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Traditional Medicine & Functional Medicine

Traditional Medicine

Traditional medicine refers to healing systems with deep roots - practiced and passed down for hundreds or even thousands of years. These time-tested approaches include Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, and Western Herbal Medicine, among others.

Unlike conventional medicine, which is typically what you find in hospitals or most primary care settings, traditional medicine emphasizes wholistic, often nature-based practices that support the body’s innate ability to heal.

These systems view the individual as a whole - body, mind, and spirit - to restore balance and promote long-term wellness.

The body holds the data.
The scientific method relies on useful, relevant information—and sometimes, the most immediate data comes from beautifully low-tech tools. We use time-honored techniques that provide real-time insight, so you don’t always have to wait on lab results to start understanding what’s going on. Even in a power outage, these clinically effective methods help us read the body’s messages and guide next steps with confidence.

“The pulse never lies.”
This ancient truth from classical Chinese medicine reminds us that the body often speaks more clearly than words. A single radial pulse reveals far more than beats per minute—it offers a rich tapestry of information about the body’s functional state and energetic balance. By listening closely, we can assess patterns of Yin and Yang, Cold and Heat, Dampness and Dryness, Deficiency and Repletion. Even when it’s hard to explain how you’re feeling, your body knows—and it’s always telling the truth.

The tongue tells a story.
In traditional tongue diagnostics, the tongue reflects the state of your digestive and overall internal health. Its color, shape, coating, and moisture all offer valuable insight. Like Goldilocks, we’re looking for “just right”—not too red or pale, swollen or thin, greasy or dry. Tongue diagnosis helps us see what your body might be trying to say, even when words fall short.

A powerful branch of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Bodywork within TCM is a supportive complement to treatments involving diet, lifestyle, and herbal therapy. While often used for musculoskeletal issues, its effects go far beyond pain relief. When applied with precision, the results can be immediate—and sometimes, surprisingly profound.

Tan & Dong Styles: Healing from a distance.

These classical Chinese acupuncture styles use distal points—placing needles far from the area of concern to restore balance and flow of Qi. So for something like tennis elbow, treatment might happen at the contralateral (opposite side) elbow. It may seem counterintuitive, but the results often speak for themselves.

The Eclectic Triphasic Medical System (ETMS)
ETMS is a forward-thinking, integrative approach designed to enhance quality of life and support longevity. This wholistic model helps practitioners create deeply personalized treatment plans—especially for those navigating chronic illness. It also offers a science-based framework for crafting herbal and nutritional programs that support stress resilience, energy, disease prevention, and graceful aging. Learn more about ETMS here.

Decoctions: Deep, nourishing tradition in a cup.
A decoction or Chinese "tang " is a more concentrated and intense form of herbal brew. Ingredients—often an ancient blend of plant, fungal, mineral, and sometimes even animal substances—are actively boiled for 30 minutes or more to extract their full medicinal power. Once the rich broth is ready, the remaining roots, twigs, rocks, or bones (called the mark) are strained out. These decoctions are deeply nourishing and time-tested, with many recipes tracing back over 2,000 years. The taste? Let’s just say… it tends to leave an impression.

Custom Aromatic Blends: Medicine directly into the lungs and upper airways.
Aromatic therapies - at the right dilution - offer a powerful, non-invasive way to support the body—especially the respiratory, emotional, and nervous systems.

Nebulizing delivers diluted volatile compounds directly into the lungs without heat, making it ideal for acute respiratory support. Safe and effective for all ages.
Diffusing spreads those benefits through a space, whether calming a classroom or clearing the air in a musty basement.
Topicals are time-honored—think herbal oils, salves, and even martial arts liniments—applied directly to soothe and support.
Aromatherapy may smell lovely, but it’s serious medicine. These potent plant extracts, made through distillation or CO₂ extraction, are used with care and appropriately diluted with intention to restore balance.

Functional Medicine

Functional medicine is a personalized, science-backed approach to healthcare that focuses on identifying and addressing the root causes of illness - rather than just treating symptoms.

It’s centered around a partnership between patient and practitioner, using detailed information about your body, lifestyle, and environment to create a care plan that’s uniquely tailored to you.

By understanding how all the systems of your body interact, functional medicine helps support long-term healing and overall wellness - not just a quick fix.

We gather data from the body to guide personalized care and uncover hidden imbalances.
While no single test gives a complete picture, gathering a variety of data points can help illuminate patterns and guide your care. Each type of test provides a unique window into the body’s internal environment—revealing clues about function, imbalance, and opportunity for healing.

Common types of data collected include:

Blood - usually more thorough than what conventional standard of care (SOC) GP/PCP's assess.
Urine - beyond looking for UTI's, can give strong clues for bacterial/fungal dysbiosis, mitochondrial function, toxic burdens, and nutritional sufficiency.
Saliva - not just for cortisol and hormones, but an easy way to assess who might be living in your mouth driving periodontal disease and other systemic chronic illnesses from hypertension to Alzheimers.
Stool - your microbial community often sets the tone for your mood & immunity. Best to have harmony & unity with your internal community for long perpetuity.
Pathology & Genomic Testing - 10 humans with the same conventional cancer diagnosis even having the same location and size of tumors might have 10 totally different cancers under the genomic microscope. These details can inform best treatment options and predict outcomes.

Targeted nutraceuticals use clean and concentrated food, herbs, and vitamins to support your body’s unique biology.
Drawing on his background in Nutrition Science, herbalism, and Traditional Chinese Medicine, Oscar offers personalized recommendations designed to address specific aspects of your physiology. These targeted interventions help support your wellness plan with precise tools—from therapeutic foods to high-quality herbs and supplements—that work in harmony with your body’s natural processes.

Far infrared therapy gently warms the body to support pain reduction, detoxification, circulation, and cellular balance.
Using targeted wavelengths of light, Far Infrared Therapy (IRTx) promotes increased blood flow and helps the body eliminate toxins. In holistic oncology protocols, it may also serve as a supportive therapy—especially in cases where cancer cells are sensitive to heat and located near the surface of the body. Beyond its physical benefits, many patients report feeling uplifted and energized after just 20 minutes of treatment.

Light therapy supports the body’s natural rhythm, hormone balance, and pain regulation.
This gentle therapy uses dichromatic green light or a SensoLight to stimulate cellular processes and promote healing. Dichromatic green light stimulates the pineal gland—an important organ that helps regulate circadian rhythms, hormone production, and the body's pain response. By working with light instead of medication, this approach encourages the body’s own ability to find balance and relief. Learn more about the science behind this therapy in the Perque Ask Dr. J series.

A powerful form of oxygen to support the body’s ability to heal and defend itself.
Ozone (O₃) has been used since the mid-20th century in both medical and environmental settings for its disinfecting properties. When introduced in small, controlled amounts, ozone can help disrupt the growth of harmful bacteria, fungi, and viruses by interfering with their structure and ability to reproduce. In therapeutic use, ozone therapy aims to restore balance at the cellular level and enhance the body’s natural processes for detoxification, immune function, and repair.

Sierra Botanica & Collaborative Medicine

Our Services

Traditional Medicine & Functional Medicine

Traditional Medicine

Functional Medicine