Pain

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There