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Every year, during the hottest days of summer and the coldest days of winter, you'll see people at TCM clinics with small herbal patches on their backs. These are Sanfu and Sanjiu patches — a form of external therapy known as "heavenly moxibustion." What Are Sanfu and Sanjiu Patches? In short: during the peak of summer's yang energy (Sanfu days) or the depths of winter's cold (Sanjiu days), herbal cakes made from warming medicinal herbs are applied to specific acupoints. The

He was ten the first time he came in, cap pulled low over his forehead. His mom took the cap off — no hair, no eyebrows. A ten-year-old boy with a smooth, bare scalp. His sleeves were pulled down long; inside his elbows and behind his knees, eczema covered every fold, cracked skin weeping fluid, itching and stinging without pause. His mom told me he had been on allergy medication since he was three. Seven years. Runny nose, itchy skin — the pills never stopped. She couldn't q

Early last summer, she told us she wanted to look her best at the upcoming class reunion — she hadn't seen her old classmates in years. She was a disciplined person. Living on the Peninsula, juggling work and family, she'd kept herself in great shape — eating well, staying active, never cutting corners. But years of accumulated stress had written themselves on her body: shoulders hard as stone, a tired complexion, and a reflection in the mirror that looked more worn out than

Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease — the intestinal wall becomes inflamed and ulcerated, over and over. The worst of it comes down to three things: relentless diarrhea, bloody stools, and abdominal pain that wakes you up at night. A patient came in recently. For the past two months: fifteen bloody bowel movements a day, and waking up six times a night from pain. Barely a full night's sleep in weeks. How does Chinese medicine view this condition? Let me lay out t

Many people hear "structural therapy" and assume it's just another form of tuina or bone-setting. In fact, it's a modern manual therapy rooted in traditional Chinese orthopedics, with its own complete system of diagnosis and treatment. The Body as a Whole The core idea is simple: the body is one interconnected whole. Shoulder pain doesn't always come from the shoulder; an aching back may have its roots elsewhere. Localized pain or dysfunction is often the result of tension im