There is a method of telling fortunes in Taiwan. Actually, there are many methods of telling fortunes in Taiwan. 算命先生 fortune tellers in Taiwan are as numerous as psychotherapists in any trendy west coast American city, and for the most part serve the same function. Which is to help us ask the questions that get us to the right answer.

Shortly after arriving in Taipei in 2001 I found myself at one of the thousands of temples that polka-dot the island. I was drawn by the riot of color, clouds of incense, the feeling of something foreign and far off my map of the world. There, a man who spoke English asked “would you like to read your fortune?”

“Sure, why not.” After all, when in the midst of a jet lag and culture shock cocktail, any kind of sign from the divine could be of service.

I had no idea I was about to be introduced to the Taiwanese version of a Rube Goldberg Ouija board.

The first step is to hold in the mind a question. A clear question. The question that will facilitate an answer that opens the next fork in the road, the question whose answer will invite a fuller and deeper experience of life. First you need the right question. Then, from a brass canister, a stick with numbers is chosen. This is will direct you to the answer.

The question here is not “is this the right answer”, the question is “have you choose the right question for this particular stick?”

Did you get the question right?

To find out- grab a pair of wooden smile shaped blocks, hold them along with your question and drop then to the floor. Should they land one up and one down, that stick you pulled is right for your question. But, should they land both face down, or both face up, then it is your question that is not right.

Put away the stick. But, more importantly, put away that question. You are barking up the wrong tree. Pop the frame, narrow the focus, ask about something else, rethink the situation. Ask the question before or the one you thougth would come later. More important than the answer is the question. It is like building a house with the wrong set of plans. Get the question right, and a whole new set of possbilities opens up.

Being better likewise is a journey. There are herbs that can help, and acupuncture with its unique ability to call a balancing and healing response out of the body is of tremendous value. Ask anyone who has used it to aid in a transition between stages of life.

And due to acupuncture’s ability to heal and help us feel better, we often stop treatment just as we have gained a certain momentum.

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There is a difference between feeling better and being better.

And generally speaking, feeling better comes sooner, but to actually be better it sometimes takes a little bit more treatment to consolidate the changes.

It is a question as common as rain in Seattle.
How does acupuncture work?

Us westerners like to think of nerves and endorphins, MRI lightshows and double-blind glimpses of reality. We want to know. Know if it works (just ask someone who has used it!), and how it does what it does.

After ten years of using needles to help people, I can clearly tell you.
Acupuncture does not do anything.

It is true, it does nothing. Needles don’t heal people and they don’t cure disease.

It is our bodies and that deep mysterious spark of life that does the healing. There is no healing that I know of that comes from outside of us. Sure, there are drugs and treatments that control symptoms, there are surgeries that save lives, there are drugs that halt an infection. But, the actual act of healing, of regaining lost health, or enhancing the balance of vitality. That all comes from within.
And that is where acupuncture plays an unusual role.

Acupuncture simply calls forth a response from the body. Like hearing the voice of a loved one when you are lost in a crowd. We are suddenly connected to a source of nourishment and wellbeing. The voice is nothing more than simply a reminder of the connection.

Like a particular smell from childhood, that transports us instantly into an all encompassing experience of the present and past collapsing into something beyond time.

Or the pregnant pause between a sizzle flash of lightning and the crack of responding thunder, there are forces of nature which play a dynamic call and response.

Calling forth that which is already there, opening an accessible channel,
this is how acupuncture works.

1- Acupuncture is not just for treating pain.

2- You don’t have to “believe” in it for it to work.
Heck, the practitioner does not even need to believe in it for it to work.

3- Anxiety or depression are not simply psychological problems.

4- There are no magic cures. But, sometimes it feels that way.

5- Yes, it is common to feel profoundly relaxed after an acupuncture treatment.

6- Yes, those herbs do taste as bad as you have heard they do.

7- You don’t have to be Chinese to practice Chinese medicine.

8- No, you don’t have to know how to read or speak Chinese to practice acupuncture. But, it does help.

9- It is excellent for treating chronic conditions, but also good at preventing them in the first place.
So, get right into your acupuncturist after that car accident!

10- It makes you look ten years younger, raises your IQ, immunizes you against parking tickets, and makes you more attractive to the opposite sex.

Asking an acupuncturist about acupuncture can give you plenty of information about the use and curative effects of acupuncture, but to get at the experience of acupuncture, ask a patient.

Recently, I had a patient tell me this about the experience of acupuncture:

The sensation is like that of food prepared with just the right amount of spice.

