"Volesky" Profile

For those of you who use the Tam Healing System: I read on here that you commonly use Hua Tuo Jia Ji points for autoimmune conditions (T1-T3 especially). To what depth are you inserting needles in these points (2mm, 1-2...

I have been working on a patient with chronic urticaria, believed to be autoimmune related. The patient has hypothyroidism and increasing Synthroid has in the past helped with the hives; however, it no longer seems to be that way and...

Does anyone have suggestions for lowering elevated liver enzymes (specifically ALT)? I have treated patients with this but have never directly been able to observe whether treatment or specific point combinations have been responsible for lowering them. The elevated ALT...

Hey guys, I am looking for any experience or suggestions on treating patellar dislocation. I have treated once before with decent results, but I would still appreciate some help on this. Otherwise, I use points in the quadriceps with Pai...

Do any of you have any good damp-phlegm draining dietary suggestions/formulas you use? I live in a very humid climate which also seems to be the fast food capitol of the world, so almost all my patients have some form...

Do any of you have any good techniques for treating trigger finger? I will use local points surrounding and in the effected area with moxa, tui na (locally and distally on the arm and epicondyles). Also, how long has it...

There are references to pulse diagnosis using various pulses on the body, other than just the radial pulse. Some references point to 9 different pulses that can be used in making diagnosis.I would also speculate that one could develop of...

Consider using points on the elbows and knees. These directly image the eyes and often can produce instant change. An effective protocol I have used is:One side: Kid10, Liv8, Inner Xiyan, Li11, Sj10, Si8Other side: Lu5, Ht3, Pc3, Zhu Yuan,...

You definitely need to see a trained practitioner for this. Chinese herbs do work very well (and often very quickly) for skin conditions, but a proper diagnosis needs to be made.Also, I have noticed in almost every (if not every)...

Another thing to keep in mind is the patient&#39s weight. Is she over weight? It is very common in Chinese medicine for overweight people to have very deep pulses, which are often interpretted also as weak. This is often erroneously...

The trick with combining formulas is truly knowing exactly how the formulas work. You don&#39t necessarily think of them as a bunch of individual herbs, but as their collective action. So when you add 30% of this formula, 30% of...

You need to practice how you are comfortable and with proper pattern differentiation. It is not uncommon for an herbalist to use 2-4 formulas combined all at once. In fact, this is quite commonly done in Taiwan. But it is...

For what it is worth, here is an acupuncture protocol that treats liver stagnation type patterns in addition to physical Liver organ problems:One side: Pc3, Pc7, GB34, GB41Other Side: Sj3, Sj10, Liv3, Liv8To this I would always add Liv14. If...

Just based on your description of having lots of energy sometimes and almost none other times, it sounds like a poor regulation of blood sugar. This is incredibly common. When your blood sugar is steady, you should feel balanced energy...

I have heard talk of some, but I have never seen anything work. My teacher Chang Wei-Yen says they are "incurable", at least with herbs. Though I have heard some people have some success with combinations of acupuncture and cupping,...

Just as you said, if often causes heat in patients. In my opinion, there are many better tonics for helping the digestive system than Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang. I do think BZYQT has merit in certain circumstances, but it...

The trick is to find a skilled herbalist to put something together for you. Treating these things together is really not all that difficult. Very frequently we will make around 20% of a formula spleen tonics to ensure digestibility and...

For what it&#39s worth, I spoke to a master Chinese Medicine herbalist and his remark was that these are "incurable". Personally, I have not found the "surround the dragon" technique to be very effective at all for this. If it...

It depends on how you are applying distal acupuncture. I use distal acupuncture almost exclusively. One very important thing you need to remember is that when a patient comes to you with pain, their proprioceptive pathway is not firing strongly...

Needle length really depends on what you are doing. I have seen some people use 15mm needles and some use 30mm length. If you are doing perpendicular insertion in areas with very little flesh, then a shorter needle will probably...

I don&#39t think there is a "best" size per se, but I think arguably, using thinner needles on the face is advantageous since there is less likelihood for bruising; plus, facial points can be a little more tender so a...

The area of PC3 absolutely can be used for allergies. I don&#39t believe this can be explained from a TCM standpoint, but from Dr. Tan&#39s Balance Method it makes perfect sense. Within the balance method, a diagnosis is made based...

There is nothing mysterious about the San Jiao (triple burner) organ. What the Chinese were describing was actually the pleural and peritoneal membrane tissues that enfold the organs of the thoracic and abdominal cavities (excluding the pericardium). The Chinese viewed...

I&#39m glad to hear that I am not the only one who feels this way! The best thing to do is look for masters in a particular field and study with them. It&#39s great to be idealistic and learn all...

To my knowledge, I don&#39t know of any specific sources that discuss the pathology of cellulitis. I think it is good to point out though that when a source does discuss a particular disease and typical patterns presented with that...

A lot will depend on the whole patient, pulse, tongue, and of course the presentation of the cellulitis. Being able to see the area itself is pretty helpful. Likely, there will be a degree of heat toxicity, damp, possibly wind,...

Depending on the brand of needle you may be able to just use a guide tube when inserting the needle. However, with some brands and think the needle would be inserted to deeply with this. So Seirin, for example, you...

I don&#39t mean to say that Seirin are not good needles. They are great in fact. I just personally don&#39t like them for the ears as much because they tend to be "slippery". When the needle is only going in...

This really is a great topic! I too have wrestled with this in my practice. My school also taught a once per week system. Personally, I have found this to be either inadequate and/or too slow for most of my...

Here is a very simple acupuncture protocol which can be used for any digestive issue:Right side: Li4 (or Lingku), SJ5, Liv8, Sp9Left side: Pc6, Ht5, Lu7, St36, GB34You can alternate sides each treatment. I recommend getting sensation at each point.I...

Based on what you said about excessive gas leading to flutters, it sounds like you may be getting some vagus nerve stimulation. Oriental Medicine is great for this type of thing. Anxiety is probably a big part of this. I...

Something I have had success with is threading Yu Yao upward toward GB14. This is more of a facial acupuncture technique. You should feel the needle grab or the muscle twitch slightly. In some cases I have noticed change that...

Job&#39s tears is a chinese herb called Yi Yi Ren. It is a fantastic herb for dampness and strengthening digestion. It is also heat clearing and helps to dispel pus. It can be taken as food or decocted as an...

For overall deficiency: rice, wheat, barley (pan-roast prior to cooking), spelt oats, and quinoa are best.For a damp constitution or damp environment, damp drying grains include: amaranth, buckwheat, unrefined barley, corn, rye, wild rice, basmati rice (small quantities), and dry...

I have tried a pretty decent air purifier without any success. I was also in a school clinic a few years back that had a special ventilation system which worked over the whole clinic, and you could still smell the...

For what it is worth, I have found acupuncture to be incredibly successful for nightmares, and usually works within a treatment or two. I will ALWAYS use gallbladder channel points. If there is more of a Ht/GB def. GB40 and...