1. Ginger. This warm herb is one of my favorites and works really well to relieve nausea and vomiting. It’s frequently used to control nausea by people undergoing chemotherapy. Ginger can also stop a cough, and can help fight off a cold in its early stages. The papery skin of the ginger root is used in Chinese medicine to drain edema (water swelling) and induce urination. 
2. Scallions, when mixed with ginger in a warm broth, are perfect if you’re just coming down with a cold. Scallions are hot enough to drain nasal congestion and to induce sweating, which often heads off a cold before it gets started. 
3. You may think of walnuts as being the perfect chocolate chip cookie ingredient. However, walnuts also strengthen your Kidney and moisten your intestines. I recommend walnuts (not necessarily in cookies) to my patients who have constipation. 
4. Like walnuts, black sesame seeds also moisten your intestines and can be used for constipation. They also nourish your Chinese Kidney and Liver, and can help with blurry vision, tinnitus, and dizziness. 
5. Cinnamon is a warm herb that can also help you fight off a cold. Its warming effects are helpful for joint pain that gets worse in the cold weather. Cinnamon has mild antibiotic and diuretic (drains water) effects. 
6. Mint is a cool herb that also works well for colds and flu, especially those that are accompanied by a fever, headache, cough, and sore throat. Mint is also used to bring an early rash to the surface of your skin, so it can heal faster. 
7. Look in the fungi section of your grocery store for wood ear mushrooms. They moisten your Lungs and are good for a chronic dry cough. Eat them in stir fried dishes or soups. 
8. Mung beans clear something called Summerheat, which is similar to heat exhaustion. Boil the beans, add some seasoning, and drink the water to get rid of that blah nauseous feeling you get on the hottest, most humid days of the summer. 
9. Watermelon is also great for Summerheat. In addition, it generates fluids in your body and alleviates thirst. 
10. Look in the spice aisle for turmeric, which can help in lowering your cholesterol. 
11. Got parasites? Try pumpkin seeds. They’re used in Chinese medicine for tape worms and round worms. 
12. Garlic is also used for parasites, especially hook and pin worms. In addition, its antimicrobial effects make garlic a good choice for food poisoning from shellfish. 
13. Mulberry fruit looks a little like large black raspberries. While not found in all grocery stores, most will carry mulberries when they’re in season. They can be used to nourish Blood and Yin, as a way to treat dizziness, tinnitus, insomnia, premature graying of your hair, and constipation in the elderly. Mulberries make a great addition to a fruit compote, which when combined with other fruits, is moistening in nature.

     

While what’s going on may seem like a simple bladder infection, in Chinese medicine they’re anything but simple.  Like headaches, colds, or back pain, bladder infections (or UTI’s) have a distinct personality.  Symptoms can run the gamut from urinary urgency, frequency, difficulty, dribbling, sharp urethral pain, spasms in the lower abdomen, and pain radiating to your lower back.

In Chinese medicine, UTI’s generally fall into a pattern of excess or depletion.  Excess patterns are due to an accumulation or too much of something.  Bladder infections that are excess tend to be a combination of dampness (an accumulation of fluids) and heat.  The most notable symptom of this kind of pattern is a burning pain during urination.  A damp heat UTI can be the result of too much alcohol, hot spicy food, sweets, or poor hygiene.

UTI’s that are caused by depletion are usually the result of being run down from aging, not sleeping well, poor diet, and…um, too much sex.  Living life a little too fully can wear down your Chinese Kidney and/or Spleen to the point that you’re unable to metabolize water or control the mechanism of the bladder very well.  The end result can be incontinence or dribbling, dull and achy pain, and a sore lower back.

To further complicate the diagnosis, in Chinese medicine, bladder infections are grouped into six different types:

Heat.  This is the typical bladder infection, with sharp, burning pain.  You may also run a fever; have constipation, thirst, or a bitter taste in your mouth.

Stony.  This one really hurts with the kind of pain that can bring you to your knees.  This is essentially kidney stones, and the symptoms include severe low back or abdominal pain, cramping, difficulty urinating, urinating blood, and passing stones in the urine.

