The idea of choosing your herbs while pushing a grocery cart seems a bit contrary to some of the principals behind the use of Chinese medicinal herbs. So here are a few items explaining their use and dispelling some myths behind Chinese Herbology.

Myth:  Herbs are prescribed based on a specific symptom.
Fact:  In Chinese medicine, herbal formulas are prescribed based on your specific pattern of imbalance.  Your symptoms are just signposts pointing to the underlying cause of that imbalance.  For example, there are several formulas that could be used if you have insomnia.  But there are also several causes of insomnia in Chinese medicine.  Do you fall asleep, but wake a few hours later?  Are you waking up due to night sweats?  Is your mind racing when you can’t sleep, or are you lying in bed quietly while sleep eludes you?  Are you wide awake all night or just a restless sleeper?  Your practitioner would prescribe an herbal formula based on your answers to these and other questions about your health.

Myth:  Herbs are meant to be taken individually.
Fact:  Chinese herbalists almost never prescribe single herbs.  By combining herbs into a formula, your practitioner is able to fine-tune the herbs to your specific needs.  Also, some herbs are strong and need to be tempered by the harmonizing effects of other herbs, some herbs may be added to strengthen the effects of a formula, and some herbs may be added to treat other symptoms that accompany your condition.

 Myth:  Herbs are natural, so they must not be very strong.
Fact:   Many of the prescription drugs we take today have been developed from herbs.  Herbs have very real effects and need to be taken with proper care and a little bit of knowledge.  In 2001, Minnesota Viking, Korey Stringer died of heat stroke while practicing in the August humidity.  Further investigation uncovered the fact that he had been taking a weight loss formula for many months that included the Chinese herb Ma Huang, or ephedra and may have been a factor in his death.  In Chinese medicine, ephedra is rarely prescribed for more than a week or so, and is never used for weight loss.  This story just underscores that these herbs are strong enough to impact your health, need to be used properly, and should be taken with some guidance. 

Myth:  If I’m taking a prescription drug, I can’t take Chinese herbs.
Fact:  In some cases this is actually correct.  For example, ginseng can further raise already high blood pressure, St. John’s Wort may interact with a number of meds, and if you’re taking the blood thinner Coumadin, herbs are completely out of the question.  However, in most cases if you’re taking a prescription drug, it’s okay to take a Chinese herbal formula.  Personally, I don’t prescribe herbs if a patient is taking several drugs, because the risk for adverse effects is already high.  However, depending on the single medication and the herbal formula, most are safe to take together.

Myth:  Chinese herbs are always plants.
Fact:  Um…not always.  Think animal, vegetable, mineral, and you’ll be on the right track.  Most herbs do come from plants, but there are minerals, such as gypsum, ground seashells, calcium, and iron that are considered Chinese herbs.  In addition, there are some animal based herbs, such as turtle shell, parts of some insects, and the fuzz from deer antlers that are very effective herbs.  In the past, some herbs came from animals that are now endangered species (tiger bones, and the gallbladder of the Asiatic bear).  Herbal manufacturers have successfully found suitable substitutions that are effective without using products from endangered species.

In fact, spring is why many of us live in Minnesota at all.  The dramatic shift from the deep freeze of winter into the drama and glory of spring is an incredible thing to behold.  If it weren’t for spring, many of us Minnesotans would be somewhere else sitting under a palm tree sipping a cool drink and slapping on the sunscreen.

In Chinese medicine, the season of spring is aptly associated with the elemental energy of wood.  While many people think of wood as the hardwood logs that you throw on the fire, those tender green shoots poking out of the ground are also elemental wood.

The wood element and spring also relate to the Chinese organ system of the Liver.  Responsible for the free flow of everything in your body, your Liver is prone to blockages—both physical and emotional.  In fact, when you’re deeply frustrated or angry, your Chinese Liver is compromised; basically things aren’t moving as smoothly as they should.  (Same goes for menstrual cramps, digestive problems, some headaches, and constipation—it’s all about flow.)

