A couple of months ago I strained my left shoulder (carrying a very heavy box early in the morning on a cold winter day). I expected it to heal itself over the course of a few days, but after a week it was still bothering me. In my investigations to better understand injuries and how to best heal them from a Chinese medicinal perspective I came across the book A Tooth from the Tiger’s Mouth by Tom Bisio (a book I highly recommend). From the book I gained a better understanding of the causes of injuries, how to treat them, and perhaps most importantly, learned some ways to prevent them. I’d say a lot of the content was a variation on things I already knew on some level, but sometimes reading about something you already know in a new way can be incredibly valuable (and there’s a lot of really practical information and exercises).
One of the ways of treating injuries is using liniments and the book includes a number of recipes to make your own. It’s fairly simple if you have access to Chinese herbs. You just get the herbs in the recipe and soak them in alcohol for 6-weeks to 3 years (the longer the better of course), stirring frequently. I thought it would be a super-fun and educational experience, and that it would be super exciting to treat friends, family, and future clients with a liniment that I made. So, while I was walking to class one day with my good friend and was telling him about this, he mentioned that I could probably sell it too. Pretty much every biker in the city should have some…
This got my creative juices flowing and since then I’ve been experimenting with making medicinal teas (which I could customize based upon a person’s constitution and the season) and thinking up lots of fun and interesting ways to get more hands on experience with business. Unfortunately, treatments are something that will have to wait until I’m licensed (though I am doing a certification program over spring break that will allow me to needle a specific set of ear points for detoxification and stress relief), but having a feel for getting the word out about products and services is important, and it’s something that most acupuncture school don’t provide enough of.
If anyone has any ideas, advice, questions, or book recommendations about running a business please let me know.
If you want to pre-order some trauma liniment, I expect my first batch to be officially done by September (so try not to get injured this summer!).
Earthly Acupuncture 
Mmm.. I’ve always felt there was a lack of self-care in terms of sports and injury, in my own life and in the advice that I’ve received. Like, physical therapists will tell you to stretch and strengthen. Woo. Kind of not a satisfying answer. I know some martial arts friends who have been into tinctures and such. I think it’s very powerful knowledge to have.
Hey Michael,
I definitely agree with you about the importance of self-care and sports injuries. I sometimes feel like there’s an abundance of unhelpful advice as to what to do post-injury to ensure the most effective recovery. I’d say one of the major deciding factors as to whether or not an injury becomes chronic is how you take care of yourself afterward (the other deciding factor is psycho-social). You have me toying with the idea of putting together a workshop about injury recovery.
As for the liniments and tinctures, it’s powerful knowledge to have, and therefore essential to share it. I’m looking forward to sharing quite a bit. I’ll let you know when it happens, and be sure to give you a bottle 🙂
Thanks for the comment! You might want to check out that book. Let me know if you have any others (or questions for that matter), and I’d also be happy to work with you on injury rehabilitation at any time, just let me know (hopefully you won’t have any injuries to rehabilitate… prevention is of course a whole other topic)!