Dr. Yueying Li: TCM Dermatology Deep Dive – Eczema, Psoriasis, Pediatric skin disorders, Mastitis & External Herbal Therapy

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Host Hi everyone! I’m your host, Shuang Hou, a licensed acupuncturist and the founder of Cura Cura. Today I’m really excited to welcome Doctor Yue ying Li. Doctor Li is a licensed acupuncturist and a leading expert in traditional Chinese medicine dermatology, with over forty years of experience. She trained in China at what’s now Southwest University of Medicine and completed advanced dermatology training at the Sichuan Institution of Dermatology. She’s also a longtime professor at Yo San University here in Los Angeles, and the founder of Art of Chinese Healing. Over the years, she’s also developed her own herbal line, Yingherbal,  bringing her clinical experience directly into herbal solutions for skin health and beauty care from a TCM perspective. Today, we’re talking about some of the most common and challenging skin conditions we see in clinic, like eczema, psoriasis, rashes, and chronic inflammatory skin issues and how TCM approaches them differently. Let’s dive into it.

Dr. Yueying Li I think what makes you really different is that you’re not only doing your own clinic, but you’re willing to share the secrets of your product that you’re used for your treatments and be able to provide that to acupuncturists and practitioners. I think what inspires us to make this podcast today is this is actually the first year that Cura Cura hosting Ying herbal on our platform, and then the first time we launched Ying herbal, it got sold out like immediately. Uh, and I was so shocked. What happened to this product? Like, tell me all the secrets. So we ask a couple of customers who purchased it, But most of them are like practitioners and acupuncturists, right? I was like, oh, what do you use it for? Some of them are saying like, oh, I use it for skin rashes, hives. Right. Eczema. But some of them telling me, oh, I use it for like a sunburn, I use it for mosquito bites. This oil can actually help so many skin problems and I’m like, I need to like, interview the creator of this product to fully understand, like how to use it, right? And for our listeners who are practicing in this TCM field and be really confident to recommend this product to to their patients as well. But before we dive into a little deeper, I actually wants to know more about, like, what inspired you to create this incredible brand?

Dr. Yueying Li I have been using the product for many, many years because of what inspired me and to really start to create of this skin product. It’s based on myself because I have some of the congenital skin disease that cause, uh, very dry, cracking skin. Since I was very young, my skin will already look old and also because they are appear really rough and uneven and peeling, and that make me feel like I was very different from the other people especially. I was like a very active and played basketball and when, when I was like a teenager. So and it required that you’re always exposed to your skin. But my skin wasn’t like the other, all the other teenagers skin and they are very smooth, but my skin is much more rough and look like a like a fish skin. So that’s kind of will cause me a lot of physical, emotional, especially emotional. Um, it’s kind of like a drama or it’s, it’s, it’s hurting, but nobody really knows that. So that’s, uh, that’s kind of like you’re the first to sit inside of me and, uh, you know, fortunately. And I went to the medical school in the beginning, I wasn’t even thinking about it. Become, you know, TCM dermatologist. I was just kind of like, uh, you know, it’s inspired by the medicine. But after being practice, uh, like internal medicine for a little bit, I feel like, uh, um, what I really want. It’s kind of like a try to find some way to resolve this skin issues. And because I always work on myself and even my skin problem getting so much better. So that’s why, um, I went to Dermatology Institute and they and get, you know, a special training for like two years and become specialized in the TCM dermatology. Um, Yeah. So it’s, you know, a lot of times it’s based on your own needs, but in the beginning but then, you know, you understand how that affected you  and other people.

Host Exactly. I think that’s al so how I get into the TCM world too, is always to start with yourself, right? Like if you’re able to cure yourself, you’re able to cure more people. Yeah. So that’s very impressive. Um, and then one of the famous products is the skin repair oil. Like what is really inside of that product to make it that can help so many type of skin issues.