So, in honor of spring and all manner of couch spuds heading outdoors, here’s my top ten ways to be a little healthier this spring:

1)  Eat more sprouts, shoots, and greens.  Remember, those baby plants are chlorophyll-rich manifestations of the wood element.  And they’re really good for you.

2)  Start a garden.  Whether you grow some lettuce in pots on your balcony or convert part of your back yard into a pumpkin patch, gardening is good for your soul.  In addition, it can be a cost-effective way to get pesticide-free produce on your table this spring and summer.

3)  Get your eyes checked. While this may seem unrelated to anything, your Chinese Liver is actually responsible for the health of your eyes.  So take care of them this spring by getting your vision checked.

4)  Commit to being a little more flexible.  Wood is healthy when it’s strong, yet bendable.  Inflexible wood will quickly break when it’s stressed.  Likewise, flexible people are better able to handle stress and take life’s bumps and bruises in stride. If you struggle to deal what life dishes out, give a little, like branches in the breeze.

5)  Get moving.  Spring, the wood element, and your Liver are all about flow and movement.  Get off the couch and get the sap going in your veins.  Take a walk, play outside, ride your bike.  Whatever you do, a little movement will wake you up and make you feel good.

6)  Go outside.  Get in touch with the natural world around you.  Be a witness to the incredible changes this season brings.  Much of Chinese medicine is based on the cycles of nature, and those cycles are most apparent in the spring.

7)  Take care of your Liver.  Um…how?  Eat foods that closely resemble their original state. (E.g. eat raspberries, not a raspberry-filled jelly doughnut.)  Take a little break from adult beverages.  Skip highly processed foods and foods with very long ingredient lists.  It will feel like a mini detox.

8)  Stretch.  The Chinese Liver also governs the health of your tendons and ligaments.  Avoid injury while you’re performing Item #5 above by stretching a little.  Massage is also a good way to get the circulation going in your muscles, ligaments, and tendons.

9)  Eat darkly colored foods to enrich Liver blood.  Black beans, eggplant, greens, blueberries, spinach, peppers, beets, etc.  You get the picture.

10)  Start something new.  Spring is a time of growth and expansiveness.  By starting a new project, hobby, skill, job or relationship, you’re creating movement, change, and growth that are the essence of this time of year.

The Chinese have a different take on the cold, however, in that cold can actually make you sick and cause pain.  One of the foundations of Chinese medicine is the idea of flow; whether it’s the flow of energy or blood, the course of food through your digestive system, or the smooth flow of your emotions.  When this flow is interrupted, stagnation occurs.  Much like a traffic jam on a busy highway, stagnation in your body can be the cause of pain, tight muscles, indigestion, and even depression.

How does cold play a role?  Well, if you think about it, the nature of cold is to stagnate.  When it gets cold here in the north, the rivers and streams freeze, effectively stopping the flow for the duration of the winter.  This is true in your body, too.  When you are chronically cold, it can cause your energy to stagnate and make your body seize up.  A few examples:

-Jane is a patient I had seen last winter and spring for facial pain, called Trigeminal Neuralgia.  I had not seen her for awhile because the acupuncture treatments she had undergone were working.  However, about six weeks ago, in November, Jane came back to see me because the pain was back and had been worse since the cold weather set in.

-Angela came to see me about a year ago for something called Bell’s palsy, which is a loss of nerve and muscle function in one side of her face, causing it to droop.  Most people with Bell’s palsy recover after a couple of months, but Angela’s symptoms had been dragging on for years.  In talking with Angela about her lifestyle and environment, she shared that she worked in a drafty and cold office in the basement of an older building—essentially that she was always cold. 

-Joel, a man in his mid sixties came to me for relief from arthritis pain in his hands.  Interestingly, his arthritis always bothers him the most in the colder winter months.

I instructed Jane, Angela, and Joel to keep warm, stay covered up when going outside, and to apply warmth at home, especially when their pain is acting up.

The ancient Chinese have used heat therapy in the form of moxabustion (or moxa) for thousands of years.  Moxa is a way of warming parts of your body by applying burning herbs (artemesia) near the painful areas.  This actually feels really good–the heat is very penetrating and therapeutic.  Unfortunately, the downside of moxa is that it smells remarkably like…um, marijuana, so it can be problematic using it in a busy business office.  In the clinic, a good substitute is a far infrared lamp, which offers the same penetrating heat of moxabustion.