Makes sense to me, acupuncture is about waking up our body and being to the vitality and enjoyment of life!

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Contrary to what you see on those charts hanging quietly on the wall at the office of your neighborhood acupuncturist, acupuncture points are not dots that can be found with a measuring stick and location book.

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It is not that they are elusive. Nor is it true that the measurement instructions in the books are not helpful. It is more that they are an approximation, an indication, a rule of thumb, a rough guide.

Acupuncture points are the places of in between. In between bone and muscle, in between tendon and flesh, they are spaces where things connect, they are places in the body of transport and communication. Things happen here, if they are stimulated right.

Have you ever met someone that seems to be totally connected? They know the news on the latest restaurant, who is doing what, where to go and when. If you want news circulated, you tell them! Acupuncture points are a bit like that.

They are like those parts of the Chinese language, the “oh”, “eh”, “umh”, “hey-ah.” Those sounds of connection and expression that say more than any word can. All languages have those those sounds that coax a smile onto the face, quicken our hearts, instantly and effortlessly change our mood. Acupuncture points are like that as well. They remind of something forgotten, they can instantly teleport us to another place.

Actually, the trick is not so much finding the point, but discovering which point to use and when.

It is the difference between following a cookbook, and knowing how to cook!

People in Seattle are savvy about acupuncture.

There is a buzz about Japanese acupuncture, and how it is gentle to the point of no feeling. Five Element with its focus on the psychology. Regular old common yard-dog Chinese styled acupuncture with its flying needles style. And the protocols for Ear acupuncture, that are often used for breaking addictions and helping people put their lives back together after a disaster.

What most people don’t know, is that the Japanese acupuncture practiced in the USA, is just an offshoot or two from what you would find in Japan. That 5 Element “classic” acupuncture, was popularized by a British fellow. And that the common American version of “Chinese” acupuncture, with its private room, bamboo green walls, and a practitioner that speaks in hushed tones, would be hard to find in Asia, where it is a more like a riot in slow motion. And this ear acupuncture? It came from France!

There are uncountable conversations about which method is more effective, more comfortable, more traditional, truer and refined. Practitioners have the ways they like to treat, patients have the ways they like to be treated.

It is not only in this century that acupuncture is a crazy mixed up alphabet soup. Look through any of the books written about the art through time. Chinese doctors have been discussing and disagreeing over the centuries how medicine works, or should work.

I suspect it has much less to do with which tradition a practitioner follows, and much much to do with what that tradition has awakened in the practitioner.

Following blindly without engaging the meaning behind words of those who have gone before is like breathing tomb dust. Having those words from the past ring true in our living unfolding experience. Now, there is a possible path to really being able to use this medicine to help people.

Sometimes from a book.
Or a teacher.
Or seminar.
But, generally these days these days I learn it from my experience.
And most often, I learn from the experience of my patients.

Acupuncture, like any specialty has its own language which to the uninitiated sounds like…well…Chinese.
Us acupunks, learn to think in terms of “moving qi”, “opening the channels”, and “dredging the collaterals”.
None of which helps our patients, or potential patients to understand what acupuncture does, or how it can help annoying back pain, troublesome digestion, insomnia or the favorite American complain….stress.
Increasingly, I suspect it does not matter.

While there some are people who are interested in how acupuncture effects what happens in petri dishes, double blind studies, MRI’s, gas chromatography, neurotransmitter interactions, and other dances of molecules. For the most part, people that come to Yong Kang Clinic are simply looking for a problem to go away.
Or for their health to become even more vibrant.
Or, to find a way through some trouble that just seems to dog them.

Last night at a Biznik event featuring the ever innovative and thoughtful Joe Shirley, I met a woman who told me about how a source of strength in life for her is the ability to find Stillness.

I just love it when this kind of thing happens.

When someone casually mentions about how healing works from the inside, and it illuminates for me in a deeper way how acupuncture calls forth changes.

Now, Stillness is not something you will find in a petri dish, and while it might show up on an MRI, the mystery of how it helps us to heal is another matter altogether.

Stillness.
I see it in the people I treat everyday.
It always feels a bit like watching a sunrise in a land where you don’t speak the language.

It is a common question. I hear it all the time.
All acupuncturists hear it.
All the time.

Can acupuncture treat backache, asthma, assist weight loss, depression……?
Can acupuncture help me with my memory, my lack of energy, my annoying boyfriend……..?
Will acupuncture cure my urinary infection, reduce my appetite, erase my wrinkles, take 20 years off my knees?

These are good questions.
Worthwhile questions.
Sensible questions.

