East Asian medicine has been used for over 3,000 years and includes various modalities of treatment, most notably Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine.  The premise in East Asian medicine is that the human body is based off of nature. As nature flows up or down, left or right, slow or fast and hot or cold, so inevitably does the human body.  As a result, disorders in the body are due to being out of alignment with nature’s cycles. 

 

Fundamentally, all disease is caused by an imbalance of Yin and Yang.  Yin and Yang can be thought of as opposite forces in nature, like female and male, dark and light, cold and hot, etc.  The key to understanding Yin and Yang, is in their relationship with each other.  

 

Receiving an acupuncture treatment can be viewed as one way to balance Yin and Yang.  Acupuncture points are located on top of a larger network of meridian systems that run throughout the body.  The various pathways in the body include the 12 primary channels, which are connected to the following:  Liver, Gallbladder, Heart, Small Intestine, Pericardium, San Jiao, Spleen, Stomach, Lung, Large Intestine, Kidney, and Bladder.  Optimal health is when all of these meridians are running smoothly.  In an acupuncture treatment, a thin needle is inserted into a point, often in conjunction with other points, in order to create a desired effect for well being. Acupuncture can help retrain the body to do what it does naturally, heal itself.   

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Herbal medicine is another component of East Asian medicine that is based off of nature.  In Chinese herbology, individual herbs are identified based on their temperature, flavor and acupuncture meridian entered.  For example, an herb can be categorized as hot, warm, cool, and cold; sweet, spicy, salty, sour or bitter; or by one of the 12 primary acupuncture meridians targeted.  Herbal formulas, consisting of numerous individual herbs, aim to create a desired synergistic effect for the correct person.  

 

Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine can influence the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual bodies.  Treatments can positively impact the respiratory, digestive, immune, endocrine, muscular, circulatory, reproductive, urinary, gastrointestinal and nervous systems.  Specific indications include stress, insomnia, fatigue, depression, anxiety, menstrual disorders, infertility, menopause symptoms, headache, allergies, acid reflux, indigestion, nausea, arthritis, muscular pain and more.  

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