Many health care providers will tell you to apply ice to any painful area, which is good advice for the first day or two of a traumatic injury to keep the swelling down.  But after that, if there are no visible signs of inflammation, I’ll go with the heat

While a number of conditions may be the cause of dizziness, not all dizziness is the same.  The severity of symptoms can run the whole gamut from disabling to mildly annoying.  People who suffer from vestibular (inner ear) problems may describe their dizziness as the sensation of the whole room spinning, or vertigo, with severe balance problems.  In contrast, someone who has low blood pressure may feel temporarily light headed when they stand up. To make things worse, dizziness may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, sweating, and even fainting.

In Chinese medicine, dizziness is usually classified as some kind of wind.  Wind is a tricky pathogen, in that it tends to move around (making you dizzy).  It usually affects the upper part of your body, much like the wind outdoors, and it comes and goes, just like strong gusts on a windy day.  In Chinese medicine, wind is frequently the diagnosis not only in cases of dizziness, but also with tremors, some headaches, numbness, high or low blood pressure, and even itchy skin conditions.

The root cause of wind is almost always a deficiency of some vital substance in your body, such as Qi, Blood, or Yin.  For example, anemia is considered a Blood deficiency in Chinese medicine and is a common cause of mild dizziness or light-headedness. Another example is a depletion of your body’s moistening and nourishing Yin, which can cause dizziness.  In this case, your body is like a farmer’s field that has dried out to the point where the smallest breeze will make the dust rise.

Whatever the root cause or depletion, Chinese medicine has a lot to offer to effectively treat dizziness.  The best known treatment is acupuncture, which involves the insertion of tiny needles into your body to stimulate healing.  Also effective for dizziness is scalp acupuncture, Like it sounds, scalp acupuncture entails needling acupuncture points on your scalp to affect brain function, and can be used for neurological conditions.  In many cases, Chinese herbal medicine—the use of a specific formula for a specific condition—can be effective, too. 

Some dietary and lifestyle changes that you may try to help your dizziness include:

-Nix the cocktails.  Alcohol is a neurotoxin, is dehydrating, and can aggravate your symptoms.

-Avoid hot, spicy foods, as the heat can actually make your dizziness worse.

-Ditto for caffeine.

-Drink this not that.  While you’re avoiding alcoholic drinks, be sure to drink enough water, especially in hot and dry climates or in dry indoor heating.

-Try mild physical activity to relieve your symptoms.

-When you’re dizzy, focus on a fixed point.  This gives your brain more visual information to calm the dizziness and help you keep your balance.

-Get up slowly.  This is helpful for those of you with low blood pressure, as well as those who suffer from inner ear problems.  By rising slowly, you give your body and brain time to catch up with your change of position

-Check out your medications.  Dizziness or light headedness can be a side effect of a wide variety of drugs.  Talk with your doctor or pharmacist to see if any of the meds you’re taking could be causing your dizziness.

-In all cases, see your doctor if your dizziness is accompanied by chest pain, rapid heart beat, numbness, or blurred vision.

In Chinese medicine, your internal body can become too dry—not just your skin.  Your acupuncturist may call it damage to the body’s fluids or a dryness pathogen, and it simply means that your body is lacking moisture.

The moisture in your body is considered a Yin substance in that it’s cooling, nourishing, and…well, moisturizing.  Your body needs this moisture for every aspect of good health, from moistening your lungs to lubricating your joints and smoothing the passage of food through your digestive system.

As a pathogen (something that can make you sick), dryness can manifest with a variety of symptoms, including constipation; a dry sore throat; dry mouth, nose or eyes; cough; joint problems; indigestion; and fever.

While being well-hydrated helps, the solution to damaged fluids goes beyond drinking more water.  For example, if someone has constipation from dryness, drinking more water will help a little.  However that person will need to eat more moisturizing foods too, to moisten their intestines and relieve the constipation.  This is similar to the difference between putting water on your dry skin (it briefly moistens) and applying a lotion or oil, which nourishes and moisturizes your skin in the long term.

