A couple of weeks ago, I got a call at home from a fundraiser asking for money for the school where I received my master’s degree in Oriental Medicine.  I politely told the woman that I would not support the school and I told her why. You see, the school I attended also trains chiropractors.  This is not a problem.  The school trains chiropractors to perform acupuncture.  This is also not a problem.  However, the school trains chiropractors to perform “acupuncture” in 105 hours over seven weekends while at the same time they train acupuncturists in a three-year, 3,000 hour...

The Chinese have a saying that the emotions are the cause of 100 diseases.  In the case of depression, they’re right on the money.  I have worked with many patients who suffer from depression, and while they differ widely in their histories, they all have one thing in common:  lack of emotional flow. Chinese medicine is all about flow, whether it’s the flow of digestion, blood, energy, or emotions.  When that flow is blocked for one reason or another, symptoms arise.  We practitioners of Chinese medicine consider that lack of flow a kind of stagnation, much like a dam on a moving river. ...

Whether you’re a weekend warrior or you get your exercise walking the dog, chances are that if you’re physically active, at some point you’ve been on the receiving end of an athletic injury.  Believe me, there is nothing worse than to be hobbled by an injury just before your big athletic event, an active vacation, or just as the weather turns warm enough to be able to play outside. I’m writing from experience here.  I’ve blown out my knee on the altar of faulty ski equipment.  I’ve suffered stress fractures from stubbornly refusing to stop running.  And I’ve nursed a shoulder injury...

If you’ve ever experienced sciatic pain, you’re on first name terms with that pain that starts in your butt and travels down the back or side of your leg.  This is not just any pain; it can be sharp, electric, and stabbing, and it can be accompanied by numbness and tingling.. My brush with butt pain happened about three days into a week long kayaking trip in the middle of nowhere.  I woke up one morning and tried to walk down to the beach to wash my face, but my leg, or more accurately, my butt wouldn’t cooperate.  I could walk, but just barely, because a nagging pain on the right side of my...

I have certain articles of clothing in my closet that shrink every winter.  They fit me when I wore them the previous summer, but after a long winter, during that first whiff of spring when the sun beckons me to wear something other than corduroy or fleece, every pair of shorts I own have betrayed me by not getting past my hips. Okay, I admit that I have a hand in this, and while it seems unlikely to have happened to me (!) the answer to this mystery is that obviously I’ve eaten a few too many acorns over the winter.  And, rather than buy a whole new wardrobe, I need to drop a few pounds.  While...

I have the best job in the world. As an acupuncturist, I have a parade of lovely, interesting people who come through my clinic looking for help and healing. As an acupuncturist, I get to use the tools of an ancient healing tradition called Chinese medicine. These tools include acupuncture, Chinese herbs, body work, food therapy, and healthy lifestyle traditions. One of the best parts of what I do is that I learn a little something from each and every patient who comes in through my door. Some of those lessons are uneventful, but some are profound. Here is a short list of some of the incredible things...