ANDRE SHIH
TCM & ACUPUNCTURE

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Aug 22, 2017
2 min

Acute Urine Retention Again...

If you have read my previous blog here: How Learning Acupuncture Can Help a Family Member in an Emergency Situation? - Acute Urinary Retention, you would know that my father-in-law had an acute urinary retention a few years ago. Actually, he went through the same thing once a year. This the 3rd time it happened. The reason he went through one episode a year is due to his daily beer. According to him, he didn't drink any more beer than the usual one nor did anything out of ord

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First Weight Control Patient Was A Success!

Aug 16, 2017
2 min

First Weight Control Patient Was A Success!

A women in her mid 30s participated in our weight control program during the introduction period. During the program she received 3 acupuncture treatments per week for 3 consecutive weeks, 9 in total. Each treatment was 30 min long. Patient also followed the diet and life style recommendations based on TCM knowledge. The diet recommendation was to stay away from soda, bottled juice, coffee, raw or cold food/drink (e.g. salad and sushi), refined sugar (white sugar), junk food,

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Acne Caused by Stressed Liver

Jun 28, 2017
1 min

Acne Caused by Stressed Liver

A young nurse in her 20s would have acne outbreaks from time to time, especially after working a few night shifts in a row or staying up late partying with friends. The location of her acne was on her cheeks under her eyes, on the stomach meridians, just like the young man in my blog: Acne Caused by Digestive Issue. However, her acne issue wasn't entirely due to her digestive system. The nature of her work puts a toll on her liver system. The stressed liver affected her mostl

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Jun 16, 2017
1 min

This is getting boring: Neck and Shoulder Pain Again!

Female, late 30s, complained of neck and shoulder pain along gallbladder meridian for 3 days. I took her pulse and found imbalance in the liver. So I used the acu-points on her liver and gallbladder meridian on her feet, ankles and lower legs. Pain was gone after the treatment. Nothing fancy. #instantpainrelief #neckpain #shoulderpain #acupuncture

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Jun 15, 2017
2 min

Hip Pain: Early Treatment Will Save You Money In The Long Run

Female patient, in mid 40s, came with acute hip pain on her right side between thigh and butt on the gallbladder meridian. The pain radiates to knee. Her pulse told me the imbalance of liver and kidney are causing her pain. So I used San Jiao meridian on the opposite limb - upper left arm - to treat her right thigh gallbladder meridian. Because San Jiao and Gallbladder meridians both belong to the same name group called Shao Yang. (Sorry if this is getting to technical.) In l

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Knee Pain Reduced by Acupuncture

Jun 13, 2017
1 min

Knee Pain Reduced by Acupuncture

On and off knee pain for 3-4 months. When it was hurting very badly, the patient was limping. It was hurting on the lateral side of the right knee, but after I palpated around the knee and leg, I found out it IT band was extremely tight. So I needled the lateral side of opposite arm. Pain reduced from 4 out of 10 to 1 out of 10. It's normal for the pain to come back the next day with a chronic case like this, and it will generally take about 3-4 weeks of continuous treatment

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Jun 12, 2017
1 min

Acne Caused by Digestive Disorder

A good looking young man, age 24, came in looking for help with his acnes on the face and both thighs. It wasn't serious, but he's at the age that really wanted to look his best to impress girls. The acne were mostly on the areas below his eye and on the front side of his thighs. These areas were where the stomach meridian passed through. First thing that came to my mind was food related issue. Upon inquiry, he get diarrhea easier than his friends. They would go to the same r

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Apr 26, 2017
2 min

Months of Battling With Back Pain And Leg Weakness Ended by Acupuncture.

Male patient in his 70s, battling with lower back pain and weakness in the leg, had visited the family doctor and specialist numerous times, and done every single test that they could possibly do. But they still couldn't find out what's causing the pain. Between scheduled tests, he had been to the physiotherapy 3 times a week for a few weeks and then to acupuncture 3 times a week for a few weeks. It was always the same story. The pain would improve slightly the first week, an

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Apr 19, 2017
2 min

Carpel Tunnel Syndrome & Sensitive Bowel

Male Patient, early 50s, works as a mechanic. For two months, he had been experiencing numbness in the left thumb, index, and middle finger. Sometimes the numbness could come from the shoulder. The numbness was most severe at night after a long day of work. Due to the nature of his work, he used his left hand a lot to tighten bolts and nuts on different part of cars in the shop. When I squeezed his wrist, he could feel the numbness get more severe. I was a little inexperience

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Liver and Lung Cancer Patient Survived 2 Years of Chemotherapy

