Category Archives: Headache

WIND

Agitation, Arm pain, Ear problems, Eye problems, Headache, Jaw, Neck pain, Shoulder pain, Throat, Wind invasion, , , ,

The other morning, I was woken at 5 am by a strong gusting wind swirling round the corners of the house, probing and rattling the eaves. I had gone to bed thinking about writing this blog about wind, so it felt as if I’d summoned it up, like some ghost or jinn. Indeed, wind is a curious creature, mysterious and intangible. We see the effects of the wind, rather than the wind itself. Yet we also feel its effects in the body as a disturbance in our field. Some people find this exciting, others troubling, while some are so distressed by it that they cannot leave the house.

These effects of wind are more common in the spring when the Wood Element, of which wind is a resonance, is in its ascendency. Any imbalance in this Element is more likely to be revealed in springtime when the Wood ‘tide’ is at its highest. Last month in South Australia we had 4 or 5 consecutive days of very strong, gusty winds, and I had numerous clients who felt very disturbed in themselves, couldn’t settle, and felt unusually agitated and irritable.

The Chinese character for wind is Feng (sounds like tongue).  The outer part of the character represents breath while inside is an insect. Ancient China was an agrarian economy, and damaging insects were abundant in spring when gusty winds were prevalent.

Feng suggests movement or motion, and wind conditions include those that produce shaking or jerking movements. According to the Ling Shu, its adverse influence is so great that “the sages avoided the winds like avoiding arrows and stones.” The Chinese practice of Fengshui (literally wind and water), recommends not living in a place where winds are strong as they are considered a malevolent force.

Pathogenic wind conditions are among the most numerous of diagnoses in Chinese medicine. This is largely because wind can act as a spearhead for other external climatic factors to penetrate the body. Thus, there are wind-cold, wind-heat, wind-damp and wind-dryness patterns. Of these, wind with cold is the most common. A person can be thus afflicted by being exposed to cold winds and rain, sleeping in a draught, or sitting in the flow of air conditioning.

Symptoms of wind-cold invasion include pain and stiffness in the neck and shoulders, headache, running nose, cough, sneezing and fever, and an aversion to cold. The upper part of the Gall Bladder channel is particularly affected, as well as Bladder and Small Intestine channels where they pass through the neck and shoulders.

To complicate matters, there is also internal wind which is not caused by the external climatic factors. It is produced by blood or yin deficiency or internal heat, and primarily affects the Liver. Shaking or jerking conditions such as epilepsy, Parkinson’s and restless leg syndrome are examples of internal wind. Conversely, paralysis and strokes are also thought to be the effects of internal wind. The 14th century physician Zhu Danxi coined the term windstroke, and in modern Chinese medicine, zhongfeng still means stroke.

If someone expresses an aversion to wind, or an unusual craving for it, this is considered to flag an imbalance in the Wood Element. While one would not diagnose a Wood imbalance solely on a person’s attitude to wind, if there are other Wood resonances present, this would be corroborating evidence. These might include issues with the organs of liver or gall bladder, the eyes, the tendons and ligaments, or signs and symptoms along the pathways of the Gall Bladder and Liver meridians. And certainly, a tendency to headaches and neck stiffness when in contact with wind, or a psychological disturbance when seeing the effects of wind outdoors, would lead one to a diagnosis of Wood imbalance.

Point names that include feng

Point names are very instructive as to their clinical uses, so anything with feng in the name is of interest here. There are six such points. All dispel wind from the body.

Gall Bladder 20FengchiWind Pool
Gall Bladder 31FengshiWind Market
Bladder 12FengmenWind Gate
Small Intestine 12BingfengGrasping the Wind
Triple Heater 17YifengWind Screen
Governor Vessel  16FengmenWind Palace

All these points are on yang channels, appropriate as wind is a yang pathogen. Most of them are in the neck and shoulder, in the yang half of the body, with only GB 31 in the leg as the exception. These points dispel wind, in particular from the part of the body where the pain or stiffness lodge: GB 20 and GV 16 at the occiput, TH 17 behind the ear, BL 12 and SI 12 in the shoulders.

GB 20 Wind Pool is located at the occiput, two fingers width lateral to the hollow at the base of the skull. Treats headaches and neck stiffness.

GB 31 Wind Market is located on the side of the leg where the tip of the middle finger lands when the arm is by the side. Treats pain the leg, sciatica, itching.

BL 12 Wind Gate is located in the upper back, two fingers width lateral to the midline at the level of the junction of the 2nd & 3rd thoracic vertebrae. Treats symptoms of common cold and fevers, neck and shoulder rigidity.

SI 12 Grasping the Wind is on the middle of the top of the scapula, in a depression found when the arm is raised. Benefits when there is difficulty raising the arm or turning the head. Treats pain and stiffness in the neck and shoulders.

TH 17 Wind Screen is in the hollow behind the earlobe. Treats ear disorders, lockjaw, pain and swelling in the cheeks, toothache of the lower jaw.