Qi.  This is all about your energy, or Qi, and can be either excess or deficient.  An excess pattern means that your energy is stagnating and causing symptoms, which include difficult urination, a feeling of fullness or pain in your lower abdomen, and possibly chest tightness or rib pain.  A depleted Qi pattern is caused by not having enough energy for your bladder to metabolize water.  Symptoms in this case may include a feeling of heaviness in your lower abdomen, dripping or incontinence, possibly a pale complexion, feeling tired, shortness of breath, and an achy lower back.

Bloody.  This pattern can also be from either an excess or depletion, but either way, there will be blood in your urine.  An excess pattern is essentially heat causing you to bleed, with symptoms such as urinary frequency, urgency, sharp burning pain, and of course, blood in your urine–usually a fair amount.  Being depleted can also cause blood in your urine, but there typically won’t be as much blood, or the bleeding will occur over a long period of time.  Also, if this pattern is from being depleted, it won’t generally be as sharply painful, but you may feel tired and you may have a weak, achy low back and/or knees.

Cloudy.  Like the bloody pattern, this one can come from either an excess or a depletion.  The common denominator however, is cloudy or milky looking urine.  If caused by an excess, this type will have very cloudy urine with urethral pain and burning.  If from a depletion, your symptoms may include dribbling of cloudy looking urine, mild urethral pain, dizziness, ringing ears, and again, a weak or achy lower back and knees.  This pattern tends to affect people who have a thin, weak, or depleted body type.

Taxation.  This is a total depletion pattern, and comes from overdoing it or being totally wiped out.  The symptoms include periodic dribbling of urine, stress incontinence (leaking after jumping or sneezing), fatigue, and an achy, weak low back or knees.

Each type of UTI has a specific method of treatment in Chinese medicine.  However, in general, an excess pattern will involve clearing heat and resolving the dampness. This may be done through a combination of acupuncture, Chinese herbs, and food therapy.  A common herbal formula for bladder infections is Ba Zheng San, (also called Eight Herb Powder for Rectification). This particular formula works to clear heat and drain out dampness, and in some cases can be used for UTI’s where there is some blood in the urine.

For UTI’s that are caused by being depleted, the first line of treatment may involve Chinese herbs to supplement Spleen or Kidney Qi (energy).  Acupuncture and foods chosen to build up your strength may also become part of your treatment.  It’s important to remember that it usually takes longer to treat a depletion pattern than an excess pattern.  That’s because when you’re depleted, the treatment involves nourishing or rebuilding your body, and this can take time.  However, with the proper treatment and time, you can rebuild your body and prevent your symptoms from recurring.

Acupuncture is not the only healing tool that is used in Chinese medicine. In adition to acupuncture, practitioners use a variety of methods to help their patients heal. One of the most interesting modalities is the practice of cupping, which involves placing glass or plastic cups on the body in which a vacuum has been created. The vacuum acts to pull the skin, increasing the flow of blood and energy. For practical reasons, cupping is usually done on the larger areas of the body, such as the back or legs; but it can be done almost anywhere if necessary.

I have found that once I have cupped a patient for the first time, one of two things happens; either they always want to be cupped at every appointment, or they never want to be cupped again. The effects of cupping can be subtle, and those people who choose not to be cupped do so not because the cupping was painful–it’s not–they just don’t see the point.

Those people who want to be cupped at every appointment, however, understand the benefits of cupping. The purpose is to move stagnant energy, facilitate healing, and relieve pain. In addition, many patients want their back cupped because it loosens up tight muscles and it’s incredibly relaxing. Essentially, after being cupped a patient feels energized and loose.

There are a couple of ways to create a vacuum in the cups. One is by using cups with small gaskets through which air can be pulled out with a pump. The other method is called fire cupping. A cotton ball is soaked in alcohol and lit, then held in the cup for a few seconds until the flame has used up all the air. The cup is then quickly placed on the skin. It all sounds very dramatic and dangerous, but it is actually quite safe and works very well. The cups may then be left on the skin for five to ten minutes or they can be moved across the skin (while retaining the vacuum) to treat a larger area.

