Traditional Chinese Medicine
Small Choices vs. Extreme Diets
It is relatively easy for people to follow dogmatic diets, routines, and lifestyles, be it veganism, “paleo-ism,” gluten free, resolutions like never skipping a day of running or their yoga practice no matter the weather. Any of these can be beneficial in certain ways, though rarely are any a one-size fits all magic bullet for long term, full-body health.
As is the case with environmental consciousness, most of us must constantly make small decisions each day, determine what is best for us in the present moment based on what we did or consumed the day before. For example:
If you spend the day sitting at work, obviously it makes sense to stand on the train, take the stairs, and/or walk as much as possible. Physicians wrote in our classical medical texts that “excessive sitting harms the spleen,” which translates as a sedentary lifestyle weakens our digestion. No news there (except how brilliant the ancient Chinese were sans technology)!
Conversely, if you’re incredibly active for a day or two or twenty in a row, as go the lives of parents of young children, you might get more benefit the next day from prioritizing a mid-day siesta instead of a workout.
If your friend cooked a lovely, carnivorous dinner for you over the weekend of grass-fed beef and sausage, as did mine, it makes sense to be vegan or pescatarian for the following 1-2 days after. By all means reap the benefits of the red meat, but give your organs and arteries a reprieve from beef’s heaviness. Hot green tea is also advisable the following day.
On the other hand, if your diet is omnivorous and you haven’t had any red meat during the week you should probably do so, especially if you are a woman on her menses, ideally alongside steamed or sauteed vegetables.
If you eat a bunch of raw, uncooked foods have it with hot tea. If you have a bunch of cooked, spicy foods, STILL have it with hot tea, because hot tea just generally aids digestion, and is therefore perfect, thereby nullifying my one size cannot fit all maxim. Green tea is generally preferable if you tend towards constipation. Black (Pu-Erh) tea highly preferable if you tend towards diarrhea. If caffeine causes excessive urination, it probably means your “yang qi,” or capacity for fluid transformation is failing to descend into the bladder and kidneys. This can often be rectified with some Paleo meals, Chinese herbs, and/or just a good night’s sleep.
Get to bed by 11pm, when the body and brain shift entirely into restoration and repair mode.
Don’t eat (much) after 7pm, and especially not after 9pm, when we are more insulin resistant. If you must drink alcohol do so less nights than not, so as to let your organs recuperate. Sweat from exercise, but not too much, as sweat contains within it vital neurotransmitters and substances that are necessary for metabolism andcirculation.
Socialize. Community is to modern society what food was to the ancient Chinese at the inception of our medicine. For the most part we are figuratively starving, for connection, so make it a priority to meet up with friends, even if you feel awkward reaching out 🙂
Acupuncture for Styes and Eyes
A patient came in recently with the beginnings of a stye. Her left eye hurt and if she pulled her upper eyelid up, she was able to see enough minor inflammation to cause concern. “It always happens around this time of year,” she said. Why? Why?
Why did her eye stye fly (upwards)?
The eyes—especially and specifically the eyelids—are surrounded by the stomach vessel (this is why there are so many ophthalmological complications around diabetes). Insofar as circulatory directionality in the body, it is the stomach’s job (as well as the large intestine’s) to descend gases and fluids down and out; in contrast to its partners, the pancreas and spleen’s functionality to take food, transform it into nutrients, and send them UP. I digress.
In fall fluids and gases naturally want to descend. If we are not metabolically rooted or strong enough our body will fail to attract them downward. If inflammation is hyperactive in the upper portion of the body our body will fail to attract them downward. This is part of the reason fall allergies occur. It was also, in my opinion, the reason for this patient’s stye.
Because she was able to come twice in the same week, we ended up not needing herbs.
Based on pulse and pattern diagnosis this patient fell more into the former category: Digestion and energy were weak, both of which exacerbated by her menses—prone to dizziness and cramping, either implicating a deficiency of blood.
I needled the large intestine vessel’s point on the hand whose neurological pathway connects to the face, as well as the same vessel’s point by the elbow, whose pathway clears inflammatory heat (flaring upwards). These points alone should suffice in clearing the heat above. For the “vacuity below” I used Stomach 36, logically, to engender ample digestive enzymes and acids to attract (potentially) inflammatory gases downward. Since it is the liver vessel’s job to then SEND our manufactured blood UP to lubricate orifices, such as ophthalmologically, I used Liver 3, then finally the third eye point, Yin Tang, for local circulation, plus to calm the understandable anxiety one feels on the precipice of pain or crisis. Between treatments the patient was diligent about avoiding spicy foods and using warm compresses, and by the end of the week, VIOLA! No doctor’s visit or antibiotics necessary.
