Today we’d like to introduce you to Portia Pettitt, Tu Nhu Huynh Vien, You Guang Huynh, and Long Huynh.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Nam Bac Hang is a herb shop that has been serving Chicago for over 30 years with knowledge in traditional Chinese medicine, herbs, and natural supplements & remedies. We’ve been working in conjunction with herbalists, acupuncturists, and recently with chiropractic and massage specialists. The store name, Nam Bac Hang, really means North-South Herbal Goods in a minority Chinese dialect. The name originates all the way in China, where our journey first began.
Nam Bac Hang has always been a family practice since the beginning. It all began in China, before the Cultural Revolution. Van Luc Huynh was an orphan who had a harsh upbringing that forged him into the man he needed to be. By the time he was 15, he trekked up the mountains to deliver clay pots to a small town near his village. Seeing that his life was not getting better, he began to value his education. Since he was too poor to afford formal education, he would cook for one of the teachers in exchange for a private education.
Soon he realized that one of the Uncles from his town was a renown herbalist who owned a patent herbal formula factory. The Uncle allowed Van to apprentice under him, sharing his secret knowledge of herbs processing. Van took this knowledge with him to Vietnam, where there was more opportunity then.
Van and his family in his herb shop pre-1975 Saigon. He became a very successful healer in Saigon, but war broke loose. With the devastation brought by the Fall of Saigon, Van’s herb shop was completely destroyed along with all his savings. Luckily, Van was one of the few wealthy enough to afford the first cars. He grabbed his wife, two daughters, and two sons including Long Ngoc Huynh, and took them in his car to escape during the mortar bombings. Thanks to Van’s quick wit and courageous action, he found everyone a spot on a raft to a refugee camp on Bidong Island.
Although the refugees were relieved to escape Saigon, the perilous journey across the ocean was riddled with fear of pirates and capsizing.
Fortunately for Van and his family, they all made it in one piece! Life on Bidong Island was not comfortable like their previous life in Saigon, but they were safe and had enough food for the most part. They even had a disco bar set up! A U.S. Navy freighter spotted the refugee camp and evacuated everyone. Van gratefully accepted to have him and his family flown to the United States.
And so, the story of Nam Bac Hang began. Van began his journey in the United States in the state of Minnesota. After long months working at a restaurant, he was nicknamed “Fried Chicken Man.” It was then he realized that he had to follow his true calling: Chinese herbal medicine. He opened his first shop in Minnesota, but due to financial struggles was forced to shut down. After losing his business twice, he did not give up and moved to Chicago to open Chinatown’s very own “Nam Bac Hang.” He worked with his wife, son, and daughter-in-law for many years.
After many years working alongside his father, Nam Bac Hang had been passed down to Long Huynh, LAc (licensed acupuncturist), who developed a keen knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, and many other modalities. Long Huynh has treated many patients over the last 12 years with a combination of herbs and acupuncture. He’s treated anywhere from simple skin conditions like acne, digestive problems like constipation, pain syndromes such as lower back pain, sciatica, neck & shoulder pain, too complicated issues such as high blood pressure, Crohn’s disease, fibrosis, and even infertility. In addition to his knowledge attained over the years in Nam Bac Hang, he’s professionally trained with a Master’s Degree in Oriental Medicine, which was obtained in Midwest College of Oriental Medicine.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is over 4,000 years old. For the last three decades, we have provided the same quality products and services at our location in Chicago’s Chinatown. It is our mission to strive for higher quality health restoration at the most reasonable prices while also keeping up-to-date knowledge of the fundamental science of applying natural healing.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
He became a very successful healer in Saigon, but war broke loose. With the devastation brought by the Fall of Saigon, Van’s herb shop was completely destroyed along with all his savings. Luckily, Van was one of the few wealthy enough to afford the first cars. He grabbed his wife, two daughters, and two sons including Long Ngoc Huynh, and took them in his car to escape during the mortar bombings.
Thanks to Van’s quick wit and courageous action, he found everyone a spot on a raft to a refugee camp on Bidong Island. Although the refugees were relieved to escape Saigon, the perilous journey across the ocean was riddled with fear of pirates and capsizing. Fortunately for Van and his family, they all made it in one piece! Life on Bidong Island was not comfortable like their previous life in Saigon, but they were safe and had enough food for the most part. They even had a disco bar set up! A U.S. Navy freighter spotted the refugee camp and evacuated everyone. Van gratefully accepted to have him and his family flown to the United States.
And so, the story of Nam Bac Hang began. Van began his journey in the United States in the state of Minnesota. After long months working at a restaurant, he was nicknamed “Fried Chicken Man.” It was then he realized that he had to follow his true calling: Chinese herbal medicine. He opened his first shop in Minnesota, but due to financial struggles was forced to shut down. After losing his business twice, he did not give up and moved to Chicago to open Chinatown’s very own “Nam Bac Hang.” He worked with his wife, son, and daughter-in-law for many years.