To gently moisten overall dryness, try some of the following tips:

-Your body needs a certain amount of fat to be healthy.  Some good fats include flax seed oil, olive oil and canola oil.  Aim for eating more plant based fats, such as avocadoes, olives, and nuts.

-Seeds and nuts are especially moisturizing.  Walnuts are commonly used in Chinese medicine to relieve constipation due to dryness.  Choose a variety, and try to avoid those nuts and seeds that have been processed with other oils.

-Most fruits moisten dryness.  For dry lungs, choose apples and pears.  In general, the darkly colored fruits and vegetables nourish Yin and build up fluids in your body.

-Make sure you’re getting enough water.  While water can’t really undo damage caused by dryness, becoming dehydrated will only make the problem worse.

-Make sure your house is hydrated, too.  If you live in a dry climate or have the heat on in the winter, your surroundings are dry.  Get some plants, set up an indoor fountain, boil water, or get a humidifier to put some moisture in the air.

Vanessa was soft spoken and committed to doing whatever it took to have a baby.  She had a history of an eating disorder, mild depression, and low energy.  Vanessa assured me, however, that she was eating well, and was trying unsuccessfully to gain weight.  Vanessa had a Chinese medical diagnosis of sinking Spleen Qi (energy).

In Western medicine, your internal organs are considered solid entities that have physiologic functions and live in a specific place in your body.  However, in Chinese medicine, your organs are considered symbolic systems of functioning, and are related to many physical, emotional, and energetic processes in your body.

The job of the Chinese Spleen is to convert the food you eat into energy, blood, and nutrients.  However, one of the Spleen’s secondary functions is to hold things in and hold things up.  Symptoms that the holding function of the Spleen is not up to par may include easy bruising, chronic diarrhea, prolapsed (sinking) organs, and a history of frequent miscarriages.  Frequently, these symptoms are accompanied by fatigue, mental depression, and a sense of heaviness or bearing downward.

There are a number of tools an acupuncturist could use in treating sinking Qi.  First, they would perform acupuncture, choosing specific acupuncture points that strengthen your Spleen and move energy upward. Second, they might prescribe a variety of herbs that also have the action of moving things upward.   The formula, Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang is frequently used for that purpose, as it strengthens your Spleen to improve its holding function.  Finally, through dietary therapy it is possible to strengthen your digestion, and ultimately your Spleen.  Your practitioner can help you choose foods that are best for that purpose and which foods to avoid. 

In Vanessa’s case, her Spleen and digestion had been damaged by her past eating disorder.  Along with acupuncture, we worked on choosing foods that she could easily digest and concentrated on gaining some weight.  In addition, Vanessa took an herbal formula to strengthen the holding function of her Spleen.  In short order, Vanessa became pregnant.  At that time, we concentrated solely on strengthening her ability to hold the fetus to avoid another miscarriage.

Vanessa made it through the first trimester of her pregnancy without miscarrying.  At that point, we began to decrease the frequency of her treatments.  Vanessa ultimately had a healthy pregnancy and gave birth to an equally healthy baby boy.

My most amazing story occured many years ago while I was still in school studying acupuncture.  As part of my masters program, I was required to spend several hundred hours in the school’s teaching clinic treating patients.

One afternoon, I treated a woman who came to the clinic for chronic headaches.  I don’t remember her name, but I’ll call her Mary.  Mary was in her sixties, and had been battling headaches for years.  She had tried a number of treatments, and had even had some kind of a surgical procedure in an attempt to alleviate her pain.  The surgery didn’t help, and in fact left her with neuromuscular damage in her foot.  She was seeking acupuncture as a last resort.

I did a thorough intake interview with Mary, and during the course of our conversation, I noticed that Mary’s right foot was continually moving.  Her toes and the front of her foot moved like she was pressing and releasing the gas pedal of a car–about 30 or 40 times a minute!  Mary explained that this movement in her foot was nerve damage and the direct result of her unsuccessful surgery.  Mary told me that her foot never stopped moving, and it was most noticeable and annoying in the summer when she wore sandals.

