Skin Disease
EFFECTIVE skin treatments are one of Chinese
herbal medicine’s greatest contributions to civilization.
Many people did not realise that healthy skin
came from the inside because its condition was dependent on
nourishment from the blood.
In traditional Chinese medical theory, skin
condition relates to our internal organs and blood conditions.
Skin is the largest organ of the human body,
representing its external aspects.
If you wake up in the morning feeling tired
with pale skin, black circles around your eyes, puffy hands
and feet, and sore muscles, it represents an imbalance of
the spleen and kidney.
If you have pimples on your face, chest and
back, the most likely reason in the Chinese way is that your
lung, liver and stomach meridian channels are out of balance.
In Chinese medical theory, deficiency or dryness
of either blood or yin can lead to a rough, cracked or winkled
skin texture, like psoriasis. At this point herbs are used
to nourish the skin and balance yin and yang.
Eczema and dermatitis are common skin diseases,
divided into two stages – acute and chronic – in Chinese theory.
When patients are at the acute stage their skin is red and
itchy, progressing to become a rash with small vesicles. This
is when scratching produces weeping lesions because of the
“damp heat” in the blood.
When patients are in the chronic stage, their
skin suffers recurrent attacks and the affected areas of skin
are rough, thick and itchy.
Skilled Chinese physicians can make a diagnosis
by looking at the external tissues and prescribe different
herbs on an individual basis for the full range of skin conditions.
Chinese herbal medicine works effectively
for many different skin diseases – it’s one of its major contributions
to civilization – developed over thousands of years.
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