A 38-year-old woman came in with severe back pain, burning in her abdomen, and frightening neurological symptoms — tingling, shocks, and weakness spreading into all four limbs and even her face. Doctors ran tests and even prescribed antibiotics, which helped for a moment, but the pain and strange sensations kept coming back.

In this episode, I walk you through how I approached her case step by step: identifying dampness and heat on top of Spleen Qi deficiency, choosing initial formulas to drain damp, and then shifting to tonify the root. Finally, with the emergence of a wiry pulse and cold extremities, I moved her to a harmonizing formula — Si Ni San — and all of her symptoms resolved, including the back pain from a torn lumbar disc.

This case is a reminder of the power of sticking to fundamentals, following the pattern as it evolves, and trusting the system of Chinese medicine.

Formulas Used:

1. Damp-Heat Clearing Phase
Si Miao Wan + Bei Xie Feng Qing Yin + Si Jun ZI Tang

• Huang Bai 10–12 g

• Cang Zhu 10 g

• Yi Yi Ren 20–30 g

• Bei Xie 10 g

• Qin Jiao 10 g

• Niu Xi (Chuan) 10–12 g

• Mu Gua — 10g

• • Dang Shen 15 g

  • Bai Zhu 10 g

  • Fu Ling 10–12 g

Focus: Drain damp-heat from the lower body and channels while reinforcing the Spleen to support long-term recovery.

2. Harmonizing Phase
Si Ni San

• Chai Hu 12 g

• Zhi Shi 10 g

• Bai Shao 15 g

• Zhi Gan Cao 3g

Focus: Harmonize Liver and Spleen, regulate Qi, relieve constraint. This was the turning point formula that completely resolved the tingling, burning, and back pain.

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In this acupuncture story, we see a case of back and shoulder pain of 7 years cleared in a single session, without even touching the area of pain!

The way this story is told, it's more for professionals than laymen. It has a lot of advanced terminology. However, whoever you are, I hope you enjoy!

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In this week's acupuncture storytime, we visit a case that blew my mind on a shift at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle 10 years ago. A young mother can't lift her arm above her head. The diagnosis is frozen shoulder. After application of a single needle, she instantly lifts her arm with a full range of motion. I'd never seen anything like this before. That encounter opened my mind to what acupuncture can accomplish and changed the course of my study and practice forever.

Basic Frozen Shoulder Protocol. (LI and SJ Channel Injury)

Opposite Side of Injury: ShenGuan, ST38, LU5, SanChaSan, Ah Shi points around KID3, ST41, LIV4, GB40,

Same Side of Injury: LI3 or LI4, SJ3 or SJ4,

+ Light Tui Na and Exercise to site of Injury

(If pain extends into deltoids and bicep, add CeSanLi, CeXiaSanLi opposite side of the injury)

(If palpation to the shoulder bones is painful, rather than tendons or muscles, add GB31 and gently tap the femur on the same side of the injury. I've seen this work like magic to relieve bone pain instantly as part of a well conceived treatment plan. Just be very gentle)

In this story, we treat a 15 year old with 4 years of mysterious leg and foot pain. The pain is so severe that he can't play sports or walk significant distances. Doctors and physical therapists are flummoxed. After years of various therapies, the parents are desperate enough to try acupuncture. Two years and 106 treatments later, the boy is fully cured. Acupuncture for the Win!

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In this week's acupuncture storytime, we examine a severe pediatric case. A 12 year old girl with cystic fibrosis is in danger of losing her function completely. She's already on the maximum pharmaceutical dosages. With Chinese Herbal Medicine, we're able to bring her lung function from 27% to 40% (so far) and save her life.

