Joint Pains -- A Chinese Herbal Prescription (12)

JOINT PAINS - - A Chinese herbal prescription.
Everybody has suffered from joint pains one time or another except those at very young age.

Causes of joint pains:
• Age will definitely worsen your joint pains.
• Overexertion in work, sports or other activities.
• Overexposure to cold, wind and damp such as insufficient clothing to protect the body against the elements.
• Not enough rest due to work, travel, and other activities.
• Sudden change in weather especially humidity.
• Uric acid from food, known as Gout in Western medicine.
• A previous joint injury may result in periodic pains after recovery.
• Flu or cold can cause temporary aches and pains, which will disappear when the flu passes.

Nature of joint pains:
• Long-term condition subject to occasional flare-ups triggered by the causes described above.
• Aging causes more pains, possibly deformation of joints too.
• Joint pains accompanied by swelling are more serious.
• Very difficult to cure joint pains completely. Expect only improvements in the following areas: intensity of pains, duration, degree of swelling if any, and the frequency of flare-ups.
• A certain degree of tiredness always accompanies the pains.
• Painkillers or numbing with ice can only reduce the pains but cannot get to the roots of the problem.

External treatment:
• Gentle and slow exercise such as Tai Chi, Yoga, or swimming.
• Heat treatment with pad or lamp.
• Massage by people or machine.
• Acupuncture.
* Various oitments with different ingredients.

Internal treatment:
The Chinese approach is to enhance the blood circulation with herbs. The Chinese name for joint pains is 風濕病, literally translated as "wind damp disease". This is related to the observation that joint pains become more acute in windy and damp weather conditions. The herbs used to enhance blood circulation will flush out the wind and damp, as well as cold absorbed by the body from the environment. Improved blood circulation also helps reduce swelling. The effects will last much longer than external treatment since the herbs also strengthen the bones and tendons.

The basic prescription for joint pains is focused on strengthening blood circulation, bones and tendons. It also tries to expel the environmental factors being absorbed into the body such as wind, damp and cold:
1) Blood circulation
Sang Ji Sheng 桑 寄 生
Gui Zhi 桂 枝
Du Huo 獨 活
Ｗu Jia Pi 五 加 皮
2) Bones and tendons
San Qi 三 七 （田 七）
Niu Xi 牛 膝
Gu Sui Bu 骨 碎 補
Bu Gu Zhi 補 骨 脂
3) Expel wind/damp/cold
Jiang Huo 姜 活
Fang Feng 防 風
Bi Xie 箄 解
Ze Xie 澤 瀉
A combination of 12 herbs is recommended.

Drink one cup (8 oz) of herb tea a day, preferably in the morning to allow time for dissipation of excess heat.

This is just one formula with countless variations depending on:
* How acute is the pain and where.
* Any swelling and where.
* How sensitive is your body to the strengthening herbs.

www.herbsandtea.com Click the Askjohn button to pose a question.
Herbal capsules or concentrates can be tailor-made for your conditions.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Chinese
• medicine
• herbal
• prescription
• formula
• product
• natural
• alternative
• healing
• herbs
• herbalist
• joint
• pains
• arthritis

[margff]

names were chinese. Mention these names in English. Finally describe how to make the medicine from these herbs. It is a serious matter.

[askjohnfung]

@margff

If you say "It is a serious matter", you should spend more time reading my other videos especially #10 and #17. You will find all the answers there.

[buzzaw77]

It sounds like Wind-Damp disease is a kind of Blood/Qi Stagnation, is this correct?

[askjohnfung]

Yes! It's not hard if you try to reason it out.

There are only a few basic important things but we tend to say them in 1000 different ways.

[sparklingVenus]

ehhhh?? how to use those herbal medicines???

[purplehazygurl]

Great video, you are a great teacher, keep up the great tradition!