers in China are in operation and are working over-time to fulfill our orders. For products that are out of stock or that have low inventory, we are working with suppliers to receive new inventory in the next 2 months. To ensure equal distribution of product, we have added ordering limits for some items. Many popular items are still in abundant supply such as Jade Screen and Gan Mao Ling. Read More

March is National Kidney Awareness Month, and while "kidney" means more than the physiological kidneys in TCM, we want to spotlight one of the most essential and popular kidney formulas in traditional Chinese Medicine: Liu Wei Di Huang Tang. This humble six-ingredient formula to tonify Liver & Kidney Yin, created by Qian Yi and recorded in his “Key to Therapeutics of Children's Diseases" 小儿药证直诀 around 900 years ago, forms the basis of a myriad of modifications. According to the folks at Lanzhou Foci (who make our Plum Flower® version), Liu Wei Di Huang Wan is the most popular classical TCM formula used in China today. Read More

In this 2 hour continuing education distant learning course taught by Michael McCulloch, L.Ac., MPH, PhD Epidemiologist, we will review modern Traditional Chinese Medicine cold and flu research, herbs and the body's efforts to defend against the virus, herbs and foods and preventing the cytokine storm, primary care providers and infection control.

Many practitioners wonder what the differences are between these two very popular formulas to prevent and treat common wind-heat invasion. One main difference is that Yin Qiao is exclusively for wind-heat invasion, whereas Gan Mao Ling, likely due to its ability to strengthen the immune system, can also be used for the initial stages of wind-cold. Therefore, Gan Mao Ling may be safely taken by a patient before a determination is made as to the etiology of an early stage wind invasion, as well as for short term prevention of a wind invasion. However, if Gan Mao Ling does not work in the first couple of days...

Dr. Wu Ju-Tong created Sha Shen Mai Men Dong Wan as a variation of Mai Men Dong Tang with the intention of treating dry cough in the Autumn. It was first published in his Systematic Differentiation of Warm Disease⁄Wen Bing Tiao Bian in 1798. This classic formula treats injury due to dryness to the Lung and Stomach, which are very sensitive to both invasion by pathogenic dryness and excessive dryness of the air or diet. It gently replenishes lost moisture to the mucus membranes lining the Lung and Stomach to resolve occasional dry hacking cough and wheezing, as well as thirst, dry throat, mouth, lips and nasal passages...

In the modern clinic, Tian Ma Wan is often used for perimenopausal women with a mixed pattern of Liver and Kidney deficiency (Yin, Blood, possibly slight Yang Xu) and some combination of wind-damp Bi Zheng, episodes of Liver Yang rising and possibly the stirring of internal wind to the head. Key symptoms include occasional headaches and/or dizziness, neck, shoulder and upper back tension, hot flashes and facial/neck flushing, difficulty sleeping, irritability, as well as occasional pain, stiffness and spasm in various locations, but particularly the neck, shoulder, hip, low back and legs...