The downside of cupping is that while it ‘s painless, it can leave a mark on your skin that looks like a perfectly round bruise (think very large hickey). If you’re planning to go to the beach or wear strapless evening wear, you may want to postpone being cupped until your next visit. Or not. Apparently Gwenneth Paltrow believed the benefits of cupping outweighed the possibility of being photographed with marks on her back.

While most recipes in Chinese food therapy are aimed at correcting specific imbalances, here are a few that are easily digestible and help to build up your energy, which is appropriate for all body types—and who doesn’t need a little more energy?

The following recipes all have potatoes as an ingredient, which are a good for building your body’s Qi.  In addition, during the fall and early winter, root vegetables like potatoes are in season and can usually be found locally.

Roasted Potatoes and Garlic

• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 2 large purple, white, or gold potatoes
• 2-3 pieces of garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• sea salt

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Dice potatoes in 1/2 to 3/4 inch pieces, place in a bowl and toss with the olive oil, garlic, and salt.

Place potatoes in a baking pan and cook at 400° for 40 minutes.  Stir the potatoes every 15 minutes or so.

Potatoes will be done when they’re cooked all the way through. For a crispy brown finish, put the potatoes under the broiler for 5 minutes at the end.

Recipe adapted from www.nuherbs.com

Energetics:  Potatoes strengthens Qi (energy).  They also strengthen your digestion.  Sweet potatoes are cool in nature, can clear heat, and are a good choice if you’re experiencing night sweats.

Lentil Soup

• 2 onions
• 3 Tbs olive oil
• 2 or 3 medium potatoes
• ½ pound red lentils
• 4 cups water
• 1 bay leaf
• 1-2 tsp fresh mint
• juice of 2 lemons
• sea salt to taste

Chop the onions finely and fry them in the olive oil until soft and translucent.

Wash and dice the potatoes. 

Add the lentils to the onions, stir for a minute and then add the potatoes.  Stir again.

Add the water and the bay leaf and bring to a boil.

Simmer for about ½ hour or until the lentils and potatoes are cooked through.

Add the chopped mint about halfway through, and add the salt and lemon juice at the end.

Remove the bay leaf, and mash or blend part of the soup for a creamy texture.

From Recipes for Self Healing by Daverick Leggett

Energetics:  This soup strengthens Qi, is easy to digest, and provides a sustained release of energy.  Lentils strengthen your Chinese Spleen and Stomach, as well as benefiting your Heart and Kidney.  They also exert a mild action against dampness.  Both the lemon and the mint are cool in nature.

Dill Salmon Bake

• 3 pounds of potatoes
• 2 large onions
• 1 pound of salmon
• 2 glasses of white wine
• 4 tsp of dill weed
• 2 ounces of butter
• salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 ° F.

Boil the potatoes until they’re about three-quarters cooked.  Cool enough to handle, and cut the potatoes into slices ¼ inch thick.

Meanwhile slice the onions in rings and cook gently in a little butter until they just start to soften.

Cut the salmon into 1 inch chunks.

Place all the ingredients into a greased oven proof dish in layers: onions, then potato, then salmon, then onions and potato again.

Sprinkle with the dill and salt as you build each layer.

Pour in the white wine and place some pats of butter on top. 

Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper and cover.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

From Recipes for Self Healing by Daverick Leggett

This is a gently warming dish appropriate for all body types.  The salmon nourishes Yin and Blood, while also gently warming Yang, with assistance from the white wine.  The potatoes strengthen your Qi, and the onions are warming and can counteract dampness and phlegm.  The dill helps strengthen your digestion.

The news the next day told of the carnage brought about by the high temperatures. The First Aid tent was overflowing with overheated and dehydrated runners, some of whom ended up in the hospital. However, the runners in the worst condition were those who had drunk too much. It’s true—there were some runners that day who followed commonsense advice of drinking lots but got into real trouble because they were grossly over hydrated.

