and make each one count towards your greater goals.- Art of Wellness Acupuncture & Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)11704 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 295, Los Angeles, CA, 90025
myartofwellness@gmail.com310-451-5522 - Sign up to receive news and updates and get my free report:“The Top 10 Reasons to Try Acupuncture”
Health
Go Beyond Skin Deep with TCM
by Xiaomei Cai, L.Ac., Ph.D.
“The qi of the five zang organs manifests in the face. . .if we see green like jade, red like the crown of a rooster, yellow like the underside of a crab, white like the lard of a pig, or black like the feathers of a black chicken, these are the colors of life.”
– The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine
A practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine can tell a lot about your health from your face and your skin. In TCM, each of the organ systems corresponds to one of the sense organs; so the appearance and function of the eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and eyes can give the doctor information about what might be going on in the liver, heart, intestines, and other major organs. Conversely, problems in the liver, etc., will show on your face. The skin is considered the “opening” of the lungs; this is why problems with environmental toxins often display themselves through skin conditions such as eczema, rashes, psoriasis, hair loss, acne, dullness or roughness.
In other words, we know that health, and beauty, are not only “skin-deep.” The skin’s surface and the life of the facial features give us clues as to what is going on underneath. The skin reflects imbalances of the internal landscape of the body. Stress and strong emotions, hormone imbalances, inappropriate dietary habits and environmental influences all will be represented on the skin, our largest organ. We must treat the underlying conditions deep within the body first, then we will see the skin bloom with health. Any skin condition is like a red flag showing that there are some impurities or toxins building up inside. Normally, our bodies can self-clean; our liver and kidney filter all impurities out. But if there are too many toxins, or the body is under a lot of stress –eg., not enough sleep, or lacking in regular “tune-ups,” just as a car needs maintenance at regular intervals–, then the problems build up and break outs occur.
For example, conditions such as scaling psoriasis and rosacea are often caused by excess internal heat, especially that which we call Stomach Fire, so our acupuncture and herbal treatments will be designed to clear the heat, along with dietary changes, such as avoidance of alcohol, coffee, sugar, and red meat (all of which we recommend avoiding, anyway). Western medicine will often treat these conditions with cortisone, which may suppress the some of the symptoms for the duration of use, but it will not address the root cause. Long-term use of cortisone can have very detrimental effects on your overall health.
Hives – itchy, red patches that come and go – are considered by Western medicine to be caused by histamine reactions, and are almost always treated with antihistamines. In TCM, they are considered a “wind rash;” like wind, they can be cold or hot, and can move from one place to another quickly. This signals a weakness in the exterior immune barrier that your skin provides, and that you are extra susceptible to stress and/or allergens in your environment. Balancing the excess heat or cold in the body with acupuncture treatment, discovering where the irritants are coming from and altering your diet, hygiene regimens, etc. can alleviate the hives, and also strengthen your overall immunity.
Eczema, or dermatitis, can show up in many forms, but they are all due to imbalances in the body caused by toxic buildup from both external and internal sources. Again, stress and hormones play a role, as do the plethora of artificial toxins in our environment. The body’s own immune response to this constant bombardment of toxins can cause skin irritations. Our strategy might include building up deficient blood with more nutrients, clearing dampness, and prescribing cleansing herbs and foods.
Acne – pimples or lesions that break out on the skin’s surface – is not a superficial problem. It is always related to things that are going on internally, often with the digestive system. Improper diet or imbalances in hormones lead to inflammation that is “overflowing,” and, having nowhere else to go, erupts out of the body through the skin. Making appropriate modifications to your food program and balancing hormones will clear the acne for good, where topical solutions and birth control pills provide only temporary improvement.
If aging is your concern, we are able to choose specific points for an acupuncture facial, which tightens and tones the skin and boosts the production of collagen. This treatment will help smooth fine wrinkles, improve circulation, and hasten healing of any acne, rosacea, and other skin irritations. Acupuncture also releases endorphins, which make you feel more relaxed and positive. Most people find acupuncture treatment painless and relaxing. You can see a difference after just one or two treatments, but the benefits keep growing, as the results are cumulative.
Why choose acupuncture over modern dermatological procedures? If you are looking for treatment that is natural,with natural-looking results and no or minimal negative side effects, it is worth a try. If you come with a skin condition, we will conduct a full consultation to determine which organ system has an imbalance and offer acupuncture treatment to improve Qi flow, cupping to get rid of deep tissue toxins and activate the lymphatic system to clean the internal organs, herbal therapy to clear heat, and dietary suggestions to prevent the skin condition from coming back.
Wisdom Story – Wealth, Success & Health
by Qineng Tan, L.Ac., Ph.D.