I developed a point prescription and began to treat Mary with acupuncture.  She was primarily concerned with the headaches, because she believed that there was  nothing that could be done with her foot.  I began by placing needles in or near the area of her headaches, as well as some in her hands and lower legs.  I had also chosen to use an acupuncture point on the top of each of Mary’s feet.  I inserted the needle into her left foot, but her right foot was a little tricky.  It felt a little like coming in while playing jump rope–I had to time my insertion with the movement of her foot.

I inserted the needle and her foot stopped moving.  

Mary and I looked at each other.  I said “Huh!” and Mary shrugged her shoulders. Her foot did not move again during the course of the treatment.  She walked out of the clinic that day with her right foot still; something it hadn’t been for years.  Sadly, because I was treating Mary in a teaching clinic, I never saw her again.  I don’t know if her foot remained still or if her headaches were ever resolved.

However, whenever I struggle with a patient who isn’t responding to treatment as well as I would like, and  I begin to question the effectiveness of acupuncture, I think about Mary’s foot.

Diagnosing a patient in Chinese medicine is a long and complicated process.  A complete diagnosis has four key ingredients:  observation, listening, smelling (really!), and asking.  While practitioners can determine their treatment plans primarily by asking a patient about their symptoms and health history, observation can often be more valuable in determining how to proceed.

When Tom walks into the clinic, he is giving me a clue as to the nature of his energy or vitality.  It’s clear when he’s feeling tired and in pain—I don’t even have to ask.  On his good days, however, his vitality is apparent—his face lights up, he stands up a little straighter, and he cracks a few jokes about his upcoming treatment.

Frequently, color can tell a practitioner about what is going on.  The color red is usually associated with some kind of heat, such as infection, inflamed arthritis, or the red cheeks of a woman with hot flashes.  Conversely, white or pale skin color is an indicator of cold in your body, such as joint pain that’s aggravated by the cold.  Dampness (the inability to metabolize moisture well),  is indicated by the color yellow—think jaundice or an oozing sore; and purple shows up when there is some kind of stagnation.  For example, a purple bruise is a kind of blood stagnation, and in the extreme, someone who has difficulty breathing or is having a heart attack will have purple lips or a purple complexion.

 The general shape of your body and your posture are also telling me something about your health.  If you are carrying around a lot of excess weight, you most likely have some dampness and frequently struggle with phlegm conditions like sinus problems or asthma.  When a patient comes in who has weak or atrophied muscles, I will suspect that their digestion isn’t up to par.  Also, people who are in great pain will sit in unnatural positions in order to be comfortable.

 Your face, skin and nails give up all kinds of information, too.  Dry, flaky skin and/or brittle nails, suggest depletion of your body’s moistening substances—Yin and/or Blood.  Acne is usually associated with heat, and rashes can vary, depending on the color, moisture, and itchiness.

Every once in a while I’ll see an actor on TV or in a movie open their mouth wide enough to get a good look at their tongue—and know more than I want to about their health.   In Chinese medicine, the appearance of your tongue (or anyone’s) can give up all kinds of information.  The color, coat, and shape of your tongue are all indicators of the internal landscape of your body.  For more on tongue diagnosis, go here.

In Chinese medicine, the idea of immunity is something akin to a protective bubble that wards off potentially harmful pathogens (viruses, bacteria, pollen, etc.) that make you sick. This protective bubble is called Wei Qi, and when it’s strong, it keeps you healthy by fighting off colds and the flu. Unfortunately, when your Wei Qi is weak, lots of nasty bugs get through your bubble and make you sick.

So how, then, can you strengthen your Wei Qi? Well, because it’s a kind of Qi, or energy, having strong energy in general is protective. One of the best ways to do that is by eating good food–lots of colorful fruits and vegetables, which are packed with vitamins; whole grains; and small amounts of protein. As important as what you eat, is how well you digest your food. You can eat the most nutritious food in the world, but if you don’t digest it well, it does very little to protect your health. If you have digestive issues, getting them under control will strengthen your energy, and ultimately, your Wei Qi. And yes, acupuncture can help get your digestion back on track.

