Classical Chinese Medicine
Robert Keller
In recent weeks, during late April and early May of 2022, I have seen a resurgence of patients actively infected with COVID-19 and experiencing related symptoms. Similarly, I have seen an increase in the number of patients reporting lingering symptoms that are related to long COVID. Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine offer useful insight into […]
Perimenopausal symptoms are a cause of distress for many women. Symptoms often begin during the mid to late 40s and continue through the cessation of menstruation in the late 40s or early 50s. Anxiety, in particular, is a common symptom that accompanies menstrual changes. In addition to anxiety, common perimenopausal complaints include: insomnia, thinning hair, […]
It has recently come to my attention that some of my patients avoid, or at least delay, coming to see me for help with pain conditions because they don’t like the discomfort of local acupuncture or dry needling. People have always joked about this and I could easily understand and commiserate. But I always thought […]
To balance the organ systems at the changes of season, I have developed a series of herbal formulas to administer to my patients. At the time of the Chinese/lunar new year, during the seasonal node of Spring Begins, I am recommending to patients that they utilize the formula for spring / wood-element / Liver-Gall Bladder […]
This post describes the major calendrical cycles described in Chinese cosmology. For more information on some of these, see Correlative Cosmology in Chinese Medicine and Classical Chinese Medicine and the Six Qi. Constellation – The constellations present in the sky during each lunar month Great Movement – The yearly cycle, beginning generally with the second […]
While historically the concepts of Yin-Yang and 5 phases come first, the model of the Six Qi represents the first fully detailed Chinese medical theory. Zhang Zhongjing details this system in the 3rd century A.C.E. text Shanghan lun, or Treatise on Cold Damage. This is not the first Chinese medical text, but it is the […]