Looking for recommendations for an experienced Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioner in Vancouver, BC ideally someone with significant experience supporting complex/chronic health concerns and women's hormonal health.

I recently had a 20 minute consultation with a practitioner (who on paper has decades of experience and teaches TCM) who described my case as "complicated" but offered little explanation beyond that. There was also a language barrier that made communication difficult, and I didn't feel particularly welcome to ask questions or get clarification. I also discovered there were cameras in the consultation room, something that hadn't been disclosed in advance. Given the personal and sensitive nature of healthcare, this raised concerns about privacy, transparency and informed consent.

I'm hoping to find someone who:

• Communicates clearly, explains their clinical assessments and the reasoning behind treatment recommendations.
• Welcomes questions and takes a collaborative, patient-centred approach to care.
• Takes the time to understand the whole health picture, rather than focusing on individual symptoms in isolation.
• Has substantial experience with perimenopause, hormonal fluctuations, fatigue, migraines, sleep disturbances and chronic pain.
• Ideally practises both acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine.

I'm not expecting anyone to have all the answers, particularly when dealing with complex health issues. However, I appreciate curiosity, transparency, clinical experience and a willingness to engage in meaningful dialogue about my health and treatment options.

Vancouver proper preferred.
I'd really appreciate recommendations based on personal experience. Thank you!

I have both Raynauds and Erthryomelagia as my most frustrating issue. Body either too hot or too cold. Alternates between purple white yellow cold hands/bluish lips when cold OR red swollen hands/burning face/ears/nose when hot. Hands also super pruney/wrinkled they look like i'm 100 and i'm only 38. Extremely cold sensitive, but get dizzy/rash in heat. Lots of phlegm. Blood vessels prominent all over body but especially chest + face. Most painful issues are frequent severe muscle weakness/burning in upper arms and thighs. TMJ/muscle tension dysphonia that comes with migraines, chronic neck/shoulder/jaw pain and severe tightness. Hoarse, sore voice/throat. ME/CFS. Fibromyalgia. Hypothyroid. Help, my body is a living hell and I want to fix it. Bottom of tongue can't really see but it's very bright red with tiny bumps. Wondering any herbs, treatment, or diet recommendations please & thank you 🙏😭

It looks like upside down horns what is this and it’s the painful inflamed pus kind of pimple

What does this mean

What can I fix

Hey all, I’ve recently started seeing a tcm Dr, he has a lot of patients and many success stories so I trust him but the only thing is he doesn’t speak much English so it’s hard to communicate.

I have extremely heavy bleeding during my period and during this time he gives me a herbal tea that I’m supposed to brew and leave in the fridge for 4 hours before drinking.

I couldn’t find any information about this online on the contrary everything points to cold drinks being harmful. I’m curious is anyone has any knowledge or insights into what it could be?

During all other days I drink another tea twice a day but warm and that’s to build up my energy levels from so many years of menorrhagia

Peng Ziyi (彭子益, 1871–1949) boiled the whole system down to one picture: a turning wheel with a pivot in the middle.

• Left side rises (Wood / Liver), top floats (Fire / Heart), right side descends (Metal / Lungs), bottom sinks and stores (Water / Kidneys).
• The hub is Central Earth: the Spleen lifts, the Stomach drops. When the hub turns, the rim turns.

Why it's useful: instead of memorizing "Liver attacks Spleen" as a slogan, you ask one question — where is the wheel stuck? Heat in the head with cold feet often isn't "too much fire", it's fire that can't come back down. Bloating plus fatigue often isn't "not enough qi", it's a hub that stopped spinning.

That's also why so many Shang Han Lun formulas quietly protect the middle — ginger, jujube, licorice show up everywhere. Zhang Zhongjing kept the hub turning before he touched the rim.

It's a model, not anatomy, and it doesn't replace a proper diagnosis — but as a thinking tool it beats a five-element chart on the wall.

What's the concept that made TCM finally make sense for you?

Hello, what are common formulas to treat sinuses/drain sinuses? I've gotten over the illness, but have buildup in my sinuses. In the past, I took drugs to help, but I would like to avoid that. I live in Taipei and I have access to a lot of Chinese medicine clinics, but not a lot of English at tcm clinics so I am asking here. Thanks.

does anyone have a good ear seed map for acne, like for hormones and inflammation?? im new at this…

Hi everybody,

My partner is sick and he is not agreeing to go to a TCM doctor for a consultation, so I am left trying to help him on my own. He complains of feelihg bad, is tired a lot, low energy, abdominal distention. Mental agitation and irritable. He did the CCMQ and scored very high on qi stagnation, phlegm damp, and qi deficiency. His yin seems not bad. So, I am pretty worried. We have been eating a lot of greasy food lately at night and I think it could be due to that. Also stress and overwork.