Dr. Yueying Li So as the traditional Chinese medicine for dermatologic products and natural product and basically we use the herbs, every single product we use big like a dosage of the herbs. We try to put the herbs as much as possible. And then of course, the base. And we use the oil. It’s not only just base to carry the herbs, but also and the oil itself can help the skin can protect the skin. We have Jojoba Oil, Rosehip oil argan oil. And we have grapeseed oil. So those are the oils I choose. I even not even put like almond oil because sometimes it can cause some people are sensitive. So we have to think about that. So all the oil when I choose have to consider because we deal with skin problem, we don’t want to cause any more of irritation. And then the herbs to relieve the skin, inflammation irritation. And for example in this oil we have, you know, Da Huang and Jiang Huang and Huang Qi Dang Gui and also Ku Shen Gan Cao. It’s multiple herbs and that working together definitely can clear the heat, and it reduces the inflammation and to healing the skin and repair. So that’s why we give the name repair because of the oil and the herbs. And when they use together and to repair because you know, the skin like damage. And we need to use something where we smooth it at the same time treating the problem.

Host I see that’s very interesting because, um, as a TCM, I think a lot of times we consider the skin problems is like accumulations of the residue of, you know, your body garbage. Right? And then that accumulations is causing inflammations that causing like heat. So you mentioned like here you’ve seen a lot of like cooling blood herb like Da Huang. Right. So to Ku Shen to clear out the, the heat and also like drain the, the dampness, which is really impressive. Um, and I think one of the most important herb is Zi Cao.

Dr. Yueying Li Thank you to mention that. Yeah. Yes. Zi Cao it’s definitely like you can see the color, the oil itself, the color is very dark, dark purple. And that’s because Zi Cao’s color is dominant.

Host so I was wondering like why this can help out eczema or what type of eczema should we use? Um, skin repair oil. Which type? We shouldn’t use it at all.

Dr. Yueying Li I would say skin repair oil. And then when I created this oil and it’s also clinical use for so long, for so many years. And I call this oil basically, uh, as a universal and herbal product. So. Meaning means you can use for so many, so many different conditions. So it’s one, one sentence to cover that. It’s kind of any of the skin inflammation basically. But so many problems can cause skin inflammation. You know you just mentioned like eczema dermatitis and even like an insect bite okay. And also your contact dermatitis you contact something and then you got a rash and also allergy cause that you eat something and or You kind of use some like a detergent, even like when you are working in your kitchen and you could get burn and, you know, water, fire and you go out and you go hiking and you forgot to put sunblock and you could get a skin like a sunburn. so many, many of these skin issues and in our daily life, anything that can cause inflammation of the skin. So basically any we can use this oil and of course if, you know, follow by the skin disease, eczema, especially these oils, since they are so gentle and soothing and not cause any damage of the skin. And so we use that for newborn baby in the very even sensitive area. And for example, like your private area. And this is the only thing and you can use. So, um, you know, for baby eczema, I deal with that a lot. And they could have like a very bad skin lesions, like not only just rash and with your blister and the open on the skin and the wounding a lot And look, you’re kind of really bad. And in this case we are using the oil. Definitely this is the first choice. But you know, before we use that and I were just kind of add something else and you can get better results. This is the herbal compress. And the formula is very similar, you know, Da Huang, Huang Lian And the Huang Qi and also Ku Shen and also Gan Cao etc.. So we use this. This is a very traditional way cook that this is raw herbs. But we powder that and make the formula together. And inside we have, you know, these small bags and you know that you just put the water, cook that and make it like a tea. And then we use the tea and to compress because they compress, it’s just like you open the door from the this Skin and it to allow the other product to get in and also it itself. It’s natural, like antibioticos and to disinfecting the skin. And when the skin surface looks so kind of like a messed up and we need to clean up and it will be up to use like the oil and the cream later. If you deal with somebody and with really bad skin surface, you see that the skin is really bad. Open wounds or even blood out bleeding and pus and the infected surface. And as you suggested, use this one first after this. And then it’s kind of the surface is clean up, and then you use the oil and then the oil basically can, you know, not only just clean up of the inflammation and detox and healing skin, but they are very good to astringent and they should get it, you know, like the inflammation gets done and then reduce of the wounds and also healing the wound like if you have open. So that’s why you use the oil. You can use this one as many times as you need. And because they are so safe, one hundred percent natural, you can put this oil in your mouth. I remember even myself, I got a little bit like the gum infection and I get an abscess in my gum. It’s really painful. So before I even go to my dentist, I put it this way it help a lot. So that’s why, you know, you can use it for any of these conditions, especially acute. Give you an example, any type of dermatitis. And that’s including, like eczema and contact dermatitis and seborrheic dermatitis. Drug caused dermatitis and also photodermatitis due to the sunlight. And in your house you can use any burn. And if you burn yourself immediately put this one. And that can prevent and from blister and also prevent from scar. And I also use this for you know for example injury like you you falling down and you smoosh your skin like you know, the surface, get it really bad and this can help you, you know, heal and then not leave you the scar. And of course, that’s not mentioned the post surgery. And this is a very good solution and it will put on that I, you know, suggested many of my patients use that and that that’s kind of help, you know, help with the healing. Acute psoriasis. And they get really red. And also even they start to get a bit of pealing. And in the acute period you can also use this for definitely.

