01 Introduction
As practitioners of life cultivation, we learn fundamental herbal knowledge to condition our bodies daily. This knowledge also helps us seek second opinions when in doubt about a herbal prescription.
In this section, we will explore how coldness and dampness affect our bodies and the methods to treat these issues, bringing vitality back to our lives.
01 Six Evil Spirits
Previously, we discussed the six evil spirits (harmful pathogenic factors) in traditional herbal medicine: wind, coldness, dampness, dryness, heat, and fire. Some herbal practitioners refer to these as liu-qi (six spirits) from the outside, which can be divided into three categories:
Wind: Cannot directly threaten our health but brings in other evil spirits.
Coldness and Dampness: Tend to move downward in our bodies.
Dryness and Heat: Collectively known as fire.
As life cultivation practitioners, understanding these evil spirits helps us judge our body conditions. Diseases can be broadly categorized into coldness and hotness, and herbal medicines are similarly divided into hot and cold types to treat these conditions.
- Cold Diseases: Treated with hot medicines to drive away coldness.
- Hot Diseases: Treated with cold medicines to reduce fire.
While specific diagnoses should be made by professional herbal practitioners, we can generally determine the direction ourselves. For instance, dizziness is usually caused by fire and needs cold medicine, while diarrhea is typically a cold symptom requiring hot medicine.
By making simple judgments, we can analyze the medicinal materials in a prescription. If a disease is caused by fire and the prescription contains mainly hot medicine, we should seek several other opinions.
02 Checking Medicinal Properties of Herbs
How do we know the medicinal properties of herbs in a prescription, especially if we are not professional herbalists? There are two main ways:
Online Research: Check the properties according to the prescription.
Reference Books: Use a copy of Ben-cao-gang-mu (Compendium of Materia Medica) at home or the library. Keeping a copy at home is more convenient.
02 Case Study: Get a Second Opinion in Case of Doubt
01 The Disease: Senile Vaginitis
Professional herbal practitioner Guo Yaning had a female patient with persistent itching, discomfort, secretions, strong odor, and occasional pain in her lower body. Western medicine diagnosed her with senile vaginitis, but years of treatment did not improve her condition.
02 A Second Opinion
The patient consulted a herbal doctor who diagnosed her condition as xia-jiao (lower-jiao) fire. The patient then consulted Dr. Guo Yaning who has a medical clinic in Xian, China. However, Dr. Guo Yaning disagreed, stating the disease was caused by a cold evil spirit. Treating it with cold medicine would worsen the condition. Initially, cold medicine might provide relief by removing some cold and damp evil spirits, but it would eventually damage the spleen and stomach, reducing vital yuanqi and weakening the body’s defense. This leads to a vicious cycle of chronic disease relapse.
Accurate diagnosis in herbal medicine is crucial. Incorrect medication can severely damage the spleen, stomach, and kidneys, leading to more diseases over time. Treating cold evil spirit invasions with cold medicine is only a temporary solution and can shorten a patient’s lifespan.
03 Herbal Medicine Concept Explained
Western medicine does not have an equivalent concept to the three-jiao (three parts of the body). Let’s learn about their locations:
- Shang-jiao (Upper-jiao): Above a line connecting the nipples.
- Zhong-jiao (Middle-jiao): Below the nipple line and above the navel line.
- Xia-jiao (Lower-jiao): Below the navel line, essentially the lower abdomen.
Fire is generally inflammatory and not present in the lower abdomen, except in special cases. Symptoms in the reproductive organs and urinary system are usually caused by coldness and dampness blocking the meridians, preventing vital yuanqi from reaching these areas and leading to bacterial infections.
Due to physiological differences, female reproductive organs are more susceptible to infection. When women’s vital yuanqi is insufficient and immunity is reduced, bacteria thrive in the humid and warm environment. Most cleaning products claiming to warm the uterus and dispel coldness are ineffective. The vagina is far from the uterus and ovaries, and external cleaning products alone offer no protection.
From a modern medicine perspective, many Chinese market toiletries are alkaline. Long-term use can destroy the acidic environment, reducing immunity and self-cleaning ability, making the body more prone to infections and recurring gynecological diseases.
(To be continued)