I got him some xiang sha liu junzi tablets. Concurrently, I have made (as a boiled herbs decoction) si junzi tang, using codonopsis, PLUS added dan shen (salvia), Chen pi and a stick of cinnamon, to mitigate cloying properties and boost damp-clearing and stagnation-clearing. [He does not seem to have heat.]

He is just starting to take this. I am also making beef and barley soup and some Quinoa with cooked vegetables, to dry out the damp.

My concern with all of this is that it could dry the fluids so strongly that it might injure his yin. I have rehmannia which I use myself and could add a little bit, alongside the dan shen to prevent the cloying, but I don't want to aggravate the phlegm damp or the stagnation. Wondering if anyone could share whether they think the combos that I am using are too drying? Also, I added fresh ginger.

He has typically been strong constitutionally, -- he works very hard, and is able to sustain this -- but has been eating too much BBQ pork as of late, plus stress, late nights and overwork. He has a break now and is using it to mostly sleep. The liver qi stagnation seems to be affecting his shen (he is agitated mentally, and irritable, moreso than normal).

Honestly, I feel like we should go to a TCM doctor, but he is dawdling. I suggested he start the xiang sha liu junzi at a lower level than the suggested dose, (since I am not a TCM doctor so I don't know for sure if it's right) and he just started the boiled herbs. I asked him to update me immediately if he gets diarrhea or heat signs or starts to feel worse rather than better.

Thanks for any advice you can provide, as to whether this is all a good idea or not. His tongue is not red or peeled, nor is the coating raised. It actually looks better than my tongue. There is some white accumulation at the back. It is fairly pink. Not puffy, though I need to look again. Mostly- 1. He says he feels terrible. 2. He seems sick to me. And 3. His ccmq scores are very elevated on the 3 points mentioned.

How does this tongue look? I seem to have chronic spleen qi deficiency, no matter what I do. That peeled spot in the upper corner is recent and going away.

Strong energy, strong sleep, strong periods, decent mood, appetite. Severe emotional stress from recent loss of pet. 45F.

Thanks

22f female

I have been diffusing hair since a year. I checked my ferritin levels not too long ago and they were 25ug/L. I also lost my monthly cycle for 4 months all the way from November 2025 to March 2026. When I checked my ferritin levels in March, they were 12ug/L. Still, my falls a lot on a daily basis. I can see that I have blood deficit. I checked my kidneys, my thyroid, and liver and they are all functioning good.

What herbs or supplements related to TCM can I take to get back my hair growth and raise my ferritin levels without relying on synthetic iron?

We are going into the Shuang Jiang (霜降) solar term (节气) starting from 23 October to 6 November 2026. Shuang Jiang is the 18th solar term out of the entire 24. In fact, Shuang Jiang is the last solar term of the autumn season. After Shuang Jiang, we will be entering the winter season.

During this Shuang Jiang solar term, our focus is still on moisturizing the lungs (润肺), nourishing lung-Yin (滋肺阴), and building up our immunity to prepare for the cold weather (or cooler weather, depending on where you live) ahead.

There is a saying, “一年补透透，不如补霜降”, which means that instead of taking tonics all year round, it is best to nourish the body with tonic foods during the Shuang Jiang solar term!

From the above phrase, it already tells us how important it is to boost our immunity during this period.

Diet Recommendations

1) Persimmon

The first food (fruit) I recommend to eat during Shuang Jiang is the persimmon. The persimmon harvest season is around this time too, hence it is known as the fruit/food of the season (应季食材).

The reason why persimmon is the perfect fruit to eat during this solar term is because it has the properties of moisturizing the lungs, quenching thirst, and protecting the heart. It is also used for treating heat-type cough, mouth ulcers and sore throat.

There is a saying, 霜降吃了柿,不会流鼻涕. It means if a person were to consume persimmon during Shuang Jiang, he/she will not catch a cold during the cooler year end season.

However, there are a few things to take note about consuming persimmon. Firstly, people with constipation should avoid eating it because it has a property of (涩肠), which means it restricts bowel movement.

Secondly, persimmon should not be consumed together with foods that contain high iron (such as animal organs) or high protein (such as crab meat) as it will cause stomach upset.

