🪷Khmer Krou Medicine

Traditional practice

This is a living tradition carried through lineage and community. Its value is documented through generations of practitioners rather than clinical trials. Absence of Western studies is not absence of wisdom.

• Herbal preparations and dosing. Herbs, tinctures, teas, and topical preparations are pharmacologically active. They can interact with prescription medication, raise or lower blood pressure, affect the liver or kidneys, and cause allergic reactions. Sourcing matters: unregulated products vary in potency and purity.
• Deep or invasive bodywork. Needles, cupping marks, moxibustion burns, deep tissue pressure, spinal manipulation, and abdominal work can bruise, burn, or injure if performed without training, and require sterile technique to prevent infection.
• Financial and spiritual exploitation risk. Sacred traditions attract self-appointed teachers charging steep fees. Watch for practitioners who pressure you to pay for extra ceremonies, discourage outside support, or claim exclusive spiritual authority.
• Cultural appropriation and closed practices. Some elements are closed to outsiders or reserved for initiated practitioners. Participating without invitation, or teaching it without lineage, causes harm to living communities and to your own practice.

• Pregnancy, breastfeeding, and fertility treatment. Several herbs, essential oils, deep-tissue techniques, extreme temperatures, and intense breath or plant-medicine practices are not recommended during pregnancy, breastfeeding, or IVF cycles. Disclose your status and ask for a practitioner with prenatal training.
• Active PTSD or unprocessed severe trauma. Immersive, ceremonial, and altered-state work can surface traumatic memories without warning. Build a relationship with a trauma-informed licensed clinician first, and choose practitioners trained to hold trauma responses.
• Bleeding disorders and blood thinners. Practices that pierce or bruise the skin can cause prolonged bleeding or large hematomas if you have hemophilia, low platelets, or take anticoagulants such as warfarin, apixaban, or high-dose aspirin.
• Skin infections and immune suppression. Any practice that breaks the skin requires sterile, single-use tools. If you are immunocompromised, in cancer treatment, or have active skin infection, delay these practices or choose non-invasive alternatives.
• Prescription medication interactions. Bring a full medication list to your practitioner and pharmacist. Common problem combinations include SSRIs and MAOIs with ayahuasca or St. John's wort, blood thinners with garlic or ginkgo, and immunosuppressants with many herbs.