And if you look at the World Health Organization’s list of what they consider acupuncture to be helpful for, you will indeed find an exhaustive list of ailments, discomforts, disease and pain.

But, I want to let you on a little secret…

Acupuncture
does not cure disease!

Surprised?
After all, why would anyone seek us out if they were not experiencing discomfort in their lives?
What is more, if acupuncture does not cure disease, then explain what happened to my Aunt Jody’s back pain after her 6 acupuncture treatments? She no longer gripes about her knees as much either. And what about my brother’s neighbor that found acupuncture can control the numbness in his feet from diabetic neuropathy?
If acupuncture does not treat illness, when why are these people getting better?

It is like this, us Chinese medicine practitioners don’t use acupuncture to treat disease.
We use it to treat people!

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We don’t just focus on what is “wrong”, we also in our process of diagnosis and treatment look to see what is “right”. In fact, there are plenty of times, simply by boosting what is “right” the body on its own takes care of what is “wrong”.

Increasingly this is becoming a common Western medicine idea as well.
What is better, killing germs with drugs, or having a robust immune system that just does its job, and does it well?

Without resorting to arcane Chinese medical language (even most Chinese people don’t understand that stuff), it can simply be stated that acupuncture does not do anything, other than stimulate the healing mechanisms in your own body to bring it into a state of equilibrium and health.

Acupuncture simply calls forth your body’s own innate and brilliant healing response.
Healing does not come from anywhere else anyway.
That is what cures illness and discomfort.

We use the phrase “turn a corner”, but more often than not, it is more like following a road with a long wide curve. Gradually, gradually, without any particular notice, it dawns like a Fall morning of slanting yellow light..

…..it’s different now.

I remember being amazed that acupuncture works.
Now, I’m surprised when it doesn’t.

Is it the voice of experience, or that my worldview has become river rock smooth from years of constant water? There are changes so imperceptible so as to be forgotten, unnoticed as our very breath.

Life only feels fast and headlong in retrospect.

I’m now wishing I’d tarried longer in Yangshuo. I enjoyed the quiet, the conversations, the enjoyment of sitting quietly at the crossroads, the way days melt one into another like a lotus dream.

I enjoyed being doctor to locals and travelers alike. It’s a vast privilege to meet the depth of others.

I’ve had requests from doctor friends. Details please, on the interesting cases. Us Chinese doctors, this is how we advance our craft, through stories and experience. Learning medicine is like polishing diamonds. It takes time and skill to bring light out of all the facets.

Those not so interested in medical details can skip this rest of this post. But, if you are interested in how the mind of a Chinese doctor works, then read on.

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Chinese medicine is a vast treasure trove for women. Not a Chinese medicine school in the West doesn’t have a number of required classes for women’s health. The good that Chinese medicine brings to relieve menstrual pain, or the pain of infertility have been long and documented.

Miss L comes from the southern part of China, I can not quite place her accent which seems to resonate out of her upper palate and nose, then realize, “oh, this is how my Thai friends that speak Chinese sound”. She is 22, and like many young college students has opted for a few months in Yangshuo to work on her English.

She often has pain with her periods, cramping in the lower abdomen with a slightly uncomfortable lower back, no changes in digestion. No headaches. There are other details I usually ask, but with a young Chinese woman I don’t know so well. I just inquire of her pulse and tongue. And palpate her abdomen.

Her tongue is pale pink and a bit dark, with a thin/medium white coat.

Pulse is tight.

Palpation shows a tightness to the left of the umbilicus, and a deficient softness below

Diagnosis: internal cold stagnating the blood and qi.

Treatment: Needles at hegu-LI4, taichong-LV3, sanyinjiao-SP6. Moxa, two cones each at zhongzhu KI15.

Result: post treatment the cramping pain was reduced by 80-90%, within a couple hours there was no pain, and rest of period was smooth and without pain.

Miss K is the owner of a restaurant, a few months ago she caught her right thumb and twisted it badly. Most any movement, while not particularly painful, does produce a sense of discomfort and tightness, especially in the proximal and medial joint. She has used a number of salves and compresses, which irritated the skin, but did not improve the feeling in her thumb.

Tongue is slightly red pale with no coat, pulse a bit thin and weak.

Diagnosis: local qi and blood stagnation, with underlying blood deficiency due to working long hours and lack of rest.

Palpation: palpation of the lung channel on the same side as the injured thumb showed some gummy areas between kongzui-LU6 and chizi-LU5. Palpation of the liver and spleen channels on the opposite foot showed found tender areas with nodules. When these were palpated with force, the patient reported a dull pain, but when the thumb was moved, the usual discomfort was greatly reduced.