How could that happen? Well, drinking too much water can cause an electrolyte imbalance in which the dilution of sodium in your body becomes life threatening. Marathon runners sweat heavily over the course of a 26-mile race, and lose both water and electrolytes. When a dehydrated runner drinks too much water without supplementing the necessary electrolytes, water intoxication, or hyponatremia, can occur. The symptoms of water intoxication aren’t pretty. The electrolyte imbalance causes tissue swelling, which in serious cases can lead to an irregular heartbeat, fluid in the lungs, pressure on the brain, seizures, coma, and death. The good news is, if it’s treated before the swelling causes too much damage, a water intoxicated athlete can fully recover within a couple of days.

So what does this story have to do with Chinese medicine? Well, in the past year or so, I’ve seen several patients in my clinic who in one way or another have been over hydrating. While they weren’t dangerously ill, their water consumption was enough to have a negative impact on their health.

In one instance, a woman in her early 40’s, named Jane, had what felt like a chronic bladder infection that was not responding to Western or Chinese medical treatments. Finally, she went to a clinic specializing in bladder health, and the doctor determined that her bladder was healthy, but inordinately large. Now if you’re a regular beer drinker, that may be a good problem to have, but in Jane’s case, it was causing her discomfort. On questioning, Jane reported that she drinks several 32 oz bottles of water every day. Essentially, the doctor said that drinking so much water had enlarged her bladder to the point of discomfort. Her course of treatment is to drink a lot less.

A second example of so-called water damage has occurred in a number of patients I’ve seen who struggle with chronic diarrhea—the kind that’s life-altering. Most of these patients are having episodes several times a day and can’t eat a meal without having to hit the bathroom shortly afterward. In almost every case, when I ask about water consumption, I find that these patients are drinking a lot–sometimes several liters a day. This causes their digestion to be so waterlogged that it almost completely shuts down. The course of treatment is to drink less, especially with meals, and to switch to room temperature or warm drinks. Through acupuncture, herbal medicine, and dialing back the water, these patients have seen their diarrhea go away completly or be greatly reduced.

In Chinese medicine, these are both cases of something called dampness, in which your body is unable to metabolize water effectively. In both of these instances the dampness was brought about by drinking too much water. Dampness is almost always a digestive issue, in which your Chinese Spleen gets bogged down and can’t make good use of the fluids in your body. Dampness can be the cause of a number of symptoms including diarrhea, bladder infections, yeast, poor energy, joint pain, headaches, and a feeling of heaviness. In addition, that excess roll of fat around your middle or on your thighs is also considered to be damp tissue—it’s moist and heavy—a little bit like wet sand.

There are a number of reasons you become damp. The most common include drinking too much, eating too much, eating the wrong foods (sweet, rich, greasy), stress, and living in a damp place, like England or a basement. Dampness is a drag, because like wet sand, it tends to take a long time to dry out.

The best way to deal with dampness is to not become damp in the first place. This means eating good food in moderation; getting a little exercise; saying hydrated, but not over drinking; and maintaining your weight. Being proactive against dampness also means paying attention to your digestion. Some simple ways to improve the digestive process include sitting at the table when you eat, chewing your food well, and drinking small amounts of room temperature water or hot tea with your meals.

While symptoms caused by dampness, and dampness itself can be a challenge in the acupuncture clinic, it can be resolved. Through the use of acupuncture, drying or draining herbs, Chinese food therapy, and some lifestyle tweaks, dampness can be something you talk about in the past tense.

In Chinese medicine, good health is associated with flow, and when that flow is obstructed in some way, it causes illness and pain. The color purple is frequently seen in cases where there is lack of movement or flow; something we acupuncturists call stagnation. In many cases, purple indicates a stagnation of blood.

A few weeks ago, one of my regular patients came to me because her back was really acting up. In her early seventies, I had treated this woman for a number of aches and pains, but had not spent much time treating her lower back. This particular patient is one of strong opinions, and on this particular day she was clear; her back needed attention.

 When I got her onto my treatment table, I took a look at her lower back and saw that there were quite a few purple spots near the surface of the skin. They weren’t bruises, but it looked like varicose veins in the area of her low back and sacrum. The spots were a little bit unusual, but the purple color told me what I needed to know; blood stagnation was causing her discomfort.

