- Cloud 9 Acupuncture & Integrative Medicine22 West Padonia Rd. Suite A-203
Timonium, MD 21093 
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Traditional Chinese Medicine
Herbal Tonics to Reduce Stress
Stress is something that affects everybody. Stress is defined as a state of mental or emotional tension or strain resulting from demanding or adverse circumstances. This can result in a multitude of symptoms, including headaches, muscle tension, pain, insomnia, worry, anxiety, depression and even disease. And according to a recent survey, nearly 77 percent of all Americans regularly experience physical or psychological symptoms caused by stress (American Institute of Stress, May 2017). continue reading
Earth Constitutional Factor
By Kelly Ferguson, L.Ac.
You may hear your practitioner speaking about your CF or Constitutional Factor, and you are probably asking yourself what that means? In Five Element Acupuncture Theory there are five elements or seasons that we use to help diagnosis and understand our patients. We have each of these elements within us, but we prefer one to two of them over the others. Those elements that we unknowingly prefer or align with are what we would call a person’s Constitutional Factor or CF. Within each CF there are the meridians, colors, odors, sounds, emotions, personality traits, seasons, etc. that go along with it.
One of these Constitutional Factors is called Earth. The season for this element is Late Summer which we are getting ready to head into. This element is very grounding or centering. It allows us to nurture ourselves and those around us. Earth CF’s can sometimes sound like they are singing as they are speaking. They tend to have a yellow complexion to their skin around their eyes, and their odor can be a bit sweet smelling. The meridians that go along with Earth are spleen and stomach meridians.
Kelly sees patients on Tuesdays & Thursdays 12p -8pm, Saturdays 10am-3pm in Timonium, and Wednesdays 12:30pm-7:30pm in White Marsh. Read more about Kelly at https://cloud9acuclinic.com/kelly-ferguson-acupuncturist/
Five Acupuncture Points for Indian Summer
Acupuncture is part of a medical system that dates back nearly 3,500 years. This medical system is known as Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM. TCM acknowledges not four but five seasons. The fifth season, Indian Summer, occurs in late August through mid-September. Each season in TCM has a pair of organs or energetic pathways it corresponds to. For Indian Summer, these pathways are those of the spleen and stomach. continue reading
Traditional Chinese Medicine Pulse and Tongue Diagnosis
By Kelly Ferguson, L.Ac.
Looking at someone’s tongue is a helpful tool for Acupuncturists. The tongue allows us to see what is going on in a person’s body. When we are looking at your tongue we are checking the color, texture, coating, shape and markings on the tongue. By seeing what the tongue looks like we can see if we need to build qi or energy, help the flow of qi throughout the body, clear phlegm or heat, or build fluid in the body.
In addition, there are different locations on the tongue that correlate to the meridians. While we are looking at the color, texture, shape, marks and coating of the tongue; we are also looking at how they look on the different areas of the tongue to determine which meridians to use during treatment. The tongue does take time to change, so after you’ve been getting treatments for about a month take a look at your tongue and see the difference.
Pulse Diagnosis
During your acupuncture treatments, your practitioner will take your pulses on both wrists. We are looking for six pulse positions on each wrist. These pulses connect to the meridians or pathways that move qi or energy throughout your body. These pulses help us to diagnosis which meridians might need to be flushed out or strengthened.
The analogy that comes to mind is with Goldilocks and the Three Bears. In the story the porridge can’t be too hot or too cold, it had to be just right. This is what we are looking for with pulses. The pulse can’t be too high or too low in strength. We want the pulse to find a happy median.
Kelly sees patients on Tuesdays & Thursdays 12p -8pm, Saturdays 10am-3pm in Timonium, and Wednesdays 12:30pm-7:30pm in White Marsh. Read more about Kelly at https://cloud9acuclinic.com/kelly-ferguson-acupuncturist/
Healthy Eating According to Traditional Chinese Medicine
Do you consider yourself a healthy eater? Do you follow the guidelines set forth by the government for healthy eating? Or have you gone rogue? There are as many different definitions of healthy as there are colors in the rainbow. But according to traditional Chinese medicine, there are certain guidelines that will keep the body happy and healthy throughout life. Let’s explore this a little deeper. continue reading
