Dylan...aka Clinic Dog.

What is the use of having a blog about Chinese Medicine and acupuncture if you can't post a picture or two of your dog.

Introducing Dylan aka Clinic Dog. Dylan's sole duty, when he decides he wants to participate, is to sleep under the acupuncture table. Recently it seems that this is only a seasonal job for Dylan. In the winter time he can be found upstairs sleeping next to the radiator.

He is my buddy.

TCM. More than just acupuncture.

Welcome to my blog on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). I hope to use these occasional postings to explain the medicine in more detail than what can be found on my two websites: www.DennisBarrow.com and www.HealthyConception.com.

One of the topics that I hope to explain in detail is when the different therapies that fall under the umbrella of TCM are most appropriately used. TCM includes the therapies of herbs (medicinals), acupuncture, dietary therapy, massage (tuina) and the meditative arts such as taiqi and qigong.

There has been a signicant amount of reporting in the popular press regarding the value of acupuncture in the treatment of infertility in women. I don't doubt the accuracy of these reported studies. It is my experience however, that using acupuncture alone in the treatment of infertility is not the way that Chinese medicine is practiced in China. Specifically, outside of using acupuncture to support a woman who is going through IVF treatments, the most effective treatment of infertility would have to include Chinese herbs. Most of the patterns that women present with in my clinic just cannot be sufficiently resolved through acupuncture alone. That is why in China, infertility and many other women's health issues are primarily treated with Chinese herbs. Acupuncture would normally be used as an adjunctive therapy.

In later posts I will provide some detail on what can be accomplished through acupuncture as opposed to Chinese medicinals in the treatment of infertility and women's health issues.