Opening Through Two

“it is very important that the lack of free flow is paired with fullness, pain or up-bearing symptoms”

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Ji Mai San 蒺麦散: Case 4

Ms. Chang was twenty-five when she came for her first visit on December 13, 1976. She had been married for three years without becoming pregnant.

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Gui Xian Tang Cinnamon Immortals Soup 桂仙汤 ： from the practice of Dr. Qiu Xiao-mei Supplementing the Kidney Yang in the treatment of infertility

The Chong is the sea of blood and the Ren envelopes the Fetus. When the sea of blood in empty and the uterine envelope suffers from deficiency cold, just like when the earth is frozen cold, the grasses and trees cannot grow and the abyss of the deep Yin cannot give life to fishes and dragons, in this way how can the uterus give birth to life?

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Ji Mai San 蒺麦散: Case 3

As with the previous case, we see here how Dr. Qiu strings formulas together in mixed patterns.

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Ji Mai San 蒺麦散 Case 2

I don’t remember who said it first, but a very old saying in Chinese gynecology is “If her breasts are sore, and she is trying to get pregnant, fix the sore breasts first.”
Over the years I have found that pretty good advice. Generally, aside even from the qi blockage that sore breasts evidence, there is usually fluid retention. And if the breasts are holding fluid, chances are the fallopian tubes are holding fluid (to some extent) too, and thus no longer moving with the agility a good tube should have. So if I see any signs of fluid retention in cases like this, I will usually add Fu Ling or Che Qian Zi to a qi-moving formula (like Ji Mai San, or Xiao Yao, or Chai Hu Shu Gan) to help things along.

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PMS and Ji Mai San

I love Dr. Qiu’s formulas, as they are gentle and so effective. She is an excellent example of the style of Zhejiang gynecology: gentle, even ‘food’ herbs, focus on the interaction between Spleen and Liver (rather than heavily Kidney directed), and a liking for the simple and practical. Good stuff!

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Supplementing Certainty Soup: for premature rupture of the placenta

When I lived in Hang Zhou in 1990/1991, I had the opportunity to study with a well known obstetrician/gynecologist named Dr. Qiu Xiao-mei. This excerpt is from her text Experiences of Dr. Qiu Xiao-mei. The first part is her description of her own experiential formula and the second part is a case study illustrating the use of this formula.

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Huang Huang on Zhi Gan Cao Tang: Text and Video Presentation

Last February, Dr. Huang Huang gave a 4 day seminar on the Ten Key Formula Families in San Francisco. Here is a link to view an excerpt of this seminar pertaining to Zhi Gan Cao Tang. (Eric Brand is the translator for this excerpt) Below is written material about the formula from Dr. Huang Huang, translated by Sharon Weizenbaum. If you are interested, the entire course is available by going to This Link.

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