Melody Short L.Ac., Dipl.OM, MTCM
Licensed Acupuncturist

Melody Short L.Ac. is a second-generation practitioner of general Chinese family medicine with a particular love for her specialties of Pediatrics and Sports Medicine. Her style of acupuncture is known for its gentleness and extremely thin needles. She draws on multiple techniques and disciplines, due to her extensive and unique training as well as the knowledge passed on to her by her father. She is a firm believer that there is never only one answer or solution to any given condition and so tailors her treatments to the specific needs of each individual patient. Likewise she is constantly working synergistically with other practitioners for optimum patient care. Having been deemed an "acu-geek" and "TCM nerd" by multiple patients and colleagues, you would be hard pressed to find something she won't take a crack at. She loves puzzles and finds odd cases fascinating as she says, "It's much easier to use a book for reference, than it is to try and stuff a patient into it." Melody uses multiple modalities in her treatments including: acupuncture, acupressure, "sticker therapy," tui na (Chinese orthopedic massage), Chinese abdominal organ massage, children's tui na, cupping, gua sha (a Chinese scraping technique), moxabustion (including lionwarmers, tigerwarmers, ginger moxa, warm needle, etc.), Shonishin (a Japanese pediatric brushing technique), herbal medicines, dietary therapy, movement therapies, and energetics.

Favorite Specialties and Unique Techniques:

• Japanese Muscle Melting—a technique based off of Japanese Acupuncture and Hara Diagnosis that literally dissolves muscle tension. It is an effective treatment in sports medicine for anyone with stress or muscle tension.
• Muscle Channel Technique (MCT)—a dynamic active acupuncture technique used to treat pain and injury, developed by Frank He L.Ac. Quickly becoming one of the most important techniques used in modern Chinese Sports Medicine, Melody is proud to have learned it directly from Frank, one of her most beloved mentors.
• Chinese Abdominal Organ Massage—a gentle external massage technique focusing on the abdomen, and working directly on the abdominal organs. It is particularly helpful for treating women's health and digestive issues.
• Tui Na—Yang Style is the physical medicine side of Chinese Orthopedics. It is what chiropractic medicine is based on and in China even includes bone setting. Here in the USA it mostly just focuses on deep tissue massage, joint work, and stretching to treat injury. It is not always comfortable, but is very effective, particularly when combined with acupuncture and herbs. Yin Style is a gentle holding technique used with chronic or stubborn injuries and for internal conditions. It is particularly helpful for Parkinsons disease. www.pdrecovery.org.
• Kinesio Taping—is one of the most ingenious new medical techniques to have come out in the last 30 years. It is noninvasive, comfortable, and has virtually no side effects. It works by combining two basic mechanisms syergisticly. First it tents up the skin slightly which increases the space in the fascia (superficial connective tissue) which in turn relieves pressure on the superficial nerves. This reduces pain and also increases circulation to draw away fluids and reduce swelling and inflammation as well as promote healing. Secondly, the tape is designed to have stretch in some directions and not in others—depending on what percentage of stretch is used and the recoil factor. It is used to stabilize an area/joint and/or to mimic the muscle it is layered over to do half of that muscle's work. This allows injured/overused muscles to heal while maintaining dynamic motion, which means a reduction in compensation injuries, less range of motion loss during healing and use of the injured body part while it is still healing! Kinesio Tape is used mainly for injuries, sports medicine, chronic or acute swelling and structural issues—especially in children—in for example scoliosis. It is now starting to be used for a variety of internal conditions as well. For more information visit www.kinesiotaping.com
• Cupping and Gua Sha—are traditional techniques used in Chinese medicine and found throughout the world's native medical traditions. These healing modalities are used to increase circulation, promote healing, reduce fever, relieve toxins, expel acute illness and reduce pain as well as a multitude of other conditions. Both techniques are diagnostic as well as therapeutic. Cupping uses suction to invigorate the Qi and increase circulation and Gua Sha employs a gentle scraping motion across oiled skin to bring the body's circulation and energy awareness to the surface. Initially both techniques can leave temporary marks that fade in a few days. But these marks can also provide wonderful opportunities to confound one's friends with such stories as "I was attacked by a giant squid" or "I was caught in a front of and automatic tennis ball machine" or even "No, really I got pepperoni tattoos."
• Chinese Herbal Medicine—is one of the most advanced and thorough herbal systems in the world. Chinese herbal formulas are highly personalized. They are created or chosen based off of each individual's pattern and the way their body is exhibiting a condition, rather than on the condition itself e.g. not everyone with a cold would get the same formula. Chinese herbal preparations are given to a patient to help move them to optimum balance and health. In Western medicine, a person's body becomes dependant upon a drug and so over time may require higher and higher dosage levels. In contrast, Chinese herbs are needed less and less and eventually are not required as the body re-balances itself. We use only the best Chinese herbal products purchased from companies who maintain the highest quality standards.
• Dietary Therapy—is in many ways the most gentle and basic of Chinese Medicine's tools. The foods we eat have a huge influence on our constitutional patterns and overall health. Each food and type of preparation has its own therapeutic properties. Assessing which foods and types of preparation are appropriate for each individual is instrumental in shifting patterns of disharmony and regaining balance and health.
• Moxabustion—is a fundamental warming technique in Chinese Medicine. I mainly use lion warmers (for large areas), tiger warmers (for small areas), warm needle technique (for specific points) and ginger moxa for reducing scar tissue. This technique is particularly helpful for patients with colder conditions especially ones that are worse in the winter.
• "Sticker Therapy"—a technique Melody originally developed while still a student under the tutelage of Lucy Hu L.Ac. (department head of pediatrics at Five Branches). It uses ear seeds on body points for lasting stimulation, with optional fuzzy animal stickers for kids and the young at heart.
• Children's Tui Na and Shonishin—a variety of gentle therapeutic massage and non-needling techniques for children, used both instead of and in tandem with pediatric acupuncture.