Please tell us about Nam Bac Hang.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is over 4,000 years old. For the last 30 years, we have provided the same quality products and services at our location in Chicago’s Chinatown. It is our mission to strive for higher quality health restoration at the most reasonable prices while also keeping up-to-date knowledge of the fundamental science of applying natural healing. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) encompasses acupuncture, cupping, acupressure massage (Tui Na), guasha, and herbalism. We also integrate western medicine, nutrition, and it’s understanding of the musculoskeletal system through the practice of chiropractic and manual therapy.
We have both eastern’s traditional perspective of internal and the western’s modern perspective of the external body systems. With this combination of knowledge and professional procedures, we provide you, your friends, and family with diagnosis and education of the health issues, treatment plans to help them reach your short and long-term health goals, and in general, comfort and alleviation from the mysticism of the misunderstood nature of the problem. After we both understand your health issues, we provide a treatment plan for you which may include any of the modalities of TCM or chiropractic.
Traditional Chinese medicine is actually a comprehensive healthcare system and has been developed through a series of many studies and experiments just like modern western medicine. Chinese medicine sees illness as a pattern of disharmony of body’s internal organ function & the energetic flow of your body’s natural processes. Your body’s natural state is health. The disease occurs when it’s energy is disrupted & functions of these organs, such as the spleen, liver, kidneys, become imbalanced. TCM seeks to reestablish the balance the forces of the body so that the body’s internal organs can harmonized resulting in health.
Our practitioners understand that every individual experiences illness as a result of their unique pattern of disharmony. They will evaluate your pulse, tongue, general appearance for signs of any internal imbalances and ask questions about your diet and general lifestyle. Using this information, they will formulate a treatment protocol, a custom herbal formula consisting of raw herbs, and recommend other herbs/supplements you will take to treat your problem.
Acupuncture is a treatment method under the branch of TCM in which thin, filiform (hair-like thickness) needles are inserted into the skin to stimulate various points on the body. These points lie in conjunction with the meridian channels through the body which exists in a similar fashion as the lymphatic, circulatory, endocrine, & nervous system. Each channel has an associated organ & function. When these channels have an obstruction in their flow, the disease will manifest from this disharmony.
When we stimulate these channels, these channels will be unblocked to promote the organ’s function to facilitate your body’s own natural healing mechanisms. You will likely experience a feeling of relaxation, harmony, rebalancing, and peace much like meditation. There is very little pain involved, at most a prick on the skin. It’s far less painful and sometimes more effective than injections. If you need it, our practitioners can tailor their treatment style for less pain. Some patients report improvement in conditions in between 3-5 treatments. Results vary depending on the cause and severity of your issue.
Cupping is a modality under acupuncture in which glass cups are heated (often with fire) to create a vacuum which causes the cups to suction on to the skin, which gently pulls on the muscle. This helps retrain muscles to relax and release stagnant blood to improve circulation and decrease inflammation. There will be bruises on the back. These are harmless and are just a sign that stagnant blood has been purged. See it as part of the unique experience. 🙂 We often apply this method after acupuncture treatments for back pain.
Guasha is another modality under acupuncture in which a jade or ceramic tool is used to gently scrape the skin on the neck. It seeks to help neck muscles relax, move stagnant lymph, and release stagnant blood. This achieves decreased inflammation, improve circulation, and decrease congestion. This method works great for headaches, migraines, common cold, and sinuses.
Chiropractic is a branch of alternative medicine which seeks to diagnose and treat unverified mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system, especially the spine. Much like TCM’s philosophy of the body, chiropractic medicine sees that a healthy body has the structural integrity of muscles, skeletal system, and nervous system. When any of these bodily systems become impaired through vertebral subluxation & dysfunction of soft tissues, the body’s nervous system is impaired leading to diseases such as chronic pain, scoliosis, headaches, and even digestive disorders.
These impairments interfere with body’s natural healing mechanisms. Once your body’s pathology is understood, the chiropractor will apply adjustments and other treatment methods to restore structural integrity. Once it is restored, the body can naturally heal itself, and pain will decrease directly from each adjustment. The main chiropractic treatment technique involves manual therapy, especially spinal manipulation therapy (SMT), manipulations of other joints and soft tissues. Acupressure is a branch of TCM which is very much like a therapeutic massage. The difference is that it incorporates the very same meridian channel system in acupuncture. These pressure points coincide with the various organs in the body.
The practitioner stimulates these point manually through a multitude of techniques to unblock the channels. It seeks to help retrain muscles to relax through manual pressure in which the muscles eventually will yield. The result is pain relief, improved circulation, recovery from soreness, improved digestion, and even better sleep. Our specialists, who have been specially trained in Chinese integrative hospitals, can tailor their techniques and method to your liking.
Contact Info:
- Address: 239 W Cermak Rd
- Website: arcaneherb.com
- Phone: 312-889-1239
- Email: nbhacupuncture239@gmail.com
- Facebook: facebook.com/arcaneherb
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/nam-bac-hang-chicago
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