Saam and Skin Conditions
Fang Cai, L.Ac

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Sometimes clarity doesn’t come from adding more—it comes from taking away. Simplifying helps to see more clearly what’s already there. In medicine, that often means noticing the simple patterns hiding beneath complex presentations.

In this conversation with Fang Cai, we explore the meeting place between Saam acupuncture and dermatology. Fang brings years of clinical experience and study with Mazen Al-Khafaji, and she shares how integrating Saam principles with herbal dermatology has deepened both her diagnostic precision and her ability to communicate with patients in clear, everyday terms.

Listen into this discussion on using Saam acupuncture for troublesome skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, urticaria, rosacea, and acne. We’ll explore how the skin reveals patterns of physiology and imbalance, and why simplicity in treatment—done with discernment—can create profound change.

Fang’s reflections remind us that good medicine doesn’t always come from complexity. Sometimes it’s about listening closely, trusting what you see, and being the kind of practitioner you’d want to visit yourself.

In this episode, we discuss:

  • Discovering Saam Acupuncture — how Fang first encountered Saam through Toby Daly’s writing and podcast episodes, and what initially drew her to it.
  • Integration of Five Phases and Six Qi — why the system felt different: its clear, direct manipulation of elemental and climatic dynamics through acupuncture.
  • Changes in Clinical Perception — how practicing Saam sharpened her pattern differentiation and clarified emotional and constitutional tendencies in patients.
  • Language as Medicine — using elemental metaphors and patient-specific language as part of treatment; the idea that conversation itself can begin the healing.
  • Bridging Herbs and Acupuncture — how Saam insights inform herbal choices, and vice versa, especially in cases where internal and external patterns overlap.
  • Dermatology and Saam — combining Mazin Al-Kafaji’s dermatology methods with Saam thinking; using skin presentation to refine internal pattern diagnosis.
  • Pattern-Specific Case Discussions — practical examples treating psoriasis, eczema, urticaria (hives), rosacea, and acne, including channel/organ strategies for each.
  • Clinical Experimentation and Simplicity — the discipline of minimal, single-strategy treatments, and interpreting results.
  • Power and Risk in Saam Treatments — recognizing that Saam’s precision can create dramatic results or problems if misapplied; the importance of discernment.
  • Simplicity and Maturity in Practice — reflections on how long-term clinical experience leads toward clarity and economy of method in both herbs and needles.
  • Communication with Patients — shifting from biomedical explanations to authentic use of Chinese-medical language that resonates with patients’ lived experience.
  • Clinical Ethos and Professional Integrity — Fang Cai’s guiding maxim: “Be the practitioner you want to see.” A call for humane, attentive, and excellent care within modern healthcare.

Be the practitioner you want to have.

Fang Cai, L.Ac

I’ve been in practice since 2004. Along the way, I’ve diverged onto many paths—some were of no interest, while others profoundly affected my clinical practice and even my life outlook. 

I use a mix of Jing Fang theory; herbal dermatology as taught by Mazin Al-Khafaji; functional medicine ideas; and Sa’am Acupuncture, all set on a strong base of abdominal and reflex area palpation. My current treatment interests are dermatology, immune regulation, and women’s health especially peri/menopause. 

I work in a collaborative clinic with 8 Asian Medicine practitioners in Durham, North Carolina. Being part of a group that aims to practice with excellence makes the job so satisfying, and fun! It also grants each of us the space to get deeper and better at our own areas of interest, and in the process elevate the Asian Medicine profession as a whole.

Links and Resources

Visit Fang on her website

You can find a Saam practitioner at the Saam Benevolent Society, or a Mazin-trained Chinese medicine herbalist at TCM Dermatology.

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