Another way to boost your Wei Qi, is through your lungs. In Chinese medicine, your lungs also help build Qi, and are considered the most exterior of your organs. That just means that with every breath, your lungs are coming into contact with the outside world. As the most external organ, your lungs are the protector of the outside of your body, too–that protective bubble called Wei Qi.

Taking care of your lungs, then, is a way to boost your immunity. Deep relaxing breathing; exercise; avoiding breathing really cold air; and if possible, not getting sick are all ways to keep your lungs healthy.

Getting enough sleep is important too, for a variety of reasons. However, as it relates to strengthening your Wei Qi, it’s imperative. Your body heals and rejuvenates itself while you’re asleep. If the quality of your sleep is compromised, immunity suffers.

Stress, especially long-term unrelieved stress also has a negative impact on many of your body’s systems, including immunity. During the fight or flight response associated with stressful situations, your body turns down the volume on the systems you don’t need right now to deal with the stress. Immunity gets put on the back burner until your stress dies down. Unfortunately for many of us, stress is a regular part of our lives, so immunity is kept on the back burner indefinitely. Dealing with your stress, altering long-term stressful situations, and slowing down will ultimately help strengthen your immunity.

Finally, Chinese medicine itself offers a number of ways to bolster Wei Qi. Acupuncture is effective to fortify your protective bubble, eliminate stress, enhance the quality of your sleep, and strengthen your lungs. In addition, there are a number of herbal formulas, as well as vitamins (A, C, E, D, and zinc), that can boost Wei Qi, and if all else fails, treat the symptoms of colds and flu.

One of the most common patterns of imbalance that I see in the clinic is something called a Liver and Spleen disharmony. This just means that strong emotions are interfering with the digestive process. The example I use is when my high school boyfriend dumped me, I couldn’t eat for the better part of a month. A Liver and Spleen disharmony is the same thing—just in slow motion.

Your Chinese Liver is an organ system that oversees the smooth flow of everything in your body, including digestion, bowels, circulation, menses, and emotions. Stress, anger, or an emotional upset can cause the Liver system to stagnate. When this happens, one of the first things it affects is your Chinese Spleen, which is your organ of digestion.

In the clinic this pattern is a player in many, if not most, conditions affecting my patients. It can manifest in conditions such as Irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, depression, insomnia, PMS, fatigue, and even obesity, to name just a few.

So what exactly is happening when you are stressed out, upset or worried? Your stomach is a muscle, and when you’re in the emotional wringer that stomach muscle contracts, making it difficult for you to digest much of anything.

Why you have this reaction goes back to the fight or flight response you experience when you are stressed or feel threatened. Your body responds by shutting down those functions that aren’t necessary to run or fight, including digestion. The idea is that in ancient times, feeling threatened was a short-lived affair—only as long as it took to chase off or kill the wild animal lingering in front of your cave.

Today, however, many of us are in a constant state of fight or flight due to the unrelenting stress of our daily lives—whether it’s a cranky boss, a sick kid, a late mortgage payment, or having too much to do. Constant emotional upheaval doesn’t give your body time to recover its equilibrium, and your digestion stays on the back burner, unable to do its job effectively.

What can you do to get your digestion back on track and working efficiently? The most important thing to know is that it’s a two-step process: getting your stress and emotions under control, while you pamper your digestive tract. Acupuncture can be extremely effective for this kind of imbalance. In fact, many of my patients who have recovered from this kind of pattern never dreamt that they could ever feel good again. Some things you can do for yourself:

-Calm down and chill out. This may seem to be the most obvious, but is often the hardest thing to do. Find time during your day to relax; whether you take a yoga class, meditate, go fishing, or take a stroll in the woods. Without decompressing, your emotions and digestion will not have an opportunity to recover.

-Pamper your digestion. This means sitting down and actually eating a meal—not something on the run in between meetings or kids’ sporting events. This also means eating good food, fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grains and a little protein. Cooking most of your food makes it easier to digest—raw foods take more digestive effort to break down. The same goes for very cold foods; when you drink or eat something frozen, it uses up a lot of your digestive energy. Chewing your food and enjoying the dining process will help you digest your meal more effectively.