TCM facts (or stories)

Hi, this is a side-blog to help me revise throughout the 6 years of my Traditional Chinese Medicine Bachelor's degree (even though a year has passed already). I will post facts (or stories) related to my course or what I have learnt. I hope these facts can help you in your daily life.

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Headache acupuncture points (1)

風池 are two points that are parallel to each other, located directly under the back of your skull, where there is a slight depression nest to your spine.

Massage gently when a headache occurs. Since it is a point where several meridians cross over, it’s a point that is relatively commonly used during acupuncture.

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Dry eyes from overworking?

Take some gouji berries (about 10) and steep them in hot water for 20 minutes. Drink the mix and eat the berries (it should be soft enough to chew, even for the children and elderly)

Throw in a chamomile teabag and stir in some honey if you’re feeling stressed out.

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Congested nose?

Got a cold and a congested nose? Rub a fresh mint leaf below your nostrils, or sniff it. If fresh ones aren’t available, pour yourself a cup of hot mint tea.

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Wu-zang (五臟) liu-fu (六腑)

Wu-zang represents the 5 central organs of the body: the liver, heart, spleen, lungs, and kidneys.

Liu-fu: gallbladder, small intestine, stomach, large intestine, bladder, san-zhao

Each wu-zang is a complimentary pair to a liu-fu, so if sickness occurs in one of the wu-zang, the corresponding liu-fu will show symptoms too.

More on each wu-zang and liu-fu later, so stay tuned for future posts!

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Kidney (TCM view) - part 1

TCM looks at certain organs and links them to different parts and functions of the body. For the kidney, it's linked to one's reproduction abilities, growth, lifespan, and hearing (ears).

So if you start becoming hard of hearing, you can blame your kidney for that. The deterioration of vital kidney qi means that your hearing goes as you are ageing.

That being said, hearing problems may be caused by something else, so stay tuned for future posts about it :)

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Bian Que (扁鵲) - story 2

A Chinese proverb (病入膏肓) which means illness penetrating so deep into the body there is no cure, originated from one of Bian Que’s experiences.

When Bian Que visited the Qi (齊) court, he noticed the emperor wasn’t feeling well and he told him to accept treatment immediately. Being the prideful and arrogant ruler, the emperor refused as he didn’t feel unwell.

Another week passed before Bian Que visited the court again, and he noticed that the emperor’s condition had worsened. Again, he tried to persuade the emperor to accept treatment before it worsened further, and he refused again for the same reason for not feeling unwell.

Another week passed and the same interactions happened, this time with Bian Que’s dire warning of the emperor’s condition worsening even further if he continues to refuse treatment. Predictably, the emperor was annoyed with Bian Que and chased him out of court.

Yet another week passed before Bian Que visited the emperor. This time, he took one look at the emperor then left quietly. The emperor found this strange and sent someone to chase after him. When asked why he left so suddenly and without saying a word, Bian Que replied “When I first saw the emperor’s condition, it was still at its beginning stages, nothing a little treatment can’t heal. The second time it developed and worsened, but still could be remedied by acupuncture. By the third time, the sickness reached deep into his organs, but could still be cured by rigorous medicinal treatment. Now, it is too late, for the illness has fully penetrated into his bones and the deepest parts of his body, where no cure would be effective.” On that happy note, he left the country before anything could happen.

Shortly after Bian Que left the country, the emperor fell ill and quickly summoned for Bian Que, who of course wasn’t there anymore (because who would stand around and get the death penalty for being incompetent at healing the emperor), and died of his condition.

Moral: listen to your doctors

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Bian Que (扁鵲) - story 1

He was one of the best doctors of the Warring States period, born around 401 BC and died around 310 BC. He is still regarded as one of the four best TCM doctors of all time.

He was able to predict how long it would take for a patient to fully recover from their condition. One time, a governor fell unconscious for 5 days, and naturally his doctors panicked and summoned Bian Que. After surveying the governor's condition, he declared that his pulse and vitals are normal, and that there was nothing to fret about, since he would regain consciousness within 3 days. True to his word, the governor woke up in 2 and a half days.

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will you be the friend that helps me relieve my shoulder tension

Hopefully yes :) but there are many different causes to shoulder pain, such as daily strain placed on it, even too much cool air on your neck may be a cause. The suggestions I gave are mainly for strain/stress related causes, so you can also bring a small scarf with you when you know it's going to be cold.

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Having problems with shoulder pain?

There are a few pressure points you can try to massage yourself (or get a friend to help you) to relieve some of the tension.

One of the most commonly used ones is 肩井, which is located smack in the middle between your spine and the end of your shoulders. It should be fairly easy to find, even by yourself. Use your fingertips to push down and massage the pressure point. 

You can also try to massage along your shoulders, starting from your spine and running down to your shoulders, as shown by the red arrows in the picture below.

A change in daily habits can also help to relieve strain on your neck and shoulders. These include:

- changing your posture when using your phones or tablets, as the prolonged action of looking down places immense strain on your neck and therefore your shoulders

- using a water bottle to drink, so that way you can tip your head up more than when you’re using a cup/mug

- doing some simple stretching exercises to loosen up (simply moving or tilting your head will do)

Questions are very welcome, don’t hesitate to ask :)