Host Okay. So what if there’s like a flaky skin that, um peeling off in patches but that doesn’t have any itchiness. Like can we still use that?

Dr. Yueying Li Yeah, you can still use the. Oh yeah. This one is not specifically for itching but for repair. So, um, psoriasis damaged skin a lot. And also the skin cells, when they build up the skin lesion and they are skin metabolism is a hundred thousand times faster than normal skin metabolism. So that’s why it’s build up it’s in hours and the peeling and everything. And you’re also the bottom of the skin is really irritated. And not every psoriasis is itching but red. Herbs You can also use like example rescue cream and you can alternating and with skin repair oil. And we also have the detoxify and the defense cream. And this one for some people who suffer from chronic psoriasis because the psoriasis it comes and goes, but they become stable. But the skin leison never disappear and the skin is thicker, and it looks like a race on the skin and the peeling a lot. And they have flaky and all the time and falling off. And you know, you can definitely use detox & defend cream and that can take care of the thick skin. So after that and then you can also use the the oil again.

Host For example, if the psoriasis is like on the scalp, would that be like doable or would that be applicable for this product to be?

Dr. Yueying Li Yeah, you can use you can use the lack of deal with. We have a lot of patients with scalp psoriasis and it’s very stubborn and they are just really annoying. A lot of my patients, they have that. So in that case then I give you a little tip. If the psoriasis is only affecting the scalp and the one thing you can do and ask your patient and use a little bit of apple cider vinegar. And when you wash your hair. And so that’s just like a, you know, something to a softening of the scalp. And use that. So you use for example two or three times with the apple cider vinegar. You can use apple cider vinegar and put it on the scalp. And and you know, contact with the scalp for five ten minutes and before you use shampoo and to wash that and then your hair will be like a really healthy and shiny, and it can remove a lot of the dead skin from the scalp after that. And then you can use you can rub in with the oil or you can use a I just mentioned the, you know, detox &defend cream because that one is really good to remove the dead skin from the surface. And it doesn’t matter. It’s due to psoriasis or fungal. And it causes like for example, toenail fungus. So that’s that’s very good with that. And if they inflame, you know, inflamed definitely the oil or rescue cream and you can go together I see.

Host So what’s your like diagnosis of psoriasis. Yeah.

Dr. Yueying Li Psoriasis. Uh, traditional Chinese medicine psoriasis. I think you need to remember one thing very important. And if we see eczema, it’s middle jiao related, dampness related because that’s the spleen stomach. But psoriasis is different. Psoriasis is just one word blood related. So it’s blood dysfunction. So our blood either it’s heat in the blood. Blood stasis weakness like a blood deficiency dryness of the blood. So it’s that internally you deal with psoriasis but externally doesn’t matter. What is it causing from internally but outside they cause this skin inflammation so that the inflammation come out. So we deal with that the same same idea. Use the external to deal with that. We need to control the inflammation. Only control the inflammation and the skin metabolism can go back to normal and reduce the flaky skin and continue very fast to build up very thick you know kind of skin. And so that’s how you, you know, started with that first.

