According to Chinese Medicine, cold wind can lead to a headache by "invading" the body's meridian pathways at the back of the nexk and occiput of the head. This slows down the circulation of blood in these areas, leading to muscle local muscular contraction, and a resulting stiffness in the back of the neck. This is referred to as a Wind-Cold Headache, which is the kind of headache we commonly experience during the beginning stages of the common cold. It is usually accompanied by generalized body aches, stiff and achy shoulders, shivering, slight fever, coughing, sneezing, and a runny nose.
Within Chinese Herbal Medicine, this type of headache is treating with a combination of herbs that help naturally raise the body's core temperature to aid in expelling the pathogen while also providing pain relief.
One common herbal combination that is used is a formula called Ligusticum-Green Tea Regulating Powder, which consists of the herbs chuan xiong (Szechuan lovage root), qiang huo (notoptergum), bai zhi (angelicae dahuricae), jing jie (schizonepetae), xi xin (asarum), fang feng (ledebouriellae), bo he (mint), gan cao (licorice), and qing cha (green tea). If the headache occurs in other areas besides the back of the head, the formula can be modified with chai hu (bupleurum), huang qin (scutellariae) and qing hao (artemisia) for temporal headaches, and sheng ma (cimicifuga) and ge gen (pueraria) for frontal headaches.
For a more in-depth look at how this formula works, let's look more closely at the actions of each herb within the formula. Chuan xiong enhances blood circulation in the area of the head, while also exerting analgesic properties, qiang huo relieves pain in the upper limbs and back and raises the body temperature to fight infections, and bai zhi has anti-microbial, analgesic, and decongestant properties. Jing jie promotes sweating and also has a unique ability to stop itching and vent rashes if the headache is accompanied by skin eruptions such as measles. Xi xin is a fever reducer, analgesic, decongestant, and natural antibiotic. Fang feng has an antimicrobial effect against some influenza viruses, while also being a fever reducer and pain reliever, and has shown to also be an effective antidote to arsenic poinsoning. Bo he (mint) soothes a sore thoat, vents rashes, alleviates irritability, inhibits viral and bacterial replication, and helps cool the body temperature. Gan cao (licorice) alleviates pain and muscle spasms, cools the body, lubricates the respiratory system, treats coughing, enhances digestion, improves energy, and aids the body in detoxification.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment