Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) philosophy believes pain is due to stagnation or blockage. The stagnation could be qi stagnation, blood stasis, food accumulation, water retention, or any other blockages. Acupuncture, cupping, tui na, and gua sha treat pain by breaking-down stagnation, reopening the body’s channels, harmonizing internal organs, and restoring the flow of qi and blood. A survey by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine found pain was the most common reason that people used alternative medicine. Commonly treated ailments include back pain, neck pain, arthritis, joint pain, and headache.

TCM treatments are safe, effective, and have minimal side effects. Dr. Li is an experienced acupuncturist, with licenses from Oregon and Washington. She helps to relax the body with cupping (glass cups are placed on skin to create suction and encourage blood flow), tui na (Chinese message), moxibustion (burning of mugwort, a herb, to release pleasant heating sensation to the skin) and gua sha (scraping skin to release tension).