Allergies
It makes you want to “cough” at everyone.
It’s only too true that coughing is one of the classic complaints of allergy sufferers, along with itchy eyes, a runny nose and a scratchy throat. But there is help…!
Your nose is running, your head is pounding, your eyes are itchy and you want to scratch them from the inside. Sneezing fits that are so severe that you can barely hold the steering wheel straight while driving – this or something similar is what you hear allergy sufferers complaining about from January to December, from Aspergillus to birch and grasses to wheat.
Acupuncture and herbal therapy with supporting nutritional tips are a tried and tested way of providing relief. Chinese medicine also provides valuable prophylactic help if it is started in good time.
Patients take fewer “antihistamines” and have a better quality of life.
Allergies from the perspective of Chinese medicine
Collision between external allergens and internal “false heat”!
Lots of pollen, flowers and other allergens in spring. Your eyes water, your nose itches and your throat gets scratchy. The real problem, however, is the imbalance between our internal system and a weakened immune system.
Our body has often been given too much cold over a long period of time, e.g. through raw food, cold drinks, irregular meals in combination with everyday stress. Chinese medicine refers to this as kidney yang deficiency. From a Far Eastern point of view, such a weakness in the kidney channel impedes the circulation and weakens the function of the internal organs. Similar to an engine that runs hot, this deficiency results in a so-called “internal heat” that rises upwards.
When the outside temperature rises in spring, nature begins to unfold, everything grows and sprouts, there is pure energy in the air. This energy (Chinese: Yang) also flows through the cold ground inside our bodies. As a result, the false heat is intensified – the familiar allergic symptoms appear.
Cause & solution
Our irregular and stressful everyday life is the cause of kidney weakness. But the habits of our affluent society also play a significant role. These include, for example, air-conditioned rooms, which prevent our bodies from adapting to the climatic conditions by sweating and thus escaping physical heat. The higher the level of development, the more everything is cooled – also for hygienic reasons. This applies to a large extent to our food and drink. Added to this are predominantly sedentary professional activities in front of screens, combined with inadequate or no compensation through sport, which cools the body down all the more and in turn creates false heat.
Chinese medicine offers a good therapeutic approach through acupuncture, herbal recipes and dietary advice.
Indigestion and flatulence
With flatulence and indigestion, the stomach and intestinal wall are literally “stuck” and “jammed”.
From the point of view of Chinese medicine, this is referred to as stagnation of stomach qi or spleen qi. Food gets stuck and is no longer digested properly. This not only causes an unpleasant feeling of fullness, but often also heartburn, stomach pressure or flatulence. The circulation of Qi is disturbed and this causes pain and dysfunction in the localized area.
Anatomically, these conditions of indigestion are easy to understand. Both the stomach and the intestinal walls consist of soft tissue and muscles. They are therefore more susceptible to cramping and overstretching than skeletal muscles. This is also due to the fact that the proportion of sensory nerves that send sensations to the central nervous system and thus to our consciousness are only very sparsely represented in the intestinal structure compared to the dense colonization in the skeletal muscles. The body is therefore not informed that a muscle in the stomach or intestine is “pulled”. Instead, the feeling is “as if something has got stuck”. Flatulence, on the other hand, is when food only gets “stuck” for a short time. The stomach and intestinal walls are not quite as strained, but are still restricted in their contraction function (contraction of the muscles to transport the food further).
From the perspective of Chinese medicine
In gastrointestinal diseases, the so-called center (stomach and spleen meridian) is disturbed. This is referred to as stagnation of the stomach qi and/or spleen qi.
The food gets stuck and is no longer digested properly.
This not only causes an unpleasant feeling of fullness, but often also heartburn, stomach pressure or flatulence. Pain is caused by a disturbed circulation of Qi and dysfunctions occur in the localized area.
Therapeutic approach
There is one important basic rule for releasing this congestion – relaxation!
It is comparable to the treatment of tense shoulder or neck muscles. Relaxation through rest, warmth and stretching for your intestines through heat therapy and acupuncture supplemented with herbs.
Burnout
Do you feel permanently tired, drained and exhausted? Your battery is empty because you feel obliged to go above and beyond the call of duty at work or in your daily life without receiving any praise or recognition?
What makes burnout dangerous is the gradual progression. Only after years of exhaustion do you realize that your battery is empty. Similar to a virus that slowly but steadily settles in the body and spreads. Until at some point the strength to Life is missing. Body, mind and psyche are failing. You just function.
Burnout not only affects managers and politicians, but also people in care professions, carers, teachers, sportspeople and pastoral workers are at risk.
Added to this is the lack of balance between the problems of everyday life and the necessary free time.
Signs of burnout:
- listlessness, irritability
- Sleep disorders
- Memory and concentration disorders
- Fear of failure
- Permanent tiredness, fatigue
- Lack of energy, exhaustion
- Feeling of inner emptiness
From the perspective of Chinese medicine
This is an infection that has become “stuck” in the body. The cause is usually dampness and the accumulation of moisture. Waste products are produced. In addition to overwork, the reason for the build-up of moisture is an irregular diet and the consumption of foods with a lot of sugar, white flour and dairy products.
The waste products are found exclusively in the connective tissue and lead to a variety of symptoms depending on where in the body the slagging starts.
If the connective tissue of the muscles is affected, a feeling of heaviness in the muscles, pulling, numbness, dull to stabbing, wandering or localized muscle pain may occur. It then appears to the person affected that the discomfort is caused by changes in the bones or muscles. However, these processes actually take place in the connective tissue of the respective organs.
Therapeutic approach
Burnout occurs when the pressure of deadlines at work or the tasks are constantly increasing and the pressure to perform overwhelms those affected. They no longer feel able to cope with the demands and feel increasingly alienated.
This is often aggravated by an incorrect and inadequate diet. Phases in which there are few symptoms alternate with more acute phases. It is important to adapt the therapy accordingly. It is particularly important to get help quickly when symptoms change or acute complaints occur in order to relieve the situation. The waste products are found exclusively in the connective tissue and lead to a variety of symptoms depending on where in the body the slagging starts.
If the connective tissue of the muscles is affected, a feeling of heaviness in the muscles, pulling, numbness, dull to stabbing, wandering or localized muscle pain may occur. It then appears to the person affected that the discomfort is caused by changes in the bones or muscles. However, these processes actually take place in the connective tissue of the respective organs.
Other chronic diseases
According to an official list of the WHO (World Health Organization), the following selection of diseases is part of the indications that can be treated with Chinese medicine:
Skin diseases:
- Akne vulgaris
- Allergic contact eczema
- Herpes Simplex
- Itching
- Neurodermatitis
- Psoriasis
Cardiovascular diseases:
- Hypertension – high blood pressure
- Circulatory disorders
- functional heart problems
- Cardiac arrhythmia
- Hypotension – low blood pressure
Neurological and mental illnesses:
- Obesity
- Depressive moods
- Facial paralysis
- Shingles
- Hemiplegia
- Neuralgia
- Phantom pain
- Trigeminal neuralgia
- Sleep disorders
- Restlessness
Addiction problems:
- Alcohol cessation
- Quit smoking
- Overweight/underweight regulation
Urological diseases:
- Acute and chronic cystitis
- Urinary incontinence
- Potency problems
- Prostatitis
- Irritable bladder