Herbal Formula: Gu Ben Fang

Dang Shen 10g

Bai Zhu 10g

Fu Ling 10g

Gan Cao 3g

Chen Pi 10g

Ban Xia 10g

Gui Zhi 10g

Bai Shao 10g

Huang Qi 10g

Fang Feng 10g

Wu Mei 10g

Wu Wei Zi 3g

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In today's Acupuncture Storytime, We talk labor induction. When labor is delayed, you really don't want to get a medical induction if you can avoid it. It makes for a very intense, painful labor. Acupuncture induction is very effective and even prepares the body for labor, making it quicker and easier. But what if it acupuncture doesn't work? What's the most common cause of failure in acupuncture induction? Can we still help labor progress if the standard labor induction treatment fails? Yes! Listen to find out how.

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In today's Acupuncture Storytime, we meet a 90 year old man whose body is failing him but his spirit is strong. When he found himself unable to pedal his stationary bike due to leg pain, he disassembled the machine and reassembled it in such a way that he could pedal with his arms. What a guy!

Regular acupuncture relieved his pain remarkably, but the core of this story is the friendship that developed between us as a patient and physician.

Life can be lonely, especially if you're outliving your peers and the world of iPhones around you is unrecognizable to the 1950's era you thrived in.

Isolation is incompatible with health as a human being. As a physician seeking my patient's benefit, and even just as a compassionate person, I made an effort to spend time with this patient and let him know that someone values him and would choose to enjoy his company.

He often said that our acupuncture sessions brought more relief to his pain than any other medical intervention. I believe that just being his friend played a huge role in that sense of comfort and reduction in pain.

An effective physician is more than a technician. We deal with human beings, with all the complexities of the human experience entangled with their medical conditions. I hope you enjoy this sixth episode of the Acupuncture Storytime Podcast.

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A difficult case. This 50 year old woman’s dry cough is driving her crazy and nothing seems to help… until we stumble upon an unusual diagnosis.

Formulas Used:

Jing Fang Bai Du San (Raw, Textbook Dosages)

KPC Granules: Xing Su Yin (Pediatric Modification) 5g 2x/day for 10 days.

Xiao Chai Hu Tang (Minus Ban Xia, Plus Tian Hua Fen 9g)

Gui Zhi Tang Jia Jian (forgot to mention this in the podcast, we swapped to this when her neck pain became suddenly severe. This formula cleared it up)

Gui Zhi 10g

Bai Shao10g

Sheng Jiang 10g

Da Zao 10g

Gan Cao 3g

Ge Gen 30g (high dose is great for neck pain)

Qiang Huo 10g (helps with neck pain looking up and down)

Chai Hu 10g (helps with neck pain looking left and right)

Fang Feng 10g

Jin Fei Cao San

Bai Shao 12g

Gan Cao 5g

Jing Jie 15g

Zi Su Ye 10g

Qian Hu 10g

Ban Xia 10g

Xing Ren 10g

Jie Geng 10g

Bai Jie Zi 10g

Xuan Fu Hua 10g

Zhi Sou San + Qing Zao Jiu Fei Tang

Jie Geng 10g

Jing Jie 10g

Zi Wan 10g

Bai Bu 10g

Bai Qian 10g

Chen Pi 6g

Gan Cao 3g

Sang Ye 10g

Mai Men Dong 15g

Shi Gao 10g

Xing Ren 10g

Ren Shen 3g

Sheng Di Huang 12g

Suan Zao Ren 15g

Fu Ling 6g

Zhi Mu 6g

Chuan Xiong 6g

Wu Ling San + Zhu Ling Tang (What finally worked… which is bizarre. Who uses this for a cough?!

Fu Ling 15g

Bai Zhu 15g

Ji Xue Teng 10g

Gui Zhi 6g

Gan Cao 4g

Zhu Ling 15g

Che Qian Zi 15g

Liu Shen San + Suan Zao Ren Tang

Dang Shen 20g

Bai Zhu 15g

Fu Ling 15g

Bai Bian Dou 15g

Huang Qi 20g

Suan Zao Ren 20g

Zhi Mu 10g

Zhi Gan Cao 10g (Why did I use 10 grams? I have no idea. Should have just used 3.)

Chuan Xiong 3g

Lai Fu Zi 15g (I added this in after she developed stomach bloating after the first packet. Took care of the issue).

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