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Allison

Pathogenic emotions are among the internal causes of disease in TCM. There is room to explore the potential pathogenicity of emotional speech expressed and “caught” via the exterior pathogenic factor (EPF) of wind, resulting in interior-exterior psychobiological complexes. This article explores the philosophical and clinical TCM concept of pathogenic speech…

The hypnotic state offers acupuncturists a clinically grounded, neurobiologically supported method of helping patients regulate their nervous system, reduce pain and improve their response to treatment. When used with clear boundaries and within scope, hypnotic principles such as glove anesthesia and pendulation provide a sophisticated, evidence-informed complement to acupuncture’s well-established…

Jason

While acupuncture is widely recognized for its ability to reduce pain and regulate the nervous system, not all headache cases respond as expected. This raises an important clinical question: Why do some headaches fail to improve, even with consistent acupuncture care? The answer often lies beyond standard protocols and requires…

Natalie

Every acupuncturist knows how to calculate overhead: rent, supplies, malpractice insurance, licensing fees, continuing education. But there is another cost of practice that never makes it onto the spreadsheet: the cost of being the practitioner. And no one told you to account for it. So you didn’t. You set your…

When a physical therapist inserts a solid filiform needle into a trigger point and calls it “intramuscular manual therapy,” the instrument is the same FDA Class II device an acupuncturist trains for years to use. What changes is the word on the consent form. That single change of vocabulary is…

Chinese medicine could be a major force in the field of mental health treatment. The widespread belief is that acupuncture is somatic medicine, albeit with calming effects. However, classical Chinese medicine has a rich history in the treatment of all mental-emotional conditions. We can unlock the capacity to work with…

Insomnia, when co-occurring with anxiety and depression, is one of the most clinically challenging presentations in practice. First-line pharmaceutical options offer short-term symptomatic relief but carry significant risks. Cognitive behavioral therapy, while the psychological gold standard, remains inaccessible to many. This study investigated the neurobiological and molecular mechanisms by which…

Qi deficiency and yin deficiency are perhaps the most common patterns encountered when treating any long-standing disease. In most cases, these patterns are deeply connected and must be treated simultaneously over a lengthy period of time. One of the most important factors in treating any type of long-term disease is…

The menstrual cycle is not merely a reproductive event. From a TCM perspective, it is a monthly expression of the body’s most fundamental movements: yin building and descending, yang rising and consolidating, qi and blood in continuous rhythmic motion. Each phase of the cycle places different demands on the body…

Pulse diagnosis remains one of the most refined arts of Chinese medicine. Yet for students and early-career practitioners, it remains difficult to learn with confidence. This is where technology may serve tradition rather than replace it. The concept proposed here is a virtual pulse simulator, an educational training device inspired…

Guanhu

Willow JH

Nearly 50 years ago, Khoe, and then Amaro in 2001, suggested that stimulating horary points based on destination time during travel might help the body adjust before arrival. This targets jet lag’s circadian misalignment. Case reports and theory support the idea, but no formal study has tested it in real…

Based on detailed studies of the texts about meridians written on silk and bamboo slips unearthed from the Western Han dynasty tombs (collectively referred to as Meridian Book ), Dr. Li Yongming, a licensed MD and acupuncturist in the U.S., proposed a groundbreaking view that the theory of meridians arose…

Christine

Many of our communities were raised with the Western medical model as their primary medical model. It is their first language. But as practitioners of Chinese medicine, we are actually bilingual clinicians. We have the unique ability to translate between traditional Chinese medicine and modern biomedical frameworks. Research literacy, when…

Marlene