Did You Know?

Pain from knee arthritis that is not caused by external injury or rheumatic arthritis normally belonged to degenerative knee osteoarthritis.

If you feel your knee hurting when you walk up or down the stairs, you might have knee arthritis, meniscus injury, or knee effusion. A needle-like pain when climbing stairs could come from a bone spur (mostly caused when cushioning between your joints wear down with age). No matter what the issue is, get ample rest and minimize the use of your joints. Get knee guards if you can and try to walk on level ground and not climb stairs.

膝关节疼痛没有外伤以及风湿性疾病，一般就属于退行性膝骨关节炎。

上下楼梯膝盖疼经常出现疼痛，可能是骨关节炎，或者是半月板损伤，或是关节腔积液，下楼梯针刺样疼痛多数是骨刺增生，（俗话称骨胶原不够了）无论是哪种可能，都要注意休息，减少关节的使用，最好能戴护膝；少上下楼梯多走平路。

Did You Know?

Our herbal mask for knee pain is made up of six different ingredients!
Herbal mask ingredients:

• Pubescent Angelica Root - dispelling wind and removing dampness and relieving rheumatic arthritis pain
• Clematis - treats wind-damp impediment pain
• Aconite Root - treats knocks and falls
• Thunder God Vine - treats abscess
• Ground Pine - treats joint soreness
• Motherwort - warm the channels and dissipate cold

Herbal mask ingredients:

• 独活 - 主要治疗风寒湿痹
• 威灵仙 - 风湿痹痛
• 川乌 - 跌打损伤
• 雷公藤 - 痈肿
• 伸筋草 - 关节酸痛
• 益母草 - 温经散寒

Did You Know?

Did you know about 膏肓痛 Gao Huang Pain?

Gao Huang Pain
Gao Huang Pain refers to the pain coming from the Gao Huang acupuncture point.

Its represented by pain in the Gao Huang area or pain, oppressive pain, soreness, and piercing pain in the areas around it. The symptoms occurred for a long time and are mostly recurrent. Sometimes, they hurt, and sometimes, they don't. The affected area will feel hot, tight, or sore. Some patients wouldn't display any symptoms.

When it breaks out, the pain mostly occurs on one side of the back. It rarely occurs on both sides. The pain can spread to the shoulder and neck on the same side. It will occasionally spread to the other side.

Gao Huang pain normally lasts for many years without healing. It's very hard to cure the roots of the problem. The symptoms might be induced or worsen when the patient is tired, lacking sleep, having a cold, emotionally upset, depressed or before or after menses, or when the weather turned cold or it gets damp from rain.

膏肓痛
膏肓疼痛是指疼痛的中心灶正在膏肓穴的部位局部。

表現為背部膏肓部位，或其周圍疼痛、悶痛、痠痛或錐痛；病程較長，多呈反覆性發作，時痛時止；間歇期間，病位稍有灼熱、強緊或痠重感，部分患者或幾乎沒有症狀。

發作時多見疼痛在背部單側，甚少雙側，疼痛一般可向上蔓延至同側肩部、頸項部，少數放散至對側皆痛。

膏肓疼痛大多連續多年而不癒，很难完全根治。當疲勞、熬夜、感冒、經期前後、天氣變冷或下雨潮濕，或情志不遂、憂思鬱悶過度時，常會誘發並加重疼痛。

Did You Know?

Frozen Shoulders are mostly caused by cold meridian points. The TCM treatment will consist of internal and external treatment.

Internal treatment: For instance, we will use herbs that can boost Qi and promote blood circulation for Qi stagnation and blood stasis caused by external injury. If it is caused by coldness, we will use herbs that warm the channels and dissipate cold. Deficiency of liver and kidney caused by old age can be relieved using herbs that supplement and boost the liver and kidney.

External Treatment:
1) Tuina: Relieves adhesions quickly
2) Acupuncture: To relieve pain

Iontophoresis with traditional Chinese herbal medicine: Using Iontophoresis with traditional Chinese herbal medicine on a local part of the body to dredge blood vessels and cure the cold shoulder and the Qi and blood stasis accumulation caused by the external injury-induced cold shoulder. This can also help to relieve the pain in the area quickly.

大多数由受寒引起。中药治疗分为内治跟外治。

内治: 比如外伤引起气滞血瘀，需要用益气活血药物。如果是受风寒引起，则用温经散寒中药。老年人引起肝肾亏虚，则使用补益肝肾药物；

外治:
1) 推拿：可迅速缓解粘连。
2) 针灸：能够缓解疼痛；
3) 中药离子导入：可通过中药离子导入局部，疏通血脉，治疗寒凝肩和外伤性肩周炎导致的气血瘀积，迅速缓解局部的疼痛。

Did You Know?

Insomnia

Short-term insomnia can lead to daytime fatigue, decreased alertness, difficulty concentrating and poor mood. In the long-term, insomnia can result in more severe health conditions such as hypertension, depression, anxiety and memory loss.

Insomniacs experience difficulties regarding sleep – being unable to fall asleep, waking up repeatedly or waking up too early.

Insomnia is caused by both physical and psychological factors such as stress, anxiety or an underlying medical condition. In addition to those factors, poor sleep hygiene is becoming increasingly common in causing insomnia. Sleep hygiene refers to keeping a bedroom environment and routine that is conducive to sleep.

Good sleep hygiene practices include

• Having a fixed sleep and wake-up time
• Unplugging from electronics 30 minutes before bedtime
• Dimming lights 30 minutes before bedtime
• Practicing methods for relaxation (meditation, mindfulness, breathing)

Did You Know?

If your insomnia remains unmanageable despite good sleep hygiene habits and relaxation techniques, it may be worth seeking treatment from a TCM physician. The TCM treatment approach aims to rebalance the deficiency and heat within the body to improve the quality of sleep. TCM physicians tend to prescribe TCM herbal remedies alongside acupuncture to dissipate heat, improve circulation and provide relief for sleeplessness. Treatment for insomnia in TCM also encourages patients to improve lifestyle and dietary habits such as through better emotional regulation, reducing alcohol intake and reducing exhaustion.

Some common herbal remedies used in TCM treatment for insomnia include:

• Spinal seeds
• Lily buds
• Dried logan
• Chamomile
• Rose buds
• Bo Zi Ren herb