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Oahu, Hawaii Clinic

Our purpose is to bring succinct and clear information about Oriental Medicine to consumers and health care practitioners. It is our intention that this information will clarify your health-related choices. We provide education through articles, books, presentations, newsletters and direct you toward NCCAOM (National Certification Commission for Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine) certified Oriental medical practitioners nationwide. We select the information based on classical medical literature, scientific research, expert lectures, consumer feedback, websites and extensive clinical experience. Our commitment is to provide you with accurate, well-referenced, easy to understand information, which has been reviewed by our advisory board enabling you to take action to achieve greater well-being.

In addition, we operate a busy clinical practice in Durham, NC, and Oahu, HI, USA; this site is funded and operated by Oriental Health Solutions, LLC. Feel free to contact us if you have questions, would like to book an appointment, or would like to give us feedback how we may better serve you.

Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to receive acupuncture or to take herbs for your specific condition? Our team specializes in treating a variety of health problems including women’s health issues, internal medical disorders, the treatment of pain, and musculo-skeletal problems with acupuncture, Chinese herbs and dietary counseling. If you suffer from PMS, menstrual problems, amenorrhea, menopause, infertility, frequent colds, cough, edema, urinary incontinence, digestive problems, insomnia, nervousness, chronic pain, musculo-skeletal problems or any other condition now might be the time to experience Oriental medicine. Our busy clinic has been in operation since 1989, initially in Santa Fe, New Mexico and since 1999, in Durham, North Carolina, and as of 2008 our team has expanded to Oahu, Hawai’i

Our patients get results! We pride ourselves in providing excellent care.

Our Practitioners in Oahu, Hawaii

Fang Cai, MAOM, LAc, Dipl OM

Fang Cai, founding member of the Oahu, Hawai’i branch of Oriental Health Solutions, LLC, is a licensed practitioner of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine in both Hawai’i and North Carolina. Ms. Cai is nationally certified in Acupuncture and Chinese Herbology. Ms. Cai obtained a B.A. in Biology from Swarthmore College. In 1998, she began her studies of Oriental medicine in Shanghai, China, and later received a Master’s degree in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine from the New England School of Acupuncture (NESA). She has been on NESA’s Institutional Review Board to review proposals of acupuncture clinical studies, was an associate editor for the New England Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine from 2002 to 2006, and served as a board member of the North Carolina Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. Ms. Cai has been a consultant on acupuncture clinical trials at UNC-Chapel Hill, and is a credentialed acupuncturist at Duke Integrative Medicine. Ms. Cai is fluent in the Mandarin and Sichuan dialects of Chinese. Ms. Cai specializes in internal medicine, with focuses on digestive disorders, headaches, and women’s health, including menstrual disorders, menopause, fertility, pregnancy, and postpartum health.

Please click here to view Fang Cai's resume

Our busy acupuncture and herbal clinic is located in Suite 321 of the Castle Professional Building, 46-001 Kamehameha Hwy, Suite 317C, in the center of Kaneohe. This central location on the Windward side of Oahu allows for convenient access from Kailua and Lanikai, the North Shore, and is even an easy drive from Honolulu.

What to Expect on a First Visit

Your first visit usually takes about 1½ to 2 hours. We will ask you a variety of questions – many you will expect and some will seem unusual or different from what you may have experienced when visiting other health care practitioners. As part of the examination we will check your pulse on your wrist, look at your tongue, and/or may press on certain acupuncture points. Typically, we perform an acupuncture treatment during the first visit unless there are specific reasons or you wish not to. Some patients only get herbs and/or come in for a nutritional consultation.

Most of our patients enjoy treatments and find them very relaxing. All needles are sterile and used only one time. You may feel a small prick lasting a couple of seconds when the needle is inserted. At about 90% of the time nothing is felt at all. Once the needle is in place you may not feel anything or it might feel slightly heavy or achy but not typically feel painful.

Your treatment may include other modalities, such as:

Moxa – an herb (Artemisia vulgaris) that is burned either on a needle or used to warm a certain area or point.

