About Dr. Heyne
Unfortunately, for a long time, my life followed the path of the archetypal “wounded healer.” Raised in a very health conscious family with home-cooked meals every night, I was born into a culture of health. But I struggled with intense digestive problems my entire life – up until the age of 29.
My quest to finally feel well began in my early twenties. It started with exhausting the conventional medical system’s GI specialists, who were disappointing. Then on to naturopaths, energy healers, massage therapists, fringe-alternative treatments… and more.
This search culminated in a vision quest in the Sahara desert, alone for five days without food, which ultimately lead to the next step in my life: I booked a one-way ticket to China when I was 23. Thinking I’d stay for a decade, and become a mystic-physician-alchemist (hah!), I learned to read, write and speak Chinese, but ultimately ended up coming back home to the United States.
But my saving grace began one day with a Chinese medicine doctor not even one mile from where my parents lived. In one month, with Chinese formulas, I knew what it felt like to have normal digestion and bowel movements, for the first time in 30 years. That doctor led to another, and another, and then me completing my doctoral degree studying with some of the best Chinese herbalists and doctors in the world.
When I see patients, it’s impossible for me not to see my own suffering in them.
- I know what it’s like to spend $10,000 on disappointing Ivy-league trained specialists.
- I know what it’s like to diagnose yourself as someone with “chronic illness,” who lives an extremely healthy life and yet just can’t get issues under control.
- I know what it’s like to feel completely hopeless, as if things may never change, and this is just the way you’ll feel forever.
And so I feel privileged to have been Chiron, the wounded healer, as well as now getting to be the “Doctor” as well.
Conditions I Treat & Areas of Expertise
As a California and NCCAOM board-certified doctor of Oriental medicine, I primarily specialize in using Chinese formulas for internal medicine.
There are certain conditions I tend to see most often, or have a special interest in:
- Digestive disorders
- Anxiety/Depression/Insomnia
- Women’s & Men’s health / Infertility
- Pain
- Allergies, Chronic Disorders, “Mystery” Conditions
- Integrative / Adjunct Cancer Care – during and post treatment
Educational Background
I’m dual board-certified nationally (NCCAOM) and in the state of California.
Undergraduate degree: Biology and Environmental Science, Clemson University
Doctoral degree: Doctor of Science in Oriental Medicine, National University of Natural Medicine
Doctoral work: The Spontaneous Remission of Cancer in Classical Chinese Medicine.