Host I see. And that’s why you’re adding like Xue Jie and yeah Di Yu to work on the blood level. That was smart. Yeah.

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Host Does people in there like pregnancy that can still use your product or no.

Dr. Yueying Li We also use for the pregnancy and with this product and it never had any problem, you know. And of course if somebody like get the habitual like a miscarriage and you gotta be careful. I think anything you can be the trigger and I would, you know, really be careful. But for normal people and pregnancy because in my office we deal with a lot of infertility and also pregnancy care. And in the third trimester. And we start to introduce like the oil and the, you know, to try to prevent from after give birth like mastitis when they start to, You’re kind of breastfeeding the baby and a lot of like a young female and young mama. And they, you know, we experience with a lot of different degree of mastitis. So we start to use that oil and to like the third semester especially close to the due date. And we start to, you know, coach them and how to work on the breast area, especially the nipple. And they use the oil and no any new mom and they got mastitis because we also, you know, coach them, teach them how to work on their, you know, kind of breast and work on their lymphatic system. And even before they gave birth, we will give, you know, a few sections of the TCM lymphatic therapy and to work on that. So it’s very successful. And at the same time we use the oil and then we also teach them after giving birth, the first thing because that’s the only thing you use is the oil. And if you try to take care of the, you know, if you are natural, like vaginal, you know, deliver the baby and then you need to use that after that to keep the kind of the, the vaginal area like, you know, healthy and if there is any, you know, kind of like, uh, stitches and this can help. like a recover very quick. And if you get C-section, same thing after C-section, you use that and then and you have the newborn and then you will kind of use that for the diaper area, for the newborn diaper area. And this is best for diaper area and to keep the diaper area healthy, especially baby and diaper rash. You’ll give example, I have, you know, like three of the grandchildren, my your daughter, you know, the daughter, in law who, uh, who is like ICU nurse. And she naturally she’s like, not really believe TCM, but I said, okay for baby and we need to use this. And then in the beginning she was like, are you sure? Like, this is work. After she said, three kids like the diaper and she become like a basically routine every single time changing the diaper, she put it. And she’s like, hey, mom, give me more of that. And, you know, she find it is useful. And she start to introduce it to her friends. And she said, you know, this, this is stuff. It really works.

Host I’ll recommend to my patients as well, because a lot of them are looking for like products that are safe for pregnancy and for kids as well. So those are.

Dr. Yueying Li Especially for newborn and they’re worried about it or something. It’s maybe too harsh. And this is not this is you can that you can use the newborn or you can use it for one hundred year old. I use this for many of the patients, for example, non-healing sores like diabetes and also some like your congested eczema, non-healing sores, and some people get really bad and like ulcers and they’re on the lower, you know, kind of the names and they’re above the ankle. And it really kind of you can. I remember one of my patients, you can see through the bone inside and what what I used is basically the compress because we need to clean up the surface and the oil and everything. Just let the patient know, okay, compress at least once a day and or two and but also many times whenever you have time just put on a surface and they get really good results. Non-healing sores is very hard to treat.

Host Like for skin problem most of people are still using like steroid or antihistamine.

