Our Body's Climate

One may observe that when the weather becomes excessively moist, dry, hot, windy, or cold that they suddenly feel their joints ache or a headache come on.  While one person may find their asthma gets worse in dry weather, another person's asthma disappears completely in response to dry weather.

The ancients in China may have been onto something when they concluded that our bodies are no less than an extension of nature.  And just like nature has climates and experiences of extremes, so do our bodies.

One of the best clues into figuring out a patient's climate is asking if they notice changes during extreme weather.  For instance, people who suffer from headaches may notice that their symptoms get worse when it rains.  Those individuals may get headaches because of too much damp accumulation in the body.  Other people may have the same exact symptoms, but note that they get headaches when the weather gets cold.  Those individuals might lack the heat needed to protect them from the cold and as a response get headaches as their body reacts to the low temperature.  Arthritis can flare up during a cold front, humid weather, or heat spells depending on the type of arthritis they have as classified in Chinese medical terms.  

So now that we've figured out what climate is causing the problem, how do we address it?  We can certainly address it with acupuncture because it will help get the body's energy and blood moving which will make anyone feel better.  But for a deeper way to address the body's climate, we'd have to turn to the Chinese medical pharmacy - herbs and formulas.  

Herbs are organized in categories of what they do to the body.  They cool, heat, moisten, dry, and resolve toxins.  They also move and tonify qi and blood.  Herbs are very powerful in harmonizing the body's climate.  They also need to be used with caution because creating balance is a very delicate process that needs much insight and perceptivity.  

So if a person show's a lot of signs of dampness, they are prescribed herbs and formulas that work to clear the dampness in the body.   

As the yin yang symbol so beautifully symbolizes, the goal of Chinese Medicine is to create a harmonious balance in the body's climate which is compatible with life and well being.