Painful Obstruction with Wind-Cold-Damp
The information provided here is not a replacement for a doctor. You shouldn't use it for the purpose of self-diagnosing or self-medicating but rather so you can have a more informed discussion with a professional TCM practitioner.
At a glance
Preliminary reading: What is a pattern?
Diagnosis
Common symptoms: Nausea Headaches Dizziness Weight loss Shortness of breath and three other symptoms
Pulse type(s): Slippery (Hua), Wiry (Xian)
Tongue coating: Thick white coating
Treatment
Common formulas: Gui Zhi Shao Yao Zhi Mu Tang
Pathology
Painful Obstruction with Wind-Cold-Damp is a pattern of disharmony in Chinese Medicine.
Chinese Medicine views the human body as a complex system that tends toward harmony. A pattern of disharmony is a disorder that prevents that harmony from occurring.
Patterns give rise to symptoms that may at first glance seem unrelated from a Western standpoint but that actually make a lot of sense when one understands Chinese Medicine theory. For instance here Painful Obstruction with Wind-Cold-Damp gives rise to such diverse symptoms as swollen and painful joints that are warm to the touch and worsen at night, reduced range of motion in the affected joints, chills without sweating and weight loss (as well as four others).
To diagnose a pattern, analyzing a patient's pulse as well as their tongue is common practice. In the case of Painful Obstruction with Wind-Cold-Damp patients tend to exhibit slippery (Hua) or wiry (Xian) pulses as well as a tongue with thick white coating.
Patterns aren't exactly the Chinese Medicine equivalent to Western diseases, they're rather the underlying causes behind diseases or health conditions. Here Painful Obstruction with Wind-Cold-Damp is thought to sometimes induce conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, connective tissue disorders or gouty arthritis (as well as six others).
Diagnosing Painful Obstruction with Wind-Cold-Damp
Diagnosing a pattern in Chinese Medicine is no easy feat and should be left to professional practitioners. In particular one has to know how to differentiate between different types of pulses and tongue coatings, shapes and colors as well as learn to read from a long list of seemingly unrelated symptoms.
Pulse type(s): Slippery (Hua) or wiry (Xian)
Tongue coating: Thick white coating
Main symptoms: Nausea Headaches Dizziness Weight loss Shortness of breath Chills without sweating Reduced range of motion in the affected joints Swollen and painful joints that are warm to the touch and worsen at night
Treating Painful Obstruction with Wind-Cold-Damp
Herbal formulas used to treat Painful Obstruction with Wind-Cold-Damp
Gui Zhi Shao Yao Zhi Mu Tang
Source date: 220 AD
Number of ingredients: 9 herbs
Key actions: Clears Heat and inflammations. Unblocks the flow of Yang Qi and promotes movement (in areas with painful obstruction). Clears Wind and Damp. Relieves pain.
Formula summary
Gui Zhi Shao Yao Zhi Mu Tang is a 9-ingredient Chinese Medicine formula. Invented in 220 AD, it belongs to the category of formulas that dispel Wind-Damp.
Related conditions
Please keep in mind that a Western Medicine condition can be caused by several Chinese Medicine patterns of disharmony and vice versa. As such a patient suffering from one of the conditions below will not necessarily be suffering from Painful Obstruction with Wind-Cold-Damp, it is just one pattern that's commonly associated with the condition. Click on a condition to learn what other patterns it's associated with.
Rheumatoid arthritis Connective tissue disorders Gouty arthritis Psoriatic arthritis Periarthritis of the shoulder Sciatica Deep vein thrombosis Erythema nodosum Corpulmonare