The old texts state that,

“Wind is the Spear Head of a Thousand Diseases!”

Headaches, Upper back and Neck pains are more often than not due to an attack of wind.

At this time of year when we go outside into the cold, the westerly winds attack us like a knife in the back. If your body is weak the wind will get under the skin lodging itself into the muscles. The muscles will spasm to stop further penetration into the body. Once in spasm, the muscles will pull the vertebras out of alignment impinging on the nerves and give you neck pain.

With this neck pain you are most likely to experience headaches as well. If the headache is caused by wind it usually feels like a clamp or a wet towel tightly rapped around the head. You’ll feel dizzy, blurry and have heavy eyelids as if you need sleep. You’re likely to have a runny nose and tension at the back of your head, just below the skull. (This area is called the wind gate because it’s where the wind enters)

• If it was a stress related headache your eyes may also be sore and the headache would be sharp instead of dull. And you are mostly likely to be irritable and anxious with a stress headache.

All of this happens because your “wei Qi” pronounced (whey chee) has been compromised by the wind. Your Wei Qi works just like the earth’s ozone layer protecting us from external pathogens but when your Wei Qi is weak the opening and closing of your pores becomes slow. So instead of your pores closing as you leave the warmth of your home or office they stay open for a while longer giving the speedy wind a chance to dive straight in and give you all the above symptoms.

How to avoid this from happening?

• If you know you are run down be sure to cover your neck and shoulders when ever moving from a warm area into a cold area and this includes bed to the bathroom!
• Avoid working out at the gym under an aircon. When you are sweating, your pores are open, a perfect opportunity for that wind (from the aircon) to dive straight in there.
• Going from the shower to another room cover your shoulders before leaving the bathroom.
• Also cold and wind can even penetrate the body if your back is exposed to the glass of a window when sleeping.
• But the number one way to prevent it is strengthen your body’s Qi and keep it strong.

How to Strengthen Your Qi

• Be sure you get plenty of sleep and eat well.
• Eat root vegetables more often – they have qi strengthening properties
• Be sure to do some type of exercise at least 3 times a week – Yoga , Tai Chi and Qi gong are all ideal for strengthening Qi.
• Have acupuncture and herbs before your body is run down, that way you are building on the strength of your Qi instead of recovering from an illness and then have to build up after the illness has gone.

If you have the above symptoms can it be treated?

Yes, absolutely! You will need cupping, acupuncture and maybe some herbs, all this will depend on what level the wind is at. It can dive 6 levels into the body, all the way to the bone marrow. If it gets there, you will be in a lot of pain and no matter what you do to get warm it won’t work. At this stage you will need herbs for sure. So don’t let it get there!

I hope you found this [boyf News Letter] interesting?
If you have not been to my website for a while please visit, there are new things added all the time and there is also a whole bunch of other articles in there as well.

If you have any questions or you would like me to write on a particular health problem please just email me at info@backonyourfeet.com.au and for treatment please call 9233-3800

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Take care

Sincerely,
Scott

Nearly everybody at some stage of their life will experience some type of headache. Headaches have many causes all of which present themselves differently. The area of the head, the type of sensation and time of the day will all vary due to the cause of the headache.

Following is a list of the different types of headache and their cause.

Exterior Cause: wind-heat, wind-cold, wind-dampness (these are pathogenic influences).

Interior Cause: liver-yang, liver-fire, liver-wind, liver-Qi stagnation, cold in the liver channel, dampness, turbid phlegm, retention of food, stasis of blood, stomach-heat. (These are derived from stress and a weakened digestive system).

Deficient cause: Qi deficient, blood deficient, kidney deficient. (These conditions are due to over working with no rest or a chronic illness).

An exterior type headache will come on fast and is caused by wind. If it’s due to wind-cold the symptoms you will experience is a stiff neck that lasts only a short time after which the wind may penetrate deeper into the body. You may also have sneezing, clear nasal discharge and aversion to cold.

If it’s due to wind-heat you will experience a sore throat, chills and fever, thirst, and a runny nose with yellow discharge. (yellow represents heat).

If it’s due to wind-damp you will experience a muzziness/ heavy type feeling in the head as if your head is wrapped in a wet cloth. This type of headache usually shows it’s self when someone has dampness in the body and a storm is approaching. The dampness is aggravated by the change of weather. Old injuries may show up also with a pain that subsides after the storm has gone.

Headaches due to disharmony of the liver energy will present symptoms like sore, dry, throbbing eyes, pulsating-distending pain around the eye, temporal or side of the head. You may also experience dizziness, dry throat, bitter taste in the mouth and tinnitus. If it’s due to liver-wind it may affect the whole head accompanied with slight shaking of the head, tremors and or numbness.

If your headache is of a deficient type you will experience a dull ache that comes in bouts. Rest will usually relieve the headache. Deficient headaches come about due to not enough Qi and blood reaching the head. Women may experience this after their periods because of the loss of blood.

The previous headaches described are the most common. Migraine headaches fall into the interior type usually also related to liver disharmony. Most interior type headaches like the liver related ones are a result of emotions. Anger and frustration are the main culprits though worry and fear can sometimes also be the cause. Other causes of migraines can be contraceptive pill, red wine, cheese and strangely enough chocolate.

If your headache is of the exterior type it can be eased by staying out of the wind and pressing in the indentation at the back of your head, by the base of the skull at the top of the spine in the centre. Place pressure there for approximately 1-2 minutes, you should feel it release.

When the headache is from an interior cause, hold your hand out as if to shake hands and squeeze the thumb up along side the index finger to make a crease between the two. At the end of that crease (wrist side) you will see a mound, place your opposite thumb on that mound and press down. This should be tender, if it’s not search until you find the tender spot and then hold the pressure there for a couple of minutes. Follow this by drinking plain water.

WARNING: Do not use this point if you are pregnant as it may induce labour however, IF YOU ARE IN LABOUR press this point like crazy or have your hubby press it. It will calm you and help with delivery.

A deficient type headache will ease with rest and some wholesome food. Root vegies are always good also rice soup (Jook / Coongee). Acupressure point: Measure four finger width down below your knee cap and one finger to the outside of the leg from the shin bone you will find a tender point. Hold this point for a couple of minutes. (If you have a sore throat, runny nose and or sneezing do not use this point!).

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