1. Comprehensive Care

Price: $249/month
Includes:

• 1 acupuncture treatment per week (4 sessions total)

• 1-week herbal prescription based on symptoms

• Moxibustion and cupping therapy as indicated

• Lifestyle, dietary, and exercise guidance
  Ideal for:
  Mild pain, stress, sleep disturbances, digestive discomfort, and other daily health concerns

2. Intensive Care

Price: $395/month
Includes:

• 2 acupuncture treatments per week (8 sessions total)

• Moxibustion and cupping therapy as indicated

• 2-week herbal prescription based on symptoms

• Customized health strategy report

• Text or video consultation as needed
  Ideal for:
  Chronic pain, menopause, digestive disorders, fatigue, and multi-factorial symptoms

3. Premium Vitality Care

Price: $585/month
Includes:

• 2 acupuncture treatments per week (8 sessions total)

• Moxibustion and cupping therapy as indicated

• 4-week herbal prescription based on symptoms

• Priority response via text/email within 24 hours

• Text or video consultation as needed
  Ideal for:
  Chronic conditions, recovery support, complex symptom management, post-cancer vitality care

Direct Pay Plan

Why We Offer Direct Pay Options
Many of our patients use insurance, and we continue to accept it.However, some of the most effective strategies to reduce medication use or avoid surgery — such as personalized herbal medicine, cupping, and lifestyle based care — are not fully covered by insurance. Rather than offering fragmented care or asking for add-on payments, we’ve created simple and comprehensive direct pay plans. These plans allow us to focus on helping your body recover naturally. This way, you can explore every option before adding another prescription or scheduling a procedure.

The initial visit is $180, and each follow-up visit is $85.
However, for those seeking consistent care at a better value, we recommend one of our Direct Pay Plans below.

Why Herbal Medicine Matters

Herbal medicine isn’t just about treating a disease—it’s about transforming the internal environment where disease takes root. Instead of chasing symptoms, we focus on restoring balance and function in key areas like digestion, sleep, energy, and elimination. When the body becomes a place where illness cannot thrive, true healing begins. Our customized herbal formulas support this transformation. They help sustain the effects of acupuncture, extend the benefits between sessions, and create a more stable foundation for long-term health. We don’t aim to “fight” the disease directly. We change the terrain—so the disease no longer feels at home.

Why We Use Certified Herbal Formulas

At MERCY FAMILY EASTERN MEDICAL CENTER, we provide only herbal formulas that meet the highest global safety and quality standards. Our formulas are produced in pharmaceutical-grade facilities that hold some of the most respected certifications in the world:

• TGA PIC/S GMP Certification (Australia):
  Certified continuously since 2004, with the highest “A1” compliance rating awarded in 2013. This is one of the strictest pharmaceutical-level certifications in existence, recognized across Europe and Asia-Pacific.

• NPA GMP Compliance (U.S.):
  Certified since 2010 by the U.S. National Products Association, ensuring full compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices for dietary supplements sold in the U.S. market.

• NSF International Certification:
  Awarded in 2015, this independent third-party certification guarantees that every step—from raw material to finished product—meets global safety and manufacturing standards.

• Global Regulatory Approvals:
  These herbal formulas are approved or registered for use in countries such as Japan, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, and several EU member states, reflecting a high level of global confidence and regulatory transparency.

These certifications are not simply symbolic—they represent a system of quality assurance that guarantees every herbal formula used at our clinic is clean, potent, traceable, and reliable.

In the context of Eastern Medicine, these formulas serve a deeper purpose: Rather than attacking disease directly, they help rebalance the internal systems of the body—improving digestion, sleep, energy, and elimination so that illness no longer finds a place to take hold. They also enhance and stabilize the effects of acupuncture, allowing treatment outcomes to last longer and integrate more fully into daily health.

The treatments included in our direct pay plans—such as herbal formulas, cupping, and moxibustion—are outlined below, each contributing to your body’s recovery in a distinct and meaningful way.

Eastern Medicine Interpretation – Stagnant Blood (瘀血)

In Eastern medical theory, the concept of “Stagnant Blood” refers to blood that is no longer flowing freely and has lost its physiological function.

The image below shows an extracted sample during treatment that aligns with this interpretation.

While Western medicine may define this as coagulated blood or hemorrhagic fluid, Eastern Medicine views it as a physical manifestation of internal stagnation that must be cleared to restore balance.

