A young white female patient complained of having an infection. She reported swollen joints and also redness and itchiness of the skin as well as pain in her right hand. My first impression was that it was an infection which could be treated by traditional western medicine but she told me that she had tried this and did not get a favorable response so she finally gave up. Her Tai Chi Chuan teacher knew about her suffering and recommended her to me. When she arrived in the office her good looking face was clouded over by worry and anxiety.
I took a look at her tongue which appeared white indicating that her body was cold. This condition allowed the germ to grow unhampered. The tongue coating was also thick indicating her body was damp. This condition also produced a good environment in which germs could grow.
The front part of her tongue was red and had red spots, and the tip was also red. This indicated her heart was overheated and that too much blood was jammed up in her heart system. Just like a traffic jam where cars get packed together and cannot move easily, the jamming of the blood in her heart area prevents good circulation to every part of the body. And both sides of the tongue were red meaning that the liver and gall-bladder were overheated. With her body in such a condition how could she summon enough defensive power to fight the germ? And having already taken medicine – which kills the good germs as well as the bad – there was the possibility that the bad germs would grow again.
I took the pulse for her left side. It was rapid – about 90 to 92 beats per minute. The rapid pulse indicated an overheated condition, and the pulse was tiny, which meant the blood wasn’t circulating sufficiently. The right side pulse was 100 beats per minute, and it was tight and floating. Tightness indicates coldness, causing the blood vessels to contract and hamper proper circulation, and the floating quality of the pulse indicated a type of flu in the body although the patient might not be aware of it.
There are so many kinds of flu that it is beyond imagina-tion. I reminded my patient her that she had a pain in her eyebrow. If I had not reminded her she would only have known that she felt uncomfortable. I inserted one needle to clear up the exterior part of her body and another needle to calm down her mind which had been stressed for a very long time due to an awfully unhappy marriage.
I used cupping to unblock the tight muscles in her back area. She felt better after the treatment because the muscles in her back had relaxed and the lungs which are in charge of the skin and hair were clear. The skin and hair, considered the exterior part of the body, are related to lung function in TCM. If you have a flu, your nervous system can cause your tiny pores in the skin to contract, then your body heat cannot evaporate, and as the nature of heat is to rise, it goes to your head. As the heat is rising and leaving the lower part of your body, your body goes out of order and that is why some kinds of flu make you can feel chilly and have a fever at the same time.
When she came in for the second visit her left side pulse was 80-82 beats per minute, and the tiny quality of the pulse had improved. The pulse on the right side was 80-84 beats per minute, and the tight quality of the pulse had become easier. Also, the floating sensation of the pulse had subsided, and by the fourth visit she felt much better. The redness in the skin improved, there was not as much tightness in the back muscles, and the swelling in the joints had gone down.
One day my patient experienced severe pain on the right side of the abdominal area. She went to the hospital for tests. The doctors concluded that she had an infection and removed her appendix which was then found to be healthy. Perplexed, she checked in with her physician, who threw up his in exasperation and said, “You need a doctor!” My patient laughed while reporting this incident to me. She was not bitter at having had the unnecessary surgery because her doctor was a sincere and humble man who had tried his very best in to cure her.
At a subsequent visit I took the pulse for her and noted that it was rapid, especially on the right hand stomach point. I could feel that the pulse was overacting and bouncing back with too much power. As I took the pulse, her eyes were closed but not completely closed because she was worried and wanted to see from my face if there was any hope. Unfortunately, my face tightened up all the time, especially when she suddenly yelled, “Oh, my stomach hurts!” I examined the area where the appendix had been removed and there was nothing abnormal, but still the pain remained. From the pulse activity, I had to say it was an infection, even though the site of the infected area had been cleaned out through surgery.
After the surgery she had been feeling tired and nauseous. I helped her clear up the exterior part of her body while helping her system eliminate an accumulation of water. I used the “sedating method” of acupuncture treatment to help cleanse the blood and urination system. Her nausea and tiredness lessened, and when she returned for another appointment the floating pulse in the right hand lung and stomach point was greatly reduced. When her appendix area was very painful, I used oil and the “warm up and circulate” treatment to relieve her pain.
When she came in for another treatment, the right hand pulse was not as floating and rapid, the nausea was less, but she still had no appetite, and the tongue still tended to be white while the tongue tip and both sides of the tongue were still red, so treatments continued and so did her improvement.
As my patient’s condition changed, my treatment program changed accordingly. As the rapid and floating pulse improved I began to warm up her body, which empowers it and allows the energy to move. As I helped my patient clear up the excessive water and push out the toxins, the red color from both sides of her tongue became much better. At the same time I let her drink an herb which tonified her liver and kidney in order to create more liquid. Then her energy became better and her body became stronger. I also used one kind of herb which worked as a glue to heal the patient’s appendix area.
I wanted to reinforce the patient’s body so that her defensive power could fight the germ and perhaps even conquer it and at the same time, I cleared up the heat in her heart system which improved the blood circulation, I also helped her body cleanse the excessive dampness which had allowed the germ to grow easily. I added an herb to the standard TCM protocol which pushed out the body’s waste and produced new strength. And our continued talks together opened up her mind and she became much happier, and eventually stronger so that her pain disappeared. When she checked with her medical doctor, he told her to come back for an appointment in three months time.
If I just killed the germ that was giving her so much trouble my patient would feel worse. Why? In her case killing the germ would have required clearing up the heat and detoxifying her, but the fact was that her system was already too cold when she first came in for treatment. If I had cleared up the heat the treatment would have made her even colder, and she would have gotten worse. It is a TCM principle that the patient should not be made worse from the treatment.
Please be advised, a germ found in the body reflects an imbalanced condition. If the body is not warm enough then certain germs can grow, and if it is weak then its defensive power is not strong enough to fight the germ. So, according to TCM, if I warm up her body, then the germ will not be able to grow easily. (Think of the senior citizens who catch cold easily in winter, but if they keep warm, they won’t get sick so easily.)
Yet during the treatments I confessed to her that I really needed a superior teacher, not because I am humble, but in order to relieve my burden of insecurity. As no standard program of treatment was available to me for her particular situation, I felt my skill was insufficient and my knowledge not profound enough. Her problem was for me like the large and dangerous snake king which my kung fu could not conquer.
If a giant snake gets too close to me, surely I will feel terrified. My heart will almost jump out of my chest knowing that it can kill me. But due to my social experience and long term hardship I do not show my fear. I raise my left hand and say, “Nice boy, nice boy!” My appearance is fearless and my eye is firm. The snake king who is very clever and has vast experience due to old age decides to withdraw because it does not know what I will do next.
You may say, “Hey! I believe your story, but if you don’t kill the snake king (germ) he can kill you.” But I can reply that if I kill the snake king (germ), the one thousand snakes who live in his district can then come out and kill me.
You might think about killing the snake king because it is the way of thinking in western medical practice, but to tell you the truth, in ancient times giant snakes were respected due to their supreme powers. Snakes have been known to protect babies and guard the saints. They can even transform their bodies into a human body and marry a human being! But these are legendary stories which you may not accept. In the age of modern science a real example of snake power can be found in my home province. Due to many rats which were infesting the rural areas, the local government introduced the rats’ primary predator – the snake – to help re-balance the environment.
You may feel that the patient’s symptoms presented a confusing picture, and such a situation will generate many questions. That is how I felt, too. But as a TCM practitioner, if I show my confusion and fear, the patient will not be able to have confidence and may even feel worse. But by proceeding with determination and having faith in the method, I was at last able to hear her say, “I don’t even know when my skin itchiness disappeared, and I can’t even remember the pain that I had.”
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