When Cold Takes Hold

Chinese Medicine is unlike any other medical system in the world, in that the practitioner is always seeking to respond to the patient’s illness according to the nature of the season. Those who laid the groundwork for this ancient medical science were acutely aware of the fact that nothing lies outside of the laws and workings of the natural world, including human health and sickness. Classically trained acupuncturists and herbalists focus their attention on the patient’s inner and outer landscape, identifying whether they are dealing with an illness that is due to, or manifesting as, “wind,” “heat,” “cold,” etc. Among all of the phenomena which is damaging to human physiology, none is as harmful as cold. But, what does this mean exactly, and what might it look like?

A cold-natured disease is represented by diminished functionality and/or movement of the body and/or mind. There are identifiable characteristics of cold, such as contraction and tightening of the body, pain and numbness, cold of the hands or feet, clear and copious fluid discharge, etc. 

Cold illness can include what is often referred to as the “common cold,” with symptoms such as chills, fever, body aches, sweating, sore throat, and more. These exterior disease patterns do not only occur during the winter when cold weather dominates. Many patients who experience a more sub-acute or chronic version of this may actually feel worse during the summertime. Any period of time that these patients are not dealing with their symptoms and seem to be cured – winter or spring perhaps – is in reality another manifestation of a cold and damaged body that must be repaired before the situation worsens.

Cold can manifest in any part of the body, from the muscles and bones to the internal organs themselves. Pain and tightness of the body may still be a part of the symptom picture in this case, and there may also be diarrhea, rumbling sounds in the abdomen, a lack of desire to drink water, shortness of breath, and more.

How do we treat cold-type presentations with acupuncture and herbs? Warming the cold areas directly can help, which can be done in a variety of ways, but this may only temporarily alleviate the patient’s symptoms in some cases. In order to properly address any condition, be it one of dominant cold, heat, or a mixture of both, we need to identify a few key elements: How did the body cool off in the first place? How long has it been cooled off? What functional systems have been most negatively impacted? Is there any secondary or tertiary damage that has occurred, and if so, which systems are affected? This requires a thorough investigation of the patient’s pulses and acupuncture channels in order to choose and apply the proper methods for treating that person at that particular time, on that particular day. Depending on the specific acupuncture or herbal medicine treatment applied, we can warm and relax the body, stimulating the movement of warm blood to areas that are lacking; we can stoke the body’s fire from the inside-out in order to warm and/or dry the body; and much more.

For more information, or to schedule an appointment with Great Nature Oriental Medicine, please contact Clint at (618) 694-5189. Thanks for reading!

Best,
Clint Cain, L.Ac.