Feb 5, 2017
3 min

Liver and Lung Cancer Patient Survived 2 Years of Chemotherapy

A male patient, let's call him J, between 45 and 50 year old who came in looking for relief of the side effects from chemotherapy. J had colon cancer 3 years ago and went through surgery and chemotherapy. A year later, the doctor discovered that cancer cell had spread to his liver, and now the lung as well. He has been doing chemotherapy every other week for the past 2 years. J did not look like a cancer patient at all. He looked just like any healthy person on the street. Hi

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Severe Headache After An Acupuncture Treatment

Jan 30, 2017
1 min

Severe Headache After An Acupuncture Treatment

A patient came in a month ago for her constant headache/migrain on her left side. Pain scale was at 4 out of 10 but became 6 out of 10 when being touched. Pain started 2 months prior. I found that she was a little burned out and lack of energy and blood due to her busy life. Her eye looked tired. She talked in a low voice. Mentally, she was on the go all the time, but her body couldn't handle it. That's why the body was giving a warning sign - headache. I gave her a treatment

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One More Case of Acupuncture For Severe Back Pain

Dec 10, 2016
1 min

One More Case of Acupuncture For Severe Back Pain

A female patient, 50 years old, has been dealing with severe back pain her whole life. From time to time her back would freeze up. Only the strongest prescription pain killer could help with the pain. Few days before her vacation to a sunny beach down south, she started having the back pain again. A trip to her usually physiotherapist only relieved some of the her pain. When I saw her, she was heavily drugged with muscle relaxers and Tylenol three according to her. She could

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Another Instant Pain Relief Acupuncture For Back Pain

Dec 3, 2016
2 min

Another Instant Pain Relief Acupuncture For Back Pain

Male patient, early 40s, works as a carpenter. His job is mostly installing wood floor. So he is always bending over or on his four limbs. Lower back pain has been bothering him on and off for a year. He came with a pain level 8 out of 10 on his L3 to L5 and radiating horizontally along his waist line, especially when he bent forward. He has tried massage from RMTs. That has helped, but the pain would always come back. He thought he'd try acupuncture for a change. Based on Dr

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Instant Pain Relief Acupuncture For Back Pain

Nov 27, 2016
2 min

Instant Pain Relief Acupuncture For Back Pain

Female patient, 40 year old, has been taking care of her two young boys while working a full time job. The stress has been causing her back pain along her right erector spinae muscles. She heard about acupuncture treatment, but she never tried it before. For acu-virgins, I always have to tell them what to expect before treatment begins. I have to tell them, "The therapeutic effect of acupuncture is usually immediate, but that doesn't mean you are completely healed and can hav

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Instant Result Acupuncture - Knee Pain

Nov 6, 2016
2 min

Instant Result Acupuncture - Knee Pain

Recently, I've been watching acupuncture videos on YouTube and found videos of Dr. Richard Tan demonstrating his acupuncture technique for pain management. One video was for the knee pain. He was able to achieve instant pain relief after a quick meridian diagnosis. Before watching the video, I kind of knew that acupuncture for pain relief can be achieved in a few minutes. But the materials I have learned from school or read on my own did not allow me to accomplish it. Many pa

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How Learning Acupuncture Can Help a Family Member in an Emergency Situation? - Acute Urinary Retenti

Aug 2, 2016
2 min

How Learning Acupuncture Can Help a Family Member in an Emergency Situation? - Acute Urinary Retenti

A year ago, our family went out with a few friends for dinner to celebrate Father's Day. It was a small cozy restaurant that we often visit when there is a birthday of the elders in the family. They have the most authentic Taiwanese stir fry dishes. My in-laws love the food and the atmosphere. The owner always joined us for a drink while we were there. It was a happy night. My father-in-law had quite a few beers that night, more than what he's supposed to have, but we didn't

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Can Acupuncture Help with Menopausal Hot Flashes? -- A Case Mixed with Hot and Cold.

Jul 4, 2016
2 min

Can Acupuncture Help with Menopausal Hot Flashes? -- A Case Mixed with Hot and Cold.

A female patient in her early 50s came to the school clinic while I was doing an internship for the herbalist program. It was a hot day in the spring. She was still wearing winter clothes and two pairs of pants. She explained that she woke up from a hot flash leading to sweating every night for the past 2 months. After the hot flash, her body temperature would drop and get extremely cold. On a daily basis, when she went to bed, she had to cover herself really well with the bl

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How Effective Is Acupuncture For Plantar Fasciitis?

Jun 12, 2016
2 min

How Effective Is Acupuncture For Plantar Fasciitis?

This happened a while back when I just started acupuncture school. There was a lady in her 40s in my office. She had been limping around the office for 2 weeks. I couldn't help but asked her what happened. She told me that she had hurt her foot while playing on the trampoline at home. And the doctor said it's plantar fasciitis which will take 6 weeks to a few months to recover. There were a few people in the office knew that I was in the acupuncture program. And even though I

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