Dr. Yueying Li I’m not against steroids because since they are so powerful. But the problem is not everybody can get you. Kind of. It’s it’s getting your skin condition and it’s completely cleared up by steroids and most of the patients. The problem is you continue to use it, especially your baby. I always education the mom. I’m like, yes, I understand it as a mom. You know, you see your baby, especially first baby. And my God, the skin looks terrible and the mom is like a cry and, you know, doesn’t matter. Whatever the doctor, you know, kind of recommend me. I will use that. But you. Have you ever thinking about the results? Because the eczema is not simply just the or the dermatitis is skin inflammation. Eczema is is related a lot. It’s kind of your autoimmune system and also your just homoimmun the immune system. And so that’s why eczema can follow you for all your life. And so a lot of babies, when they use this steroid in the beginning, they get great results. And then they come back and they use more and you can still get results. And then they come back. They then they you start to notice, okay. The evenness steroids is is not strong enough. And also and we got also a lot of patients which is rebound and overuse of steroids too long. And after you start to reduce or stop it and rebound even worse than before. And we also face a lot of patients that we call that red skin syndrome and which is steroid overdose withdrawal syndrome. And it causes skin irritation and worse, much worse than before. So for us, I would not choose steroids. Definitely is not my first choice. And I will use like, you know, try to internally and use acupuncture and herbs to try to adjust their constitution and for kids, for baby. And we use, you know, Tui Na, you know, pediatric Tui Na from traditional Chinese medicine and also cupping. I try to coach the mother and how to do that and then work on the baby. And we do teach them how to do, you know, even, like, um, in certain area and, you know, do the tuina. And we also do a lot of cupping for the baby and then internal herbs only baby. Like if they are six months above and I start to introduce some herbs internally. But externally it’s one of the most important. And that’s the treatment. And we use a lot because and you will see results very fast.

Host I see. So if patients are using uh, your product like the skin repair oil. You would tell them to stop using, like, steroid and stuff, right? Uh.

Dr. Yueying Li It depends. That’s a very good question. I’ll give you an example. The baby. If they never use a steroid, I feel like it’s easier because they response with the natural product. Pretty easy. Let’s say the other baby come in and the mother already gives them like, let’s say two months, four months or even longer of the steroid, but they keep coming back. And in this case, I know it’s more difficult. And you have to face and repeat, repeat, you know, come back. But we have to, you know, take that time and to get ready and to instead like, of course they, you know, the new mother, they don’t know. And they get so scared and they watch the baby suffering and they are, you know, kind of fear more pain. So they were just undergoing stronger. Stronger, like, you know, the medication and they give it to the baby. So education them and to let them understand is very important. Then we start to treat the treatment. Of course we have to make the skin look better and very quick. And at the same time we need to really kind of I call that for, for kids. It’s, it’s really kind of like, you know, try to change their constitution. And so there are many ways to do that.

Host And then you mentioned the tuina for kids. Um, just want to dive this a little deeper. Um, so, you know, if our listener listeners as the same situations, um, which point or where, which the area that you’re doing tuina because you’re mentioning like Middle Jiao. So I’m guessing it’s around, like, stomach, spleen. Yeah. I’m just giving.

Dr. Yueying Li You some basic I would say the Du channel is very important. And they also Hua Tuo Jia Ji So I was just like the first one. For example, you follow the du channel just like a pretend like you are calculated of the your counting of the vertebrae. And for the kids, you just touch them and they kind of, you know, get down and to give little bit of pressure and it’s just like a massage and it goes through. And then you use your two fingers and in the Hua Tuo Jia Ji area, because the Hua Tuo Jia Ji is very powerful and it all kind of like boost your boost your immune system. So you use your two fingers because baby small and it just try to kind of like, you know, get through each of the Huo Tuo Jia Ji. And then we also can lift of the skin and in both sides and rolling down and then found and then, you know, kind of like touch the baby’s tummy. And because the middle jiao is very important. So we talked to the baby’s tummy. And, you know, number one, you can touch like the umbilical area because the umbilical area and that’s the that’s the link. Or you can see the bridge and from like the post of heaven and the pre heaven. And that’s the umbilical cord. And it connected with the mother before they come to the world. And so that’s the area. And you can really focus and you can put your hands in there. And they kind of circle a little bit and then go down from Guan Yuan area. And it then follows the clockwise and it goes up. And then, you know, basically you touch all the area like four doors and it goes through and you go down baby. Also they, they get used to like the copy. They love that. So we do the back and the front.

Host Yeah. Yeah. That’s interesting because you mentioned the abdomen area which is like the large intestines and small intestines. Right. And in TCM like large intestines is also related to lung, which they’re paired together. They’re all metal elements, and the lung is actually, um, controls like the the hair and the skin. So the skin problems are like raising on the surface or flare up. Right? So it’s it’s very interesting to, uh, to link them all together.

