DRYNESS

It is said that South Australia is the driest state in the driest continent. This year it is living up to the cliché as we shrivel through the driest drought conditions in 33 years. We are parched, withered, desiccated. Water tanks and dams are empty. Walking on my lawn sounds like someone is eating potato chips. Shrubs are dying. Gum trees drop crushing limbs. Throats are dry, coughs abound. My voice sounds to myself hollow and rasping.

As with the other climatic factors we have studied (cold, wind, heat and damp), dryness has a greater impact on those who are already dry within: those of a Metal constitution; those with existing imbalance in the organs of Metal, Lung and Large Intestine; and those in the Metal phase of life, the elderly.

The Chinese character for dryness is zao, comprising the radicals huo, meaning fire, and tsao, representing three birds singing in a tree. It seems to me they’re not singing, but rather panting with thirst, beaks open on a hot, dry day.

In northern China where the Five Element model was conceived, autumn is a dry season, as it is where I live. But that is not true of all locations. Just ask the folk in SE Queensland and northern New South Wales who have just suffered through a once in a generation cyclone. They received more rain in three days than we’ve had in 12 months. Nonetheless, most places experience dryness at some time of the year, and the pathogenic factor can also be experienced in overheated houses and workplaces, such as often occurs in Britain. The use of combustion stoves for heating also dries the air significantly. The resulting ills are the same as for nature’s dry.

The main symptoms of dryness are dry nose, throat and skin, all structures that are resonances of the Metal Element. These can appear as sinusitis, psoriasis, eczema, hoarse voice, thirst and a dry mouth. Respiratory illnesses such as asthma and bronchitis, fever and aversion to cold can also present. There is a corresponding deficiency of body fluids.

Coping with the effects of external dryness revolves around reversing the dry condition. Drink more water, of course, but do so in frequent, small sips. Bring more moisture into the air via a swamp cooler (evaporative) rather than an air conditioner, or a pan of water on a low stove. Dietarily, pears are good for moistening the lungs and happily are plentiful in autumn. Also good are apples, Asian pears, grapes and honey. A delicious, lung-moistening dessert is stewed pear and apple with honey. Soups are good for hydration. Walnuts, chestnuts, almonds and pine nuts in small quantities moisten the lungs. Stews of root vegetables such as sweet potato, parsnip, turnip, carrot are also beneficial.

Foods to avoid are those which are warming: coffee, ginger, garlic, cinnamon, alcohol and anything that is diuretic.

Acupressure Points to treat dryness of the lungs

Lung 9. The source point of Lung directly treats the organ and any lung condition. Located on the front of the wrist crease in a hollow below the thumb.

Lung 6. The xi-cleft point of Lung clears heat and moistens the lungs. Located on the forearm 7/12 of the distance between Lung 9 and the elbow crease.

Bladder 13. The shu point of Lung also harmonises the lungs. It is located in the upper back, two fingers width to the side of the spine at the level of the junction of 3rd & 4th thoracic vertebrae.

Large Intestine 11. Large Intestine is partner to Lung and this Earth point of the channel is famous for clearing heat from the body. Located in the large hollow at the outer end of the elbow crease.

I wish you well in the remaining weeks of autumn and as we drop down into the winter season.

This completes the cycle of articles on the climatic factors, and the 11th year of articles of this blog. In the winter I will begin another series about food, cooking and the Five Elements. Catch you then.

View of dry paddocks from Piney Ridge Road, Nairne in the Adelaide Hills

DAMPNESS

Wet, moist, dripping, sticky, sodden, muggy, close, clammy. These words convey the feeling in the human body of humidity or dampness. This is the climate that resonates with late summer and the Earth Element.

As with the other external climatic factors we’ve looked at so far (cold, wind and heat), dampness can become pathogenic when it invades the body.

Sticky humidity is usually linked in our minds with tropical climates where the humidity is accompanied by heat, creating that sagging, sinking heaviness that makes it hard to move. We perspire, but the sweat doesn’t evaporate in the air which is already full to dripping with moisture. We feel sticky all over; armpits and other creases feel like swamps.

But damp can also be present in cold climates where persistent precipitation drives up the moisture content of the air. I spent my early childhood in the north of England, in Manchester which lies at the foot of the Pennines and where the rain driving in from Ireland is trapped by the hills, and hangs over the city as low, grey cloud and an incessant drizzle. In such climates, clothing never feels dry, bedsheets are perennially damp. There is even damp in the walls of houses, known as “rising damp”.

Living in humid climates, both hot and cold, can lead to invasion of damp into the body. So too can sitting on damp ground or in wet clothes, living in a house that is close to a stream, or working in a damp environment.

As above, so below: people who have dampness within their body are more likely to complain about and be susceptible to dampness outside. This suggests a weakness in the Earth Element and its associated organ/channels of Stomach and Spleen.

As we’ve seen previously, climatic factors injure their corresponding yin organs. Cold injures the Kidney, wind injures the Liver and heat injures the Heart. Similarly, damp invades and injures the Spleen.

One of the many functions of the Spleen is the efficient transportation of fluids throughout the body. When Spleen is weak, fluids accumulate, often in the lower body, producing oedema and a feeling of heaviness and lethargy. Spleen, together with Stomach, is also responsible for transforming food into Qi and circulating that Qi to all the organs. When this transformation process is compromised, Qi is deficient and fatigue and lethargy result.

Certain foods are known to make this transformation process difficult. Sugary foods such as cakes, biscuits and ice cream slow down the Spleen. So too do dairy products and highly refined grains. Greasy, fried food is also hard for Spleen to metabolise. Another challenge to Spleen is cold food or drinks. And all alcohol. All of these foods are said to generate damp within the body.

So, damp shmamp, who cares? Well, consider this: internal damp can travel up the yin meridians of the leg to affect the organs of the abdomen. It can affect the reproductive organs, producing painful periods, vaginal discharges, genital swelling and itching; it can affect the intestines, causing bloating and loose stools; and when damp affects the bladder, it can create difficult, frequent or burning urination and cloudy urine. Other symptoms can include arthritis and swelling of the joints, poor appetite, fullness in the chest or epigastrium, feelings of tiredness and heaviness, fogginess in the head with difficulty thinking, and a sticky white or yellow coating on the tongue.

A full exploration of the many Damp conditions is beyond the scope of this article. But it must be noted that a diagnosis of damp is very common, especially in western countries or other places that have adopted the western diet. Damp can affect Stomach, Spleen, Large Intestine, Small Intestine, Bladder, Kidneys, Gall Bladder, Liver, uterus and the skin. Conditions can derive from external damp invading the body, or internal damp caused by a deficiency in the Spleen.

Points to clear damp

Points to clear damp are many and varied, depending on the organ/channel that is affected. As we are focusing here on external damp invading the Spleen, I’ll focus on these Earth points.

Spleen 3, source point of Spleen, directly balances the organ and influences its functions. Located at the ball of the big toe.

Spleen 6, Three Yin Crossing, treats damp in the Spleen, Liver and Kidneys. (Forbidden during pregnancy.) Located 3 cun (4 fingers width) above the tip of the inner ankle bone and close to the back of the tibia.

Spleen 9, Water point of the Spleen is perhaps the most well-known point for clearing damp. Located in a depression below the inside of the knee at the medial condyle of the tibia.

Stomach 36, our old friend with many functions, clears damp from Stomach and Spleen. Located 3 cun down from the outside of the knee and 1 finger lateral to the tibia.

Location of Spleen 3, 6 & 9