GV 16 Wind Palace is in the middle of the occipital hollow at the base of the skull. Treats pain the head and neck, visual disturbances, shivering, sweating, loss of voice, high blood pressure. This is a powerful spirit point, calms the mind and spirit, regulates the nervous system, activates the vagus nerve.

Other points known to dispel wind include LU 10, LU 11, LI 11, LI 15, ST 6, ST 36, SP 6, BL 40, KI 2, HP 8, GB 30, GB 34, GB 38, LV 1, LV 2, LV 7, GV 20, GV 22, GV 26. Most of these points clear wind anywhere in the body, and in particular treat symptoms of wind in the local area of the point.

One final tip: sweating helps to eliminate wind. As the pores of the skin are considered to be the portals via which the wind enters the body, so too they can be the point of exit of the wind. Thererfore sweating can aid in the expulsion of wind. Just be careful not to sweat profusely while being exposed to wind.

Take care during the remainder of the spring. I’ll be back in the summer with a look at Heat.

Outer Mound

Anger, Decision Making, Detoxification, Gall Bladder pain, GB 36, Headache, Hip pain, Neck pain, Pain Relief, Tendons & Ligaments, Wood Element, xi-cleft points, , , , , , , ,

Gall Bladder 36 ~ Waiqiu ~ Outer Mound

Here in the Adelaide Hills spring is waiting impatiently in the wings, itching to leap into action. After our long, cold, wet winter, South Australians too are ready. Last week the maximum temperature was 11 degrees at my place. This week it’s predicted to jump to 30. That’s spring for you. Sudden growth and movement.

Last week my body told me it was spring when my gall bladder decided to complain forcefully about the chocolate brownie I ate, something I know is not good for me. The thing about spring is that its rising Wood energy puts pressure on any aspect of Wood that is out of balance, whether that is the organs of liver and gall bladder, the tendons and ligaments, the eyes, the emotion of anger or any of the other resonances of that Element.

The Gall Bladder point we are examining today is perfect for acute conditions of the gall bladder organ. Very timely for me. Once again, I am offered an opportunity to live the writing.

Gall Bladder 36 is the xi-cleft point of the channel. As we saw when we looked at Bladder 63, the xi-cleft points of the yang meridians are used for acute conditions and for pain. They are also used to address the emotion associated with the channel when the emotion has become overwhelming.

The name Outer Mound refers to the location of the point at the outside of the mound of muscle that is the calf. There are other mounds on the Gall Bladder channel in the leg: Yang Mound Spring (GB 34) and Mound of Ruins (GB 40). Outer Mound makes me think of the pitcher’s mound in baseball, a raised place which offers a good view of the batter and from where the pitcher can throw fast and direct. All of these are qualities which echo Wood’s resonances. As far as I know the ancient Chinese weren’t into baseball, but I thought I’d offer this whimsical, modern interpretation.

The point can be used to treat acute conditions of the organ of gall bladder, like the sudden spasms and nausea that can accompany a gall bladder attack. But it is best known for its effectiveness in treating pain along the channel pathway. The Gall Bladder pathway is the most complicated of all of the meridians as it zig-zags its way down the body, starting at the outside corner of the eye, crossing over the head twice and around the ears before passing through the neck and shoulders, down the sides of the ribcage, passing through the front and back of the pelvis, before straightening out down the side of the leg and ending at the fourth toe. The wandering nature of the pathway means that pain in many otherwise unrelated locations could offer a unified picture of imbalance. Of all of these places along the pathway, Gall Bladder 36 is particularly known for treating neck pain and stiffness.

Another of the point’s uses is in relaxing the sinews, the tendons and ligaments, and tissue of the Wood Element. In addition, it treats invasion of Wind, the climate resonance of Wood. Symptoms of Wind include occipital headaches and neck pain, jerky or shaky conditions such as restless legs, migratory pain, or an intense aversion to being outside in windy conditions. Gall Bladder 36 is also known for treating skin conditions and clearing toxins due to its capacity to clear heat from the body.

At the emotional level, Gall Bladder is associated with anger which can turn into judgement of others or just as easily, into anger at oneself as self-attack. A healthy Gall Bladder official is able to see the big picture clearly, make sound decisions, and move swiftly to action. Stagnation in this official often leads to lack of clarity, poor judgements, hesitation and vacillation. Waiqiu can support the clarity of mind that is needed to act wisely in the world.

If the rising energy of Spring is causing some niggling problems in your liver or gall bladder organs; if it is causing irritability or frustration, making you short-tempered and swift to judge others; or if you are having trouble making decisions and seeing clearly how to move ahead with your plans, Waiqiu can support you with clarity and ease of movement.

Location of Gall Bladder 36

The point is located on the outside of the lower leg. It is 7 cun above (superior to) the tip of the outer ankle bone, and lies at the anterior border of the fibula in the cleft between the fibula and tibia.

Begin by finding the midpoint between the knee crease and the outer ankle bone. Go down (inferior) by 1 cun (body inch) and at that level, first find the back of the fibula bone, then roll forward (anterior) until you feel the cleft between the bones.