Dr. Yueying Li Exactly. Yeah. That’s not to mention, you know, the lung D and D, right. Disperse descending and descending relationship is closely connected with lung because lung dependent on lung qi descending and that’s kind of can and get out of they all they kind of toxic see and everything but disperse that’s closely related our Wei Qi and Wei Qi is very important in the skin conditions. Okay. The Wei Qi not mentioned and also that the controlling of from TCM point of view and our nerve system like, uh, sympathetic nerve The cause Why you get so itchy and it drives you crazy. And the irritation because your nerve system gets very active.

Host Yeah, like defensive qi, right? Like even. That’s why, like when people have, you know, when when there’s, like, environmental changes or when, you know, after the Covid or like after my period, I’m super weak and that’s where I start to see my skin is acting weird. Exactly.

Dr. Yueying Li And then you get it, you know, maybe not the rash. And, you know, it’s not really bothering that much, but you can see your skin is kind of getting weak and you feel like because you’re wei qi, it’s like trying to take care of, um, your surface, like, just just to kind of like, sometimes they’re too stressed out and they cannot, you know, wholly, fully take care.

Host So if we have a patient like after the treatment and then they’re just asking, oh, you know, so what should I eat or should I drink. Like what would you answer them if they have already have like a severe skin problems or chronic skin problem?

Dr. Yueying Li That’s also a good question because, um, in the kind of now in the modern society and we are some especially the social media and like the information is overwhelming and everywhere, if you go asking like your ChatGPT, you go ask Google, they give you so many answers. And for me, and being practiced, you know, over four decades and I feel like, you know, um, a lot of things, we are individual and nobody is the same. And it’s, you know, certain type of diet is good for like, this type of person, but maybe not good for you. So you have to understand yourself. If you have skin issues, you are already very sensitive. And I have to say certain type of food, like for example, is very pungent and spicy food. And that’s kind of very pushy or your energy outside, and then you’re Wei Qi already insecure and the pores are open and so and you’re over open the the gate, which is definitely not good for you. And it doesn’t mean in the future you can’t eat that. You can. But in certain time you already have like a rash, you already have hives. And I think you you definitely you need to consider, okay, now I need to not eat that kind of food. And also it’s a very heavy, greasy, heavy and, uh, you know, it’s it’s just too powerful type of food. I would say you probably you also you need to avoid and also too much of the tonify   type of herbs for Chinese culture. Tonify is always great. And we have the story talk about it. We say, oh my God, you know, kind of like Da Huang and saved many people’s lives. But everybody, nobody appreciates it. And it’s Ren Shen and, you know, killing people sometimes. But nobody blame that, you know, that’s the history. But you say, I got Tonify and even getting worse. And but you really cannot blame that. Okay. So in that way, I would say and people I had a patient they have the psoriasis really bad and they are eating like for example Lu Rong and they’re eating like a lot of different Ginseng. Of course their psoriasis is so bad. It doesn’t matter how you know how much it cost. And but that’s the in that time it’s, it’s it’s poison for you. Yeah. Yeah.

Host So I think the most of reason most of the time. Well I think their mindset was like, oh, I have this skin issue. I’m a weak my defensive qi is so weak. So I need that tonify yeah and Tonify. I need to use the most expensive herb. But the problem is like if you’re tonifying it, it’s actually giving you more inner fire, which is a flare up. You know, all the inflammations.