When gastric acids, enzymes, and/or blood are weak or thinned, it is only a matter of time before some manifestation of inflammatory and/or dry heat flares upwards. Chinese medicine understands this relationship better than most—it is also why a predominantly great diet and lifestyle are imperative.
Had this patient not recovered from her own self-care and our acupuncture, potential herbal ingredients could include chrysanthemum and/or mint flowers, gypsum stone if the eye felt burning or dry and she had thirst for cold drinks, angelica and chuanxiong root at low doses if she experienced much bloating or lack of appetite, but a high dose otherwise; finally, figwort root if there was additional dryness of the throat. If you or anyone you know is dealing with any ophthalmological issues, please consider holistic medicine to treat not just the symptom!
How to Combat the Humidity
Nobody loves humidity, but many people are more perturbed by it than others, determinable of course by what the humidity is encountering at their surface—that is, what it is physically triggering for them.
Humidity is “damp heat,” so if you already suffer from an excess of systemic damp heat type inflammation at the surface of the body, pouring more of the same on top of that will surely feel awful. What can we do about it?
Nutritionally the ideal foods to combat the damp heat of summer are unfortunately not very fun or exciting, but let’s try to all be grown-ups.
Bitter foods like dandelion greens are great for clearing inflammatory heat, while bland foods, such as unseasoned (or very mildly seasoned) potatoes, barley or barley tea, and plain, steamed vegetables are ideal for leaching damp fluid retention. If this sounds too inconceivable for you, I’d recommend entertaining such discipline just once a day.
Additionally, the bitterness of a good quality, hot green tea and its diuretic effect an aid in draining dampness. Then again, if green tea is unsettling for your stomach you are probably too “cold” for it internally, which unfortunately is not mutually exclusive to having damp heat externally. The former refers to pancreatic and gastrointestinal hypofunction, whereas the latter is part of the inflammation as its logical outcome. See also, eczema due to food allergy.
Instead of over-complicating, over-analyzing, and arguably over-prescribing, all of which I have been more than prone to, for this time of year I recommend at the least “dui yao” (dway-yow) teas, or pairings of 2 simple herbs to drink daily to combat the humidity we’re experiencing, mitigate our unique genetic responses to it, and ensure as productive digestion as possible for the upcoming transition to Fall, when we need our immune system firing on all cylinders!
Examples: Pearl barley and raw ginger if you have a weak stomach, Pearl barley and red dates if you get heart palpitations or dizziness or are on your cycle, Pearl barley and tangerine peel for lack of appetite, or pearl barley and adzuki bean for hemorrhoids, sweaty feet and groin. Are you seeing a trend? This is barley season!
What are everyone’s favorite cinematic depictions of gut-wrenching NYC summer humidity? I vote Do the Right Thing and Weekend at Bernie’s
Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine for Nightmares
I’m not sure if what my toddler experiences qualifies as nightmares—she’ll occasionally yell out in her sleep—defiant demands, such as: “I don’t want one! I want TWO!” or, “No, put me down!” which my wife and I imagine are healthy reenactments of infuriating boundaries one of us had to regularly and/or recently hold with her.
For most adults, with greater awareness, a resume of more hardship to induce greater fears, real traumas, and fabricated neuroses, nightmares can be much scarier than being limited to one cookie. Per usual, (in Chinese medicine) they can be the result of a variety of mechanisms (none of which are mutually exclusive to the obvious psychological aspect), however all with one end result: “(Jue Yin) Blood Deficiency.” What is “Jue Yin Blood Deficiency?”
Generally, this means a person is lacking in fluids, such as blood and organ fluids, as well as inhibitory hormones and/or neurotransmitters, such as melatonin, dopamine, or serotonin. Without ample inhibitory substances, excitatory substances have no anchor—they will flare, whether in the form of emotional dysregulation, insomnia, night sweats, or NIGHTMARES.
I read one small study that demonstrated that people who suffer with nightmares also have a blunted cortisol awakening response, which is to say they feel exhausted upon waking, even after a good night’s sleep. Another study showed that specifically ADHD patients are three times more likely to report nightmares. Both instances suggest neuroendocrine disruption due to a deficit of stimulatory hormones, which might seem counterintuitive, as we might suspect that someone in the throes of a nightmare must be overstimulated. In fact, Chinese medicine and modern neuroscience seem to agree that these patients are in fact under-stimulated.