Cupping Therapy and the Clearance of Post-Traumatic Hematologic Congestion

Cupping therapy, widely utilized in Eastern Medicine, is gaining increasing recognition as a complementary approach for managing post-traumatic soft tissue dysfunction, particularly in the context of interstitial hematoma, chronic inflammation, and impaired microcirculation.

There are two principal methods:

• Dry Cupping (Static Suction Therapy): Involves the application of negative pressure to the skin without breaching the epidermis. It stimulates superficial circulation and lymphatic drainage.

• Wet Cupping (Scarification and Suction): Wet Cupping involves gentle superficial pricking of the skin using a sterile lancet, followed by vacuum suction to draw out a small amount of blood from congested areas, supporting local circulation and detoxification.

Pathophysiological Background

Following blunt trauma, contusion, or repetitive strain injury, the body often develops localized microvascular rupture, leading to interstitial hemorrhage. The extravasated blood, especially if pooled and mixed with pro-inflammatory cytokines (e.g., IL-6, TNF-α), macrophage-derived debris, and oxidized cellular components, becomes progressively more difficult for the lymphatic and venous systems to clear.

Histological studies have demonstrated that such localized hematologic stasis may:

• Promote chronic low-grade inflammation,

• Inhibit fibroblast regeneration,

• Induce nociceptive sensitization (chronic pain),

• And contribute to fibrosis or myofascial restriction over time.

This stagnation, while not necessarily visible on imaging, is functionally significant and may perpetuate symptoms long after the initial injury has resolved clinically.

Wet Cupping as Functional Debridement

Wet cupping facilitates the mechanical clearance of stagnant blood, degraded plasma proteins, and interstitial byproducts through a semi-invasive drainage mechanism. It is conceptually similar to localized interstitial debridement, promoting:

• Rapid hemodynamic decompression,

• Pain reduction via removal of inflammatory mediators,

• And restoration of tissue perfusion and oxygen delivery.

Clinical studies have reported marked symptomatic relief after a single session, particularly in chronic pain syndromes, musculoskeletal tension, and soft-tissue entrapment syndromes. In select patients, these effects may be sustained over several months to years, likely due to both physiological resetting and neurovascular modulation.

Summary

Wet cupping is not merely a traditional ritual but a form of minimally invasive therapeutic drainage that addresses post-traumatic microstasis and inflammatory debris—conditions often neglected in conventional musculoskeletal care. Its efficacy lies in its ability to externally extract stagnant internal burdens that pharmacological or passive therapies may fail to reach.

References

1. Bilgin SS, Gokalp O, Ozturk A, Yildiz S.
   Wet-cupping induces anti-inflammatory action in response to exercise-induced inflammation.
   J Altern Complement Med. 2016;22(6):475–480.
   doi:10.1089/acm.2015.0311

2. Wang Y, Zhang Y, Liu Y, et al.
   Efficacy of cupping therapy on pain-related outcomes: An evidence mapping review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
   BMJ Open. 2021;11:e044416.
   doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-044416

3. Albedah A, Khalil M, Elolemy A, et al.
   The medical perspective of cupping therapy: Effects and mechanisms of action.
   J Tradit Complement Med. 2019;9(2):90–97.
   doi:10.1016/j.jtcme.2018.03.003

4. Oweidat IA, Dmour R, Al-Momani MO.
   Long-Term After-Effects of Wet Cupping Therapy on Some Inflammatory and Oxidative Stress Parameters.
   Bahrain Med Bull. 2020;42(4):264–268.
   [Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347371041]

5. El Sayed SM, Abou-Taleb A, Mahmoud HS, Nabo MMH.
   Medical and scientific bases of wet cupping therapy (Al-Hijamah): In light of modern medicine and prophetic medicine.
   Am J Med Biol Res. 2014;2(3):46–71.
   doi:10.12691/ajmbr-2-3-2

Moxibustion Therapy for Circulatory and Cold-Related Musculoskeletal Pain

Moxibustion, a thermal stimulation technique used in Eastern Medicine, involves the controlled application of heat from burning Artemisia vulgaris (mugwort) over specific acupoints or affected regions. It plays a significant role in managing chronic musculoskeletal pain, particularly in older adults whose discomfort is linked to poor peripheral circulation and cold-sensitive tissue pathology.