Treatment 1: taichong-LV3 (left), yuji-LU10 (right), gummy area between kongzui-LU6 and chizi-LU5 (right)

Result: discomfort with movement reduced in several directions, but there remained discomfort when the wrist and not the thumb joint was moved. This pain was mostly felt between the middle joint and the end of the thumb.

Treatment 2: taichong-LV3 taibai-SP3 (left), shaoshang-LU11 hegu-LI4 yangxi-LI5 (right), yanglingquan-GB34 (right), yuji-LU11 (left).

Result: no pain with movement of thumb joint, but still discomfort in the thumb when the wrist is moved.

I find joint problems to be one of the bigger challenges. These kinds of issues often turn better and then turn worse.

Because people usually wait for a long time after a sprain or injury before seeking treatment, these kinds of problems have an opportunity to root like a difficult weed. Best to seek treatment as soon as the injury occurs!

We all know an once of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And Chinese medicine offers some excellent methods that help to prevent long term discomfort.

It is always music to my ears when I do have the chance to treat someone just after a sprain, and have them later tell me “I guess I did not really need to see you after all, I was completely fine after just a day or two after I saw you”. Now THAT is preventive medicine! Miss K will need a few more treatments before this problem is cleared up completely.

While women’s health is well represented in Chinese medicine in both China and the West, men’s health in the West as been sadly lacking. Blame it perhaps on that men generally don’t come seeking treatment until conditions are more than unbearable. Blame it perhaps on that we are taught to tough things out. Blame it perhaps on there is a better market for treating women.

It’s not like there is not a market to treat men. Most of us will come to have some kind of serious disagreements with our prostate at some point in our life.

Ever since I met Dr Fang last year in Chengdu, I’ve wanted to return and learn more of his methods. While he is the classic kind of excellent Chinese doctor that can treat a wide variety of illness, he also has a special focus on treating prostate and urinary problems.

Last year I sat a couple weeks in his busy as a bus station clinic. Teasing out interesting formulas from the riot of patients, and striving to translate the singsong of Sichuan dialect, into a Chinese I could understand. This year I decided to forgo sifting through hours of crowded clinic to pan for those precious nuggets of gold, and have arranged to spend a few focused afternoons getting the basics of men’s health.

Mr. C is a foreigner like me, we are not that far apart in age, or interest. We both enjoy science, western for him, eastern for me.

“When are leaving”, he inquires over breakfast?

“Soon, I’m sad to say. I’ve some time arranged with a doctor in Chengdu to study men’s health. It’s a terrific opportunity, I can’t not go.”

“Seriously? Do you know something about this already by any chance?”

Mr C has been thinking he needs a trip to the hospital. Last night he awoke every hour, for a worthless trip to the bathroom.

He’s up for a go with some herbs.

Issue: inflamed and enlarged prostate, precipitating poor urinary flow. For years has had urination issues, and occasional flare up’s like the one he’s experiencing now, which results in inability to urinate, along with heat and discomfort.

Pulse: fast, slippery
Tongue: pink, slightly dusky, with a thin yellow coat

Diagnosis: heat and damp in the lower burner. I’m encouraged that the tongue is not red, and the coat is not very thick.

Formula: huang bo 12, zhi zi 9, fu ling 12, zhu ling 10, sheng di 12, ze xie 9, hu zhang 12, huang qin 9, bai/chi shao 8 each, hua shi 20, che qian zi 9, gan cao 6

3 bags for 3 days

In Yangshuo the herbs are easy to come by, but it is too small a town to find a big enough pharmacy that will cook and bag them into handy plastic bags. Luckily, there is help at the language school where I rent a room, and they cook up the bitter brew.

Like many westerners, and Chinese for that matter, the bitter taste is like a guardian at the gate. When I see Mr. C the next day, I find he has only taken half the amount prescribed.

“How did you sleep last night?” I’m curious to know if there has been any progress in his condition.

“Last night? Oddly enough, I slept a straight 6.5 hours”

“When was the last time you did that?”

“It’s been months, it only happens when the stars are right it seems”

“And your urination? More comfortable now?”

“Much better yes, must have been your advice to lay off the alcohol, and I was drinking more water too”.

“Still thinking about going to the hospital?”

“No, not now”

Medicine is an odd thing. What works, or doesn’t, and why.

Why?

Yes, always the question of “why”. This perhaps is one of the big differences between Chinese and Western medicine. Western medicine is practiced in the clinic, but proven in the laboratory.

Chinese medicine? The clinic is the laboratory.

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