Cups – a vacuum is created inside a glass cup and then it is placed on different parts of the body. It may stay in one place or be moved over an area such as your back.

Guasha – a form of bodywork using a Chinese porcelain spoon that is massaged over specific body areas.

Alpha-Stim – when experiencing electrical therapy, most patients feel strong electrical currents running through their body that can be uncomfortable. In these cases, milliamp stimulators (thousandths of an ampere) have been used. While they have their place in the therapeutic world the Alpha-Stim or microcurrent therapy uses a completely different approach. Microcurrent therapy is in the millionths of an ampere range and generally below our ability to feel the current. The gentle nature of this therapy is nourishing to the tissues and so safe that the European medical community rates it as save as stereo equipment! When using Alpha-Stim microcurrent the focus is on stimulating a healing response, and reduced pain is the result. The impact of microcurrent increases over time as the healing process continues. We also find that the Alpha-Stim device is wonderful for some central nervous complaints, such as depression, anxiety, insomnia, and PTSD from trauma. Its use is completely in harmony with the practice of Oriental Medicine. When needed we may rent a machine to patients so they can treat affected areas at home.

Electro-acupuncture – on rare occasions a battery powered electrical device using low level electricity can be added to the needles usually for treatment of chronic pain.

Homework - We often give homework to patients. This might mean massaging certain points, using specific foods for their therapeutic value, or other complaint specific things. This enhances treatments and helps you participate in your healing process.

Herbal Formulas – Raw herbs or Granules - Herbal formulas are an important part of successful treatment outcomes with Oriental medicine. We have two large single herb pharmacies, each containing about 250 herbs. We carry the actual raw herbs which are the ones that have been used for thousands of years in China. They include roots, twigs, buds, rhizomes, and other parts of plants. We also carry those same herbs in granule form. Therefore, we can custom-tailor formulas for each patient based on his/her presentation and needs. We only work with suppliers that have stringent quality controls and both types of single herbs carry the “Good Manufacturing Process” (GMP) certification. In addition, our granules are ISO certified, complying with a stringent German certification system. We have had numerous communications with our suppliers to ensure the highest quality of our pharmacy, and are constantly pushing the leading edge in this regard.

Prepared Medicines - These are prepared formulas generally in the form of pills, capsules or tinctures. These are manufactured both in China and the US. The distributors we use routinely test their products by independent laboratories for the presence foreign substances, such as heavy metals, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals. All have been certified by “Good Manufacturing Process” (GMP). Prepared medicines cannot be custom-tailored as they have already been made into pills ahead of time, so you may be required to take more than one formula to get the best results.

Acupuncture Styles - We want you to understand your treatment and will do our best to explain the process. If this is your first visit to a practitioner of Oriental Medicine, we assume you will have many questions to ask. There are many variations of Oriental medicine – Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Five-Element, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Korean styles, so even if it’s not your first time receiving acupuncture there may be some differences. We practice two styles at OHS, a Japanese style taught by Kiiko Matsumoto and TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine). Both are based on the Chinese classics and modern medical pathophysiology. The Japanese style is our primary acupuncture style. It is a very “hands on” approach and is based on palpation of active reflexes on the abdomen (the hara), neck, back and their corresponding treatment points. This system of palpation and feedback gives the practitioner and patient immediate feedback on both diagnosis and treatment making treatment more succinct and efficient. Our herbal prescribing is done using TCM as our diagnostic and treatment style. It is tailored to use as an herbal therapy and we find our results are best with combining the best of both of these approaches, TCM herbal therapy and Japanese acupuncture.

Our practice is very busy, and we know that you are too.  We make an effort to see everyone at the scheduled time. Please be on time for your appointment to ensure that you receive a full, complete treatment. After your initial visit, we may want to see you either weekly, every 2 weeks or every 3 weeks, depending on the severity of your condition and whether we’re supporting your treatment progress with herbs and/or dietary adjustments. After your condition stabilizes we will phase out treatment or suggest interval treatments such as coming in for a quarterly or annual tune-up.

If you have any further questions please feel free to contact us. We look forward to working with you.