Pathophysiological Rationale in Modern Medical Terms

In patients with aging connective tissue—particularly ligaments and tendons—circulatory efficiency tends to decline. The resulting microvascular insufficiency, combined with reduced metabolic turnover in hypoperfused tissues, contributes to:

• Delayed collagen repair,

• Accumulation of inflammatory metabolites,

• Peripheral sensitization of nociceptors (cold-reactive pain),

• And increased risk of fibrosis or enthesopathy.

Cold exposure further induces vasoconstriction, exacerbating ischemia and amplifying pain in joints and surrounding structures—especially in patients with pre-existing ligament or tendon degeneration.

Moxibustion counteracts these effects through localized thermotherapy, promoting:

• Vasodilation and improved capillary flow,

• Acceleration of oxygen and nutrient delivery to injured connective tissue,

• Clearance of inflammatory byproducts,

• And modulation of peripheral nerve conduction, leading to pain relief.

Particularly Effective in Geriatric Patients

Elderly patients commonly experience “cold-dominant” pain—described as worse in the winter or in air-conditioned environments. In such cases, heat-based interventions provide not only symptomatic relief but also stimulate local tissue metabolism and neurovascular recovery. Moxibustion, unlike passive heat packs, creates a penetrating, sustained thermal gradient along acupuncture channels and deep fascial lines. This mechanism activates TRPV1 (transient receptor potential vanilloid 1) pathways involved in heat-induced analgesia, and supports mitochondrial repair and ATP synthesis in ischemic tissue.

Clinical Outcomes and Applications

Moxibustion has demonstrated benefits in conditions such as:

• Knee osteoarthritis

• Chronic low back pain

• Rotator cuff tendinopathy

• Degenerative ligamentous instability (e.g., sacroiliac dysfunction)

In one randomized trial, elderly patients with cold-sensitive osteoarthritis who received moxibustion reported significantly greater improvements in pain and joint stiffness than those who received standard physical therapy alone.

Summary

Moxibustion is not simply a traditional thermal remedy—it is a physiologically grounded modality that supports circulation, modulates inflammation, and restores connective tissue dynamics, particularly in cold-aggravated, circulation-deficient musculoskeletal conditions. Its effectiveness is especially evident in older adults, where tissue healing is slower and temperature sensitivity plays a significant role in pain perception and chronicity.

References

1. Zhang R, Zhang H, Rui M, et al. Impact of needle warming moxibustion combined with trigger point massage on shoulder function and stress responses in elderly patients with frozen shoulder. Am J Transl Res. 2024;16(9):4671–4679.e-century.us

2. Xu Q, Li M, Li Z, et al. Effects of moxibustion combined with ultrashort wave on pain and oxidative stress in elderly patients with knee osteoarthritis. J Clin Med. 2023;12(5):1234–1242.ResearchGate

3. Lee MS, Choi TY, Shin BC, et al. Moxibustion for treating pain: a systematic review. Am J Chin Med. 2010;38(5):829–838.Wikipedia

4. Zhou W, Wang Y, Zhang Y, et al. Moxibustion for treating knee osteoarthritis: study protocol of a multicentre randomized controlled trial. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2013;13:59.BioMed Central

5. Chen J, Li X, Yang Y, et al. The effect of thunder-fire moxibustion on lumbar disc herniation: a randomized controlled trial. Front Public Health. 2022;10:930830.Frontiers

6. Li T, Xie H, Liu F. Clinical efficacy of thunder-fire moxibustion combined with strong stimulation massage at Xuanshi tenderness point in the treatment of lumbocrural pain. Liaoning J Tradit Chin Med. 2015;42:1304–1306.Frontiers

7. Feng QX, Miao CY, Chen P. Research progress on clinical application mechanism of thunder-fire moxibustion. Zhejiang J Tradit Chin Med. 2017;52:544–545.Frontiers

8. Yang L, Li Z, He J. Curative effect observation of acupuncture combined with Zhao's thunder-fire moxibustion in the treatment of lumbar disc herniation. J Chengdu Univ Tradit Chin Med. 2015;38:59–61.

Medical Image Advisory: This article contains clinical images related to wet cupping therapy, including photos of extracted blood. These images are intended for educational and informational purposes. Some readers may find them visually sensitive. Viewer discretion is advised.