Activating hormones and neurotransmitters do not only activate the mind—they also stimulate the organs, via the hypothalamic pituitary axis, to properly do their jobs, part of which is to produce more substances to harmonize chemical balance in the body.
Stress can dry out these substances, as can poor sleep habits or poor diet. If stress is the cause it is advisable to seek therapy and/or meditation or some kind of spiritual context to reframe one’s suffering. Acupuncture would likely revolve around the gallbladder, liver, stomach, and pancreas vessels. Herbal medicine might revolve around bupleurum, ginseng, licorice, and/or pinellia root.
If someone’s diet is lacking in proper fat or protein this can lead to hypoactivity. Acupuncture might revolve around the stomach, pancreas, and liver vessels, plus the kidney instead of the gallbladder. Herbs might revolve around red dates, rehmannia root, angelica, and/or aconite.
If someone’s diet is excessively fatty or rich, this obviously creates inflammation that suffocates the organs, which causes the illusion of hypoactivity—in fact the organs are working overtime, exhausted as a result. Acupuncture would definitely revolve around the gallbladder and stomach vessels, probably the large intestine, as well as points on the abdomen itself. Herbal medicines might revolve around coptis root, gardenia fruit, and bamboo paper. In call cases points along the scalp above the hypothalamus and/or amygdala can be helpful.
If you or someone you know deals with any kind of nightmares or sleep disturbances, Chinese medicine can absolutely help… unless you live on Elm St. Wishing everyone restful sleep!
Acupuncture’s Abdominal Diagnoses
Contrary to popular belief, there is a great deal of overlap between Chinese and Western medical diagnoses and systems. A good clinician from either should inquire about your metabolism—fluid or otherwise. How often do you pee and poop? Drink water or eat? We both feel patients’ pulses, at the wrist and sometimes even the carotid (throat) and dorsal pedis position on top of the feet. Additionally, I was reminded while (binge)watching The Pitt that Chinese medicine is not the only paradigm that places emphasis on abdominal palpation.
In Western medicine, my understanding is doctors are feeling for any number of things: fluid retention, organs size and shapes, masses or tumors, tenderness, or pain.
Our assessment process is not much different, though as expected, most acupuncturists are less adept at detecting tumors or misshapen organs, and most doctors are not applying their findings to a global/holistic diagnosis. They are ruling out emergency, which has its own obvious value. Acupuncturists, instead, are searching more for subjective signs to fit a pattern diagnosis.
A COLD abdomen means metabolic organs are lacking in blood or healthy gases and requires moxibustion therapy and/or herbal families such as dry fried ginger or aconite stone.
A SOFT abdomen generally indicates fluid retention because of some subjective deficiency of mitochondria and might require herbs such as poria mushroom and tangerine peel to drain the excess fluids, but also aconite stone to engender cellular energy and adrenal function with the hope of preventing further fluid retention.
Tension in the upper abdomen might indicate inflammation, dryness, and a tendency to constipation, whereas tension or sensitivity below the umbilicus points more towards weakness again, and possibly diarrhea. The former often requires rhubarb root, whereas the latter might need a combination of ginseng and evodia fruit. The wrong herbal formula will make symptoms temporarily though immediately worse.
Tension anywhere can indicate local fluid retention and/or blood stagnation that may or may not be the final piece of the puzzle in getting some chronic illnesses to resolve. Local needling and moxibustion can be helpful, as can herbal formulas with peach kernel or peony root.
To the left of the abdomen pertains to metabolic function, specifically and especially between the pancreas and portal vein to the liver, as it is said in Chinese medicine: “Liver blood ascends on the left (side of the body).” In its ascension it acts as a courier for healthy gases and immunological substances, which is why tension here might point to immunodeficiency.
To the right of the abdomen pertains more to the reproductive organs, ovarian function or otherwise. It might also be implicated in chronic constipation, so if you suffer from both for example—menstrual irregularity and constipation—the focus of treatment should be on the lower right abdominal quadrant, hypothesizing that once the bowels regularly move the reproductive organs can regularly function, sans obstruction.
How does your abdomen feel? Is it tight, taut, and thus “dry,” or soft and yielding, thus “damp?” Excessively cold or hot? Tender? Have you ever thought about how it can and should inform your physician? BTW, The Pitt was great! Highly recommend.