2) Ginkgo Nuts

Ginkgo nuts are another excellent food to be eaten during Shuang Jiang as they have great benefits for our lungs (moisturizes lungs and dissolves phlegm to stop cough), and our kidneys (relieves frequent urination).

Despite its health benefits, it is important not to overeat ginkgo nuts as it can be dangerous. For adults, please do not eat more than 10 ginkgo nuts a day. For children, limit the consumption to less than 5. As for children below 5 years old, it is best not to eat ginkgo nuts.

Following is a ginkgo radish porridge recipe that you can try making at home:

Ingredients:

• Ginkgo nuts (6 pieces)
• Radish (300g)
• Rice/Mixed grains (100g)
• Sugar (according to personal preference, if need be)

Steps:

1. Wash the radish and cut it into slices.
2. Put the radish into boiling water for about a minute, remove it from the water and set it aside for later use.
3. Wash the ginkgo nuts and cook it with the grains.
4. Depending on the types of grains you use, it may take about 15 to 25 minutes for it to be cooked.
5. Finally, add the sliced radish to the porridge and serve.

Ginkgo radish porridge has a strong property of dissolving phlegm and it is excellent for treating cough and dissolving phlegm. It can also nourish and moisturize the lungs.

3) Duck Meat

For non-vegetarians who have a Yin-deficient body constitution, consuming duck meat during this period is very beneficial to your body. Duck meat has the strong property of nourishing the Yin of a person.

You can prepare Shi Quan Duck Soup, which is a very popular soup dish that helps to nourish the body’s Yin. This soup is also suitable for almost anyone (except people who are having flu).

You can purchase the Shi Quan soup base in any supermarket or TCM medical store.

General Wellness Recommendations

During Shuang Jiang period, the temperature difference will continue to widen between day and night. Thus, remember to keep warm during sleep especially if you are sleeping near a window in a non-airconditioned room.

Remember to wear socks to keep your feet warm if you often wake up feeling cold during this period.

This is also a good time to exercise to build up your body’s immunity to prepare for the year-end weather! Just make sure to stay hydrated and exercise moderately!

Hope you find this post useful!

Found this at my parents house. No idea what it is. The first pic looks like ginseng but black. The second one smells a little like chocolate

Does fresh vs dried have a major effect on the efficacy of the ingredient? Are there any ingredients that must be taken fresh? I know that whenever I see jujube mentioned in TCM recipes they're always steeped from dried. But if I had, say, a lot of sweet potato greens, or broccoli or collards or okra or horseradish, that were about to die back because of the season change, and I wanted to preserve them, is there any difference in how I should be preserving them? I could dry them easily, but I don't know if they'd be better/more effective if they were blanched and frozen.

Same goes for anything, really. I know that drying reduces vitamin C content but beyond that I don't know. Things like peppers I can ferment if need be but a lot of greens don't necessarily hold up the same way.

​

I am planning to visit Hong Kong in 2 weeks and want to explore authentic TCM centres.

I have mild hypothyroidism and want to boost fertility. What therapies i can take to help ? Not very keen on taking meds as i dont want to mix with the ones i am already taking.

Please suggest genuine centres and helpful therapies

Thank you!!

Studying for the acupuncture point. Looking for the study partner who can study with me daily at night time . Please feel free to message me or send an email so we can coordinate.

[soobiniya@hotmail.com](mailto:soobiniya@hotmail.com)

I went for a consultation with a tcm dr in my neighborhood who didn’t speak much english. i’ve been having mild digestive issues since a trip to vietnam 4 months ago and am worried I have a parasite, they told me to soak these in water for 1 hour then drink. It looks like reishi and chestnuts. Is this a parasite cleanse or does anyone have any knowledge on this?

(Also I know if problem persists I’ll go to a western dr, it just hasn’t been that bad and I’ve had bad luck with drs in my area/trying not to spend $500)

I made a simple herb card with the different names and traditional properties of Dang Gui on one page. Would this be useful when you study? What would you change?

For those of you who have one, how did you choose them? There are so many with various specializations. Choosing for your specific need obviously makes sense. But there’s just so much info out there it’s overwhelming. Do you choose someone super well known or just a random hole in the wall for the best benefits? lol I know odd question…..just the popular ones don’t always help.

it causes me huge embarrassment and I’m worried it’s giving me bad breath

my web can meet friends finally！！ captainicklaus.com

[pulling grass R] [pulling grass R] [pulling grass R]

Traditional Chinese Medicine + AI + HTML + RAG + Me

Originally i just disliked the theoretical gaps in writing a literature review, but ended up creating this web