Dr. Yueying Li And then people forgot. I think the the longer I practice it, I really kind of like for my practice, I’m not really pure use like, you know, tonification that much. And I also not use like your detoxing pure detoxing that much. But I think the balance is most important. And also um, the blockage stagnation. So how do you promoting your Yang qi and even you have skin issues and for long run and for, you know, especially chronic um, kind of skin problem even like psoriasis. And you know, why you have like a so chronic and it comes and goes and because for skin condition and sometimes we say chronic that people forgot about that. And they always say, and when they flare up, it’s always acute, very bad. But they repeat, repeat. And for me I see more of and your body, it’s kind of lose balance number one. Number two. And you’re Yang energy. Your Yang  energy is not means you have yang deficiency, but your Yang energy the weakness but the weakness of Yang energy due to a lot of blockage, your blockage, your yang energy cannot, you know, kind of like it’s it’s very easy and it just kind of running and working. And so that’s caused a lot of stagnation. So if you’re yang energy is weak, can cause qi stagnation, can cause blood stasis. It can cause the phlegm accumulated, can cause dampness accumulate and it can cause water retention. Those are all same. And that’s the cause of it. And cause your body is kind of blocked. And then your body cannot function properly. And a lot of students oh Yang deficiency they tonify. that’s not the you know, kind of what we are talking about and how to, you know, block your body have very powerful energy. and but you have to let it unblock and to let your body free and to, you know, work on that and to instead. Okay. Tonify   Tonify   or detox. Detox it because your skin issues and you see so much fire and they come out on the surface burning your skin and you’re like, oh, so, so much is suffering. And it comes and goes for so many years. But what is the bottom line? And this is because your body, your yang qi and the weakness and you cannot balance your body. And then the Yang qi week and Yang qi cannot sit in their position. What did they do? Yang qi’s nature running up. So that’s why you see all the Yang qi running out. They become burning. They become fire. But the bottom line you have a lot of emptiness, not a weakness.

Host What do you like. What type of herb do you use it to unblock those blockage.

Dr. Yueying Li So I use mostly like a classical formula. And it’s through my practice I only use the classical formula. So it’s, you know for example deal with um even certain type of like let’s say psoriasis. Psoriasis they focus is the blood dysfunction. Blood dysfunction. Normally I will use gui zhi fu ling gui zhi fu ling wan as a base formula because that’s deal with targets of the blood and for chronic like, you know, a psoriasis patient. And it depends on how how we, you know kind of is match the formula classical formula and quite often for chronic one. And I will use it if they’re already. This condition is pretty stable but it never go away. So I would just say okay use gui zhi fu ling. But the other formula I quite often I use, for example zhen wu tang okay, I use zhen wu tang and uh. And it also sometimes I use dang gui shao yao san and you know. And the other formula. If this person middle jiao get a lot of weakness and then I will use fu zi li zhong tang. So those are formula combination. And like the eczema is the same eczema. I use a lot of you know balanced formula. And, you know, for example, sometimes I use xiao chai hu tang and combined with like a fu zi li zhong tang. And for the long run and deal with that. And if patient is getting really kind of acute like eczema in like skin lesion is pretty bad and maybe use very short time, like, you know, long Dan xie gan tang and then, you know, most of the cases I use, for example, like a dang gui shao yao san and with wu ling san and to try to bring down the inflammation. And for a lot of patients, I also like, you know, match with Wen Dan Tang. And for some female patients, if they are, um, like skin aging, it’s related to their cycle like hormones. And in that way, I often use dang gui shao yao san and the ways, you know, some other formula if they have also like a yang qi weakness, either Zhen Wu Tang or Jin Gui Shen Qi Wan. So you can always match together.

Host Yeah, absolutely. It’s always like a purging. Um, you know, circulation, circulating and cleansing. But plus, if your constitution is a little weak, then we add something that’s like, um, I would say like tonifying. But at the same time, it’s like cleansing, too. It’s never just like, tonifying at all.

Dr. Yueying Li Yeah. And also like cleansing  the detox is dependent on depend on like, what you mean. And how do you detox? Unblock is detoxing because your body can push out. Right. And so and you know promoting the Yang Qi is detoxing. So it’s how you understand what you know really means detoxing. It doesn’t mean you have to use all the kind of very cold and bitter herbs to do the detox. That’s me meaning directly. What I want to attack is more attack. So, um. So if you if you don’t talk about it like the formula to use, I really not use so, so many like, formulas to really attack. So it’s more like a, you know, um, to balance and harmonize.

Host Yeah. Yeah. The most the principle of TCM.

Dr. Yueying Li Exactly. And also think about that, you know, skin condition and they appear in your skin. But it’s the the causing is internal. So that’s the relationship between yourself. And how do you kind of resolve the dysfunction then you have to harmonize.

