Wind
A major cause of disease
In Chinese medicine, Wind is one of the most virulent external causes of disease.
It takes many forms. At one end of the spectrum, air passes gently through leaves. At the other end, you get the destructive force of a hurricane.
In the same way, in Chinese medicine Wind symptoms take many forms, from mild to very serious.
One thing is common to them all: movement.
For example, you may find yourself moving involuntarily, as in
- shivering or
- grinding your teeth, or
- you get restless and
- find the symptoms of your disease keep changing.
- More severely, people who have epilepsy get seizures that 'shake and rattle' their bodies.
- Wind is also the harbinger of most diseases that Western medicine describes as being of bacterial or viral origin.
Other Ways to Get Wind!
It also arises in the body from other sources.
Although it is tempting to regard Wind as being purely external, if we say that an individual has had an invasion of Wind, it is the individual’s reaction to the invader that we are describing, not that we would be expecting a windy day to have been the trigger. This it might or might not have been.
In other words, whether or not the patient had been exposed to the wind as it blows the leaves on trees, or modern equivalents of wind like
- air-conditioning
- a blow heater
- an open window in a fast car
- sitting in a draft
- someone sneezing
- a draft, (all being varieties of 'wind')
he would be described as having a Wind invasion if his symptoms included enough of the following:
External Wind Invasion
- Symptoms that change or alter rapidly or from one minute to the next: pain moves from place to place in the body
- Muscles or joints are sore
- Movement is limited, usually because of stiffness
- Headache
- Nasal obstruction
- Itchy throat
- Puffy face
- Dizziness
- Sweating
- Nasal mucus
- Runny eyes (lachrymation)
- Shivering, twitching, symptoms that move around, spasms
- Lungs often affected
- May sweat unexpectedly
- Pulse: floating, often a little fast
Internal Wind
Please note that there is also a condition called ‘internal wind’ which arises from what is called internal deficiency.
Although there are some similarities to external wind, internal wind arises not from one of the external causes of disease but from an internal deficiency, such as deficient Blood, or Yin Deficiency.
However, it can be triggered by exposure to one of the external causes of disease.
Internal Wind can be harder to treat and to cure. Though occurring at all ages, it is more common as you grow older.
For example the slight tremor that many older people have, especially if they are nervous, is an example of Internal Wind.
Read about one example at Liver Wind.
Wind Combines with other factors
Very often, Wind invades in company with Cold (Wind-Cold) or Heat (Wind-Heat).
After the attack, what then?
Your body expends a fair amount of energy combating the Wind. After the Wind attack, you may be left with this.
Read about the other external causes of disease:
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Jonathan Clogstoun-Willmott Books
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Qi Stagnation - Signs of Stress
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Western Astrology and Chinese Medicine
Published 1986 and, amazingly, still selling. Western Astrology and Chinese Medicine was apparently used back then by at least one acupuncture college to help students understand Chinese medicine!
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