Li Duggan Acupuncture

15/10/2026

Sore breasts before your period, but the tenderness disappears once your flow starts?

You might also experience irritability, frequent sighing, anxiety, migraines, dizziness, a tight jaw or even teeth grinding.

In Chinese medicine, these symptoms can be associated with a pattern called Liver Qi stagnation (肝气郁结).

The Liver is traditionally responsible for keeping Qi flowing smoothly throughout the body. When this flow becomes restricted, tension and discomfort may develop, often becoming more noticeable before menstruation.

The interesting part? Once your period begins, that feeling of tension may ease.

Of course, these symptoms can have different medical causes, and not everyone will have the same underlying pattern.

Does this sound familiar?

MenstrualHealth

11/10/2026

Waking up hot and sweaty in the middle of the night — but you’re nowhere near menopause.

In Chinese medicine, when this happens alongside other signs, it can fit a pattern called Yin deficiency 阴虚.

You might also notice:
• Feeling thirsty at night or keeping water beside the bed
• Red, dry or chapped lips
• Cracks at the corners of the mouth
• Mouth ulcers or recurrent cold sores
• Skin that tends to feel hot, red or break out

Chinese medicine rarely looks at one symptom in isolation. It’s the combination that helps us recognise the pattern.

10/10/2026

虚阳上浮

09/10/2026

Your feet can tell us a surprising amount about your overall health. 🦶

When I look at feet in clinic:

ankles — are they puffy? Any varicose or spider veins?
heels — dry or cracked skin?
Achilles and plantar area — any pain or tenderness?
soles, toenails and even between the toes — any fungal changes or athlete’s foot?

In Chinese medicine, we pay attention to these small physical signs alongside the bigger picture — circulation, warmth, energy, digestion, sleep and menstrual health.

Your body often leaves little clues. The feet are one place I don’t ignore.

Go on… take your socks off and have a look. 👀🦶

08/10/2026

Do you always wear socks to bed because your feet just never feel warm enough? 🧦

In Chinese medicine, persistent cold feet alongside other symptoms can fit a pattern we call Yang deficiency 阳虚

You might also notice:
• Getting up to p*e at night
• Low energy
• Puffy ankles
• Feeling cold easily
• Loose stools or being prone to diarrhoea
• Indigestion, reflux or heartburn

It’s never about one symptom alone — in clinic, I’m always looking at the whole pattern.

For the right person, moxibustion (moxa) is one of the traditional techniques we may use to bring warmth into the treatment.

AcupunctureIreland

08/10/2026

痰

07/10/2026

When a full bath feels like too much work… a foot bath is just perfect.

After a long 12-hour clinic day, especially on a cold, windy evening, this is one of my favourite ways to wind down.

Warm water, a herbal foot bath bag, and 15–20 minutes with my feet soaking. Simple, warming and very little effort.

In Chinese medicine, we’re big believers in keeping the feet warm — especially when the weather turns cold and damp.

#泡脚

07/10/2026

06/10/2026

🔥 Hot face… but freezing feet?
This is 上热下寒, heat above, cold below.

You might notice a tendency towards a flushed or hot face, headaches or migraines, tinnitus, sinus pressure, jaw clenching or teeth grinding, neck and shoulder tension or feeling wired and anxious…

Yet at the same time, your hands and feet may feel cold, your lower body feels chilly, and you can feel tired or sluggish.

It can seem contradictory: how can you feel hot and cold at the same time?

But in Chinese medicine, where the heat and cold appear — and what other symptoms come with them — can be just as important as the symptoms themselves.

06/10/2026

🌳 Two apple trees in your garden. One in the sunshine, one in the shade. Which one would you expect bear apples first? Which apple is going to taste nicer?

This is an analogy I often use with my fertility patients.

Give an apple tree warmth, sunlight and the right environment, and you’d expect it to have the best opportunity to flower and produce good fruit.

In Chinese medicine, we think about fertility in a similar way. We pay attention to warmth, circulation and the overall environment of the body when preparing for conception

That’s why I often ask about cold hands and feet, feeling cold around the lower abdomen, menstrual symptoms and whether you constantly reach for a hot-water bottle.

🌱 Before focusing only on the fruit, look at the environment in which it has to grow.

This is a Chinese medicine analogy, not a medical test of fertility or pregnancy outcome.