Toby graduated with a five-year Bachelor’s degree in traditional Chinese medicine from Nanjing University of TCM, China, and was trained by renowned Master TCM Practitioner Professor Kuotong Ho. He completed his one-year internship in Jiangsu Provincial hospital of TCM and is now a licensed Acupuncturist and Chinese herbal practitioner in both China and Australia. He is also a member of Australian Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine Association (AACMA).

Toby is an experienced and skilled practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and advocates finding harmony in the body as well as the environment. He is passionate about assisting people with health challenges, as much as educating clients on TCM principles for illness prevention. These principles have been practiced in China for several thousand years and are imbedded in Chinese Culture.

Under the guidance of his teacher, Toby has researched and now practices several forms of ancient Acupuncture, including the unique “Eight Trigrams” form and advocates the use of fewer needles to deliver far more powerful treatments. Using these forms Toby has treated hundreds of people with highly positive results.

Toby uses a combination of his Acupuncture skills, Chinese herbal therapy and Chinese dietary care to treat many conditions. His special areas of interest are:

• Pain Management
• Chronic Fatigue
• Sinus Problems
• Digestive Issues
• Weight Management
• Insomnia
• Emotional Disorder
• Beauty Care (Cosmetic TCM)

Illness

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a holistic and preventive medicine. With unique practice philosophies, TCM practitioners diagnose not only from the symptom itself but also consider the symptom as a reflection of disorder in the internal organs.

“Treat before getting the illness” is the predominant thinking of TCM in dealing with problems of disease and health. TCM practitioners are skilled at the diagnosis of the underlying health state of the body through observing the signs of the overall physical symptoms.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, a healthy person is defined as a person whose body and emotions are harmonious. All treatments are holistic, looking not only at the prevailing symptoms, but also the root cause.

Pain Relief & Rehab

Acupuncture is a very targeted treatment for pain relief and rehab. Our central nervous system has a pain modulation system, which can be used to inhibit the transmission of the sense of pain to our brain. During Acupuncture treatments when needles are inserted into the body, a signal is sent to activate the body’s own pain control system. A number of different hormonal substances such as endorphins, serotonin and acetylcholine are increased in secretion. The release of these hormones into the body produces a significant pain relieving effect.

Pain is a signal from our body with problems. It can also be considered as a signal for help. The efficacy of Acupuncture treatment is not only temporary pain relief but also improved blood circulation and achieving overall balance of physical condition.

Fertility Program/Women’s Health

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) suggests that there are three main causes of infertility: deficiency syndrome, stagnancy syndrome and heat syndrome. The deficiency syndrome prevents the hormonal system from properly influencing the sexual and reproductive functions. The stagnancy syndrome prevents the sexual and reproductive organs from functioning despite normal hormone levels and a normal ability to respond to hormones. This has the impact of restricting circulation to tissues. The heat syndrome may be associated with an infection or inflammatory process. It can produce abnormal semen quality leading to male infertility, while gynecologic infections can maintain female infertility by blocking the passages, altering the mucous membrane conditions or influencing the local temperature. All three syndromes can be treated with Chinese herbs, Acupuncture or a combination of both. These traditional Chinese approaches can also, and are often, combined with Western medicine in treating infertility.

Weight Loss

A combination of Acupuncture treatment, Chinese herbal tea and special diet plan are general principles of treatment (conventional advice). Modern medicine believes that obesity is likely to be associated with endocrine disorders and abnormal secretion of various hormones. Conditioning organs, endocrine regulation and metabolism improvement can be achieved by Acupuncture and some adjuvant therapies of TCM.

During the period of an Acupuncture weight loss treatment, mild anorexia, increased thirst or frequency of urine could happen. These are a normal phenomenon caused by constant adjustment of inherent function, the promotion of metabolism and continuation to consume energy. These symptoms will disappear once the body re-establishes balance.

Cosmetic Acupuncture (Facial Enhancement/ Facial Rejuvenation)

The use of Acupuncture for cosmetic purpose has become more popular around the world. It is simple, safe, reliable with no side effects. The cosmetic Acupuncture uses the insertion of needles and moxibustion to boost the vital energy, reducing swelling and regulate blood. This has had significant results in achieving anti-aging, physique and appearance improvement. Cosmetic Acupuncture treatment can also improve the following conditions:

• Wrinkles.
• Overweight.
• Chloasma.
• Acne.
• Swollen eyelid.

Other conditions

There are many more conditions that can be treated by TCM including emotional disorders, cardiovascular diseases, digestive diseases, sinus problems and respiratory diseases are commonly seen in TCM clinic and all can be improved.

Cupping Therapy

Cupping therapy is an ancient form of alternative medicine. Local suctions are applied to the skin in specific areas (more often on back) which causes broken capillaries and bruising. This physical stimulation to body is believed to have an effect of accelerating blood circulation and promote metabolism for general heath. Cupping is therefore more suitable for patients with chronic conditions.

Apart from this, cupping therapy is also used for some other conditions. From the TCM point of view, the main cause of illness can be divided into two categories － internal disorders and external causes. The internal disorders are mostly lack of vital energy (Qi) and emotion-related. Whereas the external causes refer to the impact of climate change on humans. They can be summarized as exogenous cold, wind, heatstroke, damp, dryness and fire. He normally applies cupping therapy to those patients with external causes as he believes cupping therapy is one of the best ways for removal of exogenous pathogens.

Moxibustion

Moxibustion is a traditional Chinese medicine technique that involves the burning of dried mugwort, a small, spongy herb, to facilitate healing. The heat created by burning of mugwort is applied on Acupuncture points or affected parts. This stimulation to the body meridians can be used to adjust the physiological and biochemical function of human disorders, and hence to achieve disease cure or prevention.

Known as one of the oldest techniques used in ancient history, moxibustion is now comparably less likely to be used in the TCM treatment. However, it brings great benefits to patients with infirmity or chronic illness. The burning of moxa is believed to expel cold and warm the meridians, which leads to smoother flow of blood and qi. Clinical cases for moxibustion has shown that it is promoted for improving general health, cancer aftercare and chronic conditions such as arthritis, digestive disorders and ulcers.

Professional Summary

Toby is a licensed and skilled Acupuncturist and Chinese Herbalist focused on using extensive expertise in Chinese medicine and Acupuncture to improve the health and well-being of clients. He has an interest in the research of I-Ching and able to combine the theory of I-Ching with Chinese medicine theory in improving the effectiveness of treating a variety of diseases.

Skill Highlights

Trained and skilled in the following techniques in Australia and China in treating the following conditions:

• Chronic health concerns.
• Migraines.
• Digestive problems.
• Sinus problems.
• Emotional disorders.
• Weight management.
• Acne.

Skilled in using the following techniques:

• Needling techniques.
• General pain management.
• Moxibustion aptitude.
• Medical herbalism.
• Cupping therapy.
• Scraping therapy.
• Senior CPR certified.

Accomplishments

Licensed Acupuncturist and Chinese herbal practitioner both in Australia and China.
Awarded commendation multiple times during university for outstanding performance
and being in the top 5% of graduating students.