Hi, I’m Sean Dugan. I am an herbalist and an acupuncturist, a husband, a cat-dad, and an avid gardener and orchardist. I love hiking in the mountains, fishing, whitewater rafting, and the occasional binge of bad tv on netflix. And I really love plants, especially the ones I can use in my practice to help people feel better.
When I was a kid I got sick a lot. I struggled with asthma, severe allergies, and chronic sinus infections. I had scoliosis, and I experienced neck pain and migraines from a young age. It wasn’t unusual for me to raid the medicine cabinet for Tylenol rather than raiding the pantry for chocolate chip cookies. I missed out on a lot of “kid stuff” that I just didn’t feel well enough to do.
Western medicine didn’t have good solutions for the problems I was dealing with. Fortunately (for me), I was exposed to Chinese Medicine early, and through treatment with Chinese herbal medicine as well as qigong and acupuncture, I was able to get my asthma, migraines, and sinuses infections under control.
Early on in life I felt drawn to helping other people who were suffering; I think because I experienced first hand how it felt– being sick can be isolating and scary, especially when there is no solution being offered, or the therapies you try only seem to dig you in deeper.
I was a pretty scholastically inclined kid, so for high school I applied to Phillips Exeter Academy, one of the most elite private high schools in the country, and I was accepted. I knew that if I went there, almost any avenue of higher education was open to me, including the best medical schools in the country. I had my sights on becoming a medical doctor, and helping people with the kind of problems I had as a kid.
But there were a couple of sticking points in this plan. Number one was that it wasn’t really Western Medical Doctors that had helped me most when I needed it. Number two was my passion for botany and ecology, which was the subject I was the most excited about. I wanted to find a place where my desire to help and heal could meet my passion for nature and plants.
I decided to pursue a degree in sustainable agriculture at UC Santa Cruz, and in my first year in college, I met a Chinese herbalist who agreed to take me on as his mentee and student.
This was where it all started coming together–I would hang out in his herbal pharmacy, filling formulas for his patients, listening to discussion of case studies, and reading Chinese Medicine textbooks. I absolutely loved it. This was where the natural world met the world of medicine, and it was an amazing place. I knew this was my life.
After several years of informal internship, my teacher encouraged me to dive deeper and pursue a formal education in Chinese Medicine, so that’s what I did. I got my four-year Masters degree in acupuncture and Chinese medicine and have been in practice since.
Throughout my course of study it became clear that most Chinese medicine practitioners in the US do very well with preventative medicine, symptom management, and treatment of relatively mild internal medicine problems.
But I knew that Chinese herbal medicine could do more - to treat severe problems and advanced pathology. Not only from the ancient texts, but from case studies and research in China, from observing my teachers, and from my own personal experiences.
For example, when I had a severe fungal sinus infection it was Chinese herbal medicine that resolved it, after a host of ear nose and throat doctors, naturopaths, over the counter herbs and medications all failed to help me with it.
What it took was finding an herbalist skilled enough to treat the complex problem, which happened to be one of my teachers during school.
This medicine has the capacity to deliver amazing results. The only thing holding it back is a practitioner’s knowledge and skill, and a patient’s willingness to participate fully in the treatment process.
I was ready to work hard and long at the knowledge and skill part of the equation. I wanted to be the best herbalist I could possibly be.
During and after my graduate studies I sought out the most skilled herbalists in the country. I wanted to learn to treat severe and difficult cases. And succeed.
Chinese herbal medicine is not an easy skill to master; it is a lifelong project but one that I love, and its rewards are well worth the effort.
In my practice so far I've successfully treated many difficult cases - including atrial fibrillation, heart failure, post-stroke paralysis, and severe diabetic neuropathy. I’ve treated drug-resistant pneumonia, MRSA infections, seizure disorders, severe prostate enlargement, cystic acne, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, panic attacks, fibromyalgia, and migraines and that’s just naming a few.
But I’m not ever done learning. I learn from my patients every single day in real time, from my respected teachers, from ancient Chinese medical texts and from modern research.
I am always honored and honestly excited to be part of someone’s healing process. It never stops amazing me what this medicine can do when applied with persistence, skill, and care.
I hope you feel like you know me a little better.
I look forward to getting to know you.
-Sean Dugan L.Ac.
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