Host Okay. I just have a last questions. Um, would Chinese herbs gave you allergy reaction?

Dr. Yueying Li Very good question. For some patients, they already Um, you’re told you and they have the allergy for any kind of seeds or nuts. Okay, then you need to be careful. And then sometimes, like a patient, they they they’re not telling you anything. But one thing I noticed, and which is, uh, in the past, we use raw herbs. Raw herbs. And for example, and, you know, for deal with or, you know, thinking about that skin problem. It’s a wind, cold wind, heat attacking the surface of the skin. And so they, um, you know, often use, uh, like a Chan Tui and Jiang Can. So this kind of thing is like a very high, like a protein type. So, um, I noticed, you know, some of my patients even, like the raw herbs and the cooking, and they could kind of Kindly induce a little bit there. I had one patient, um, even just the, you know, before use the herbs, and they just smell that, and Chan Tui open that, and they got a little bit like a breathing problem and Iike a induce a little bit of asthma. Okay. But that’s just the one case. And I do have also some patients like um, after you know, they vary um, some of the herbs they use and uh, they feel like they get more itching. So, um, for my practice, um, fortunately, I’m not like a, like a classic formula They don’t have this kind of stuff. You think of which formula they have Chan Tui classical formula. I never really use that. So, um, even Jiang Can, those of formula I not use that? You know, and if unless they tell you they have they they like they did nuts seeds. and then you’d be careful. Rather than that. I really not get any patient you will complain about. Oh, your herbs causing me more. And even sometimes they were because the skin condition, especially for children and it changes so fast. We’re not talking about days changing, hours change. It’s kind of you have to evaluate. It’s really your herbs. Cause that or just the skin problem, the nature of the skin problem. So I don’t think if you use the formula right, I don’t think you can give a patient any energy, just a certain type of herbs. You know just need to be careful. That’s my opinion.

Host I see, because a lot of times they got like shocked if their patients are saying, oh, you know, I got like a rash or hives after after having your herbs. Um, and then they’re not confident of, you know, use, use that.

Dr. Yueying Li Yeah, I do have like a, you know, long time ago my students patient. I think, as I mentioned, you know, it’s it’s kind of like a, um. Certain herbs, um, like a one case. It’s it’s due to Chan Tui for sure. Yeah, due to Chan Tui, but that’s in duce. Uh, the allergy.

Host Allergy.

Dr. Yueying Li Use the allergy. But other than that. And then they they nuts seeds. Then we need to be careful if if they mention that because some, some people highly allergic to that.

Host Uh, I just want to ask, like, if, if our listeners wants to find you or wants to do like consultation with you, where do they go or where do they look up for that information?

Dr. Yueying Li Um, so we have the, you know, website. And if you are like a practitioner, you have some like, uh, cases you want to discuss with me because I also do the consult with our practitioner Myself is, you know, besides a doctor practitioner. And I’m also most important. I’m an educator and I want to share my experience and also kind of will help if I can. And for our new practitioner. So if you need help with some certain type of this skin condition patient, your patient, you get a bit difficult. And you always you can go to you know like w w w herbal um TCM herbal TCM h e r b a l TCM dot com, and we have the console but the for professional. But if you are somebody less than this and you are just a individual and you have somebody, your family member or yourself, or suffer from a skin condition and you can simply and you know call. My office like 310405 1610 And so you can set up an appointment your like your to discuss or you want. You’re coming to get some consultation and we can recommend you some herbs. Or you can go to like an art of Chinese healing.com and to check our website.

Host Art of Chinese Healing is the name of your clinic and clinical.

Dr. Yueying Li Yeah, we we kind of deal with the so many different inflammations. Yes.

Host Yeah. And your clinic is located in Los Angeles, West Los Angeles, West Los Angeles. Okay. We will share all the contact information in our podcast below. Um, so if you ever need help, feel free to reach out to doctor Li. Thank you everyone. Thank you. See you next time. Yeah. Thank you.

Dr. Yueying Li Okay.