The Benefits of Bloodletting

Leave behind what you think about vampires, or barbaric medicine from the 18th century. In this video my Chinese Medicine Practitioner friend talks about bloodletting on th E! channel documentary Radical Hollywood Cures.

In reality bloodletting techniques that I perform are the removal of drops -not pints - of blood. No more than what can be dabbed in a few cotton balls. This is not some True Blood fantasy come to life. One of the primary indications for blood letting is blood stagnation characterized according to Chinese Medicine theory by sharp and stabbing localized or fixed pain.

Interesting Case: Stage 4 endometriosis patient with severe pain that she reports as excruciating during her period. She cannot work for a day or two every month and frequently she is taking Vikodin. The diagnosis is blood stagnation. She reports getting fantastic relief from removing stagnant blood from minor varicose veins around her knee. It is not something that she has to wait to feel. As soon as the blood comes out she gets instantaneous relief.

Alex on E! Entertainment Television

This is a clip of me performing Gua Sha (scraping technique) on E! TV special called Radical Hollywood Cures. The conceptual framework of disease in Chinese Medicine is defined as blockage of energy (qi) and blood. Gua Sha is a scraping technique to relieve toxins. It can help remove toxins and heat from patients getting radiotherapy. This is not done in the radiation field. It can also be done for many painful condtions of the back. In the show they were going for the ewww! factor but in reality it does not hurt and does not leave lasting marks.

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