One windy Winter day, a woman looked out her window and saw three elderly men sitting by the side of the road in front of her house. A generous lady, she went out and asked them, “Would you like to come in from the cold and have something to eat?”
The men smiled gratefully, but asked, “Is the rest of your family at home?” When the woman replied that they were not, but would be home a little later, the men said, “We will wait, then.”
Later, when the woman’s husband and child had returned, she went outside again and said, “Please, come in and have some dinner with us.”
But one of the men explained, ‘Only one of us can come in. This man is named “Wealth.” And that one is named “Success.” My name is “Health.” Go in, talk with your family, and decide which of us you would like to invite into your home.
When the woman told her husband and daughter about this, her husband said, “Let’s ask Wealth to come! That way, we won’t have to work anymore.” But the woman said, “Shouldn’t we ask Success to come? Surely that would be the best choice.” Then the couple’s young daughter spoke up, “Why don’t you ask Health to come in? That way none of us will ever get sick.”
So the woman went out again and asked Health to come in. When he got up and began walking towards the house, Success and Wealth followed him.
“But–I thought–” said the woman. Then Health explained, “Wherever I go, Success and Wealth will follow.”
Lesson: Health is our most precious commodity. When we start making room for healthy habits, we will be able to enjoy the success and wealth that comes our way.
Wisdom Story from Dr. Tan – Bian Que and the King
There once was a well-known Chinese physician who lived over 2300 years ago, named Bian Que. One day, the King called Bian Que to him and asked him: “I hear you have two brothers who are also physicians. Can you tell me–who is the best physician? Now, be honest!”
Bian Que answered, “My oldest brother is the best. My second brother is better than me. Actually, I am just average.”
The King was surprised. “But you are the one who is famous throughout China! Why do you say they are better than you?”
Bian Que said, “My oldest brother believes in a lot of prevention. He looks for the source of illness and treats problems before people even feel anything. So, his patients don’t even realize how much he has done for them, and they don’t talk about him much.
“My second brother treats people at the first sign of a disease. They are having some symptoms, so he treats them before they get any worse. Because of this, people notice that he has helped them, and he has become fairly well-known in our home town.
“But me? People come to see me as a last resort, when they are already very sick. I use the strongest herbs, the most powerful acupuncture treatments. I even perform surgeries! In fact, a lot of the time, I can’t do anything to help them because they are already too ill. But sometimes I am able to save someone’s life. That is the kind of thing people like to talk about, so I am the one who has become famous.”
So, the King understood his meaning: the best physician is the one who prevents his patients from becoming sick, not the one who tries to save them when they are already near death.
Fighting Flu Season with Acupuncture
While the flu is actually not a season, we have become programmed to think of it as the months of November through March. On average, the flu hospitalizes thousands every year, especially the young and elderly. There are also a number of deaths related to the flu, mostly due to people already having compromised immune systems.
The flu, also known as influenza, is a highly contagious respiratory infection that is caused by a number of viruses. To date, there are approximately 26 to 30 different known strains of the flu virus. This is one of the reasons the flu vaccine has only mild efficacy. The flu vaccine itself, typically only covers five to seven strains of the flu. Symptoms of the flu include fever, coughing, a sore throat, fatigue, muscle aches, pains, runny nose and watery eyes. continue reading
Making the Most of Good Intentions
It’s the new year, and we start it with plans for the creation of new, positive habits. But, we all know it is easy to become frustrated and abandon our attempts before we’ve begun to feel the benefits. Here are some tips for setting intentions and making changes that will last, not just for through this year, but for a lifetime.
- Make sure it’s coming from the right place. – We are inundated with advice and information every day, from our friends, relatives and doctors, and from outside media. But on a moment-to-moment basis, only we can make decisions and take actions for ourselves. Really think about the small choices you make,
and make each one count towards your greater goals.
- Be specific, but not too specific. – We’re human, and we want tangible rewards. A vague sense that we “should eat better” is going to come into conflict right away with our desires for convenience and satisfaction. However, a too-narrowly defined goal, such as, “I’m going to lose 10 lbs. for my trip in April” is dangerous, too. Likely, once the trip has come and gone, so have those healthy new habits. Achieving better health is an ongoing transition, with no real endpoint.
- Set one over-arching intention. – Reflect deeply upon your true needs and desires, and set a goal that resonates. “I am going to listen to my body, and give it both the activity and the rest it needs.” “I am going to make my physical and mental health my top priority.” Intentions like these speak to a real self-love that goes beneath the surface.
- Break it down into steps. – Now all the daily decisions can be made within the context of the greater goal, so that planning head, setting the alarm for a morning workout, and getting together a healthy lunch are not just punitive chores to be checked off a to-do list.
When we live our lives in accordance with our positive intentions, every action becomes an expression and validation of our selves and our power to achieve our goals.