You know that your blood moves; it’s pumped by your heart and travels throughout your body in your veins and arteries. So how can it not move?  Actually, there are a number of conditions that are directly associated with stagnant blood, including bruises, varicose veins, menstrual cramps, blood clots, and coronary artery disease (blocked arteries). In addition, masses, lumps, abscesses and ulcers are also considered to be caused by blood stagnation in Chinese medicine.

There are a couple of hallmark signs of stagnant blood. First, it’s usually painful. The pain tends to be fixed in one place and feel deep, sharp, or colicky. Secondly, in many cases, there is some presentation of the color purple. For example, varicose veins are visibly purple. More subtly, someone who is suffering from blood clots or coronary artery disease will usually have a purple looking tongue or a purple hue to their fingernails.

In Western medicine, blood stagnation is usually associated with hematology, such as clotting issues, strokes, and heart disease. As you get older, your doctor may advise you to take an aspirin a day, which helps your blood move by making your platelets (which help clotting) a little less sticky. If you’ve had a history of blood clots, you may be prescribed a stronger blood thinner, such as Coumadin.

In Chinese medicine, there are a number of herbs that are used to move blood. Frequently, they are site specific. For example, Szechuanlovage root (chuan xiong) is used for gynecological problems like menstrual cramps or amenorrhea (no periods). Salvia root, (dan shen) is used for blood stagnation in the lower abdomen or the chest. A more familiar herb, Turmeric (yu jin) is used for a variety of conditions associated with stagnant blood, and is gaining attention as a supplement in treating inflammation and in the prevention of Alzheimer’s and certain kinds of cancers.

My patient with low back pain was taking a number of prescription medications, and was not interested in an herbal formula. However, knowing that her condition was related to stagnant blood, I included a couple of acupuncture points in my treatment known to help move blood and relieve pain. I also did a little Chinese bodywork, called Tui Na to get the blood moving in her lower back. While she wasn’t ready to go out dancing, she was definitely feeling better when she left my office.

Cosmetic acupuncture is also known as acupuncture facial rejuvenation, and sometimes called an acupuncture facelift. It involves the use of traditional acupuncture to slow the signs of aging in your face, tune up your skin, and to bring back that youthful glow to your cheeks.

There are a number of benefits to cosmetic acupuncture, and here are our top ten reasons to give it a try:

1. Cosmetic acupuncture works by increasing the circulation in your skin. As you get older, your circulation tends to get a little sluggish. Cosmetic acupuncture brings all those nutrient goodies like collagen and elastin back to where you want it–in your face and neck.
2. The increased circulation translated into better skin tone, fewer fine lines, and even some lift around sagging jowls and baggy eyes.
3. It’s safe. There are no side effects, other than an occasional bruise, which heals in less than a week. You don’t have to worry about scarring, lumps, or botched procedures.
4. Cosmetic acupuncture is chemical-free. There are no acid peels, Botox, or injectable fillers involved in the process.
5. Your health benefits from the sessions, too. During a cosmetic acupuncture treatment, your acupuncturist also treats any health concerns that you have. They do this because beautiful skin is linked to good health. You can’t have beautiful, glowing skin if you’re health is suffering.
6. It’s relaxing. Really. It may seem unlikely that an acupuncture treatment is relaxing, but the truth is that acupuncture increases the release of endorphins, those feel-good chemicals in your brain. This means that from the time you’re on the table for hours, and sometimes days after your treatment, you’ll feel mellow, rested, and less stressed.
7. Cosmetic acupuncture is effective in treating acne, eczema, and rosacea.
8. You’ll spend less money on cosmetic acupuncture than if you go the plastic surgery or injectable route. Each acupuncture treatment costs about $100 compared to several hundred or even thousands of dollars for injectables or surgery.
9. The effects of cosmetic acupuncture can last years with just minor tune ups every six months or so.
10. There is no down time with cosmetic acupuncture. You can have a treatment at lunch and head back to work glowing and relaxed.