Melody's History and Training:

Melody is a second-generation practitioner of Chinese Medicine. Her father is trained in Ayurvedic, Tibetan, and Chinese Medicine and is the progenitor of his own form of deep tissue bodywork. Her interest in medicine started at the age of three when her mother taught her she could eat dandelions. Her fascination with edible flowers evolved into the study of herbal medicine. Naturally, she also delved into the study of massage and bodywork, learning from her father and the many wonderful practitioners around her. At the age of thirteen she received her first degree in Reiki. Two years later she correctly reset and splinted the broken leg of a duckling abandoned by her neighbor, intensifying her interest in physical medicine.

She began her Chinese Medical studies early at The Evergreen State College where she was given the opportunity to do an intensive yearlong internship at the famous Wu's Healing Center in San Francisco. It was there that she learned Chinese abdominal organ massage and mastered many of the foundation techniques of Chinese Medicine. During the same time as her internship, Melody began her formal training in 1999 under the direct tutelage of two of the worlds most distinguished Tui Na masters Greg Zhang L.Ac. and Po-Lin Shyu L.Ac. Ph.D.

After finishing college, she spent a fifth year in Santa Cruz enjoying her pre-med science courses, and in the Bay Area and Taos continuing her Tui Na studies and receiving her CMT, through the Taos School of Massage. The next four years she completely immersed herself in Chinese medical studies at Five Branches University, (proclaimed by the accreditation board to be the primer Chinese medical school in the country and widely accepted as one of the top three schools in the world). Her insatiable curiosity lead her to take almost every elective offered by her school as well as innumerable CEU level courses and double clinic, in addition to required classes. She specialized in Pediatrics and Orthopedics, qualifying for and completing the Sports Medicine Certificate Program on top of her MTCM (Masters in Traditional Chinese Medicine). As pediatrics is a rare specialty, it was arranged for Melody to shadow Five Branches' head of pediatrics for the last 2 1/2 years of her training. She also studied in Hang Zhou China at the Zhe Jiang University as part of the pioneer group that reinstated accredited externships to China. Additionally, during part of her externship in China, she trained under one of China's Olympic Tui Na experts. Throughout her five years in Santa Cruz she had the distinct honor to work with one of the worlds two Imperial Acupuncture lineage holders, Joanna Zhao L.Ac. at her private clinic as her only intern.

After graduation she has continued both her orthopedic and pediatric studies as well as delving more deeply into the obstetrical support side of Chinese medicine, studying with acupuncturist/midwife Raven Lang. Returning home to the Pacific Northwest, she was warmly welcomed into the NCNM (National College of Natural Medicine) family where she lectured on occasion and practiced privately. It was there that she befriended Dr. Ryan Minarik and was later invited to join his clinic when he opened Elixia Wellness Group. There she is very happily treating patients, working in tandem with her beloved colleagues, and moonlighting as a guest teacher for health at the Portland Waldorf School. In her free time Melody is an accomplished artist who loves to draw and paint, get lost in the woods, snuggle up with a cat and book, go dancing, or exercise her imagination by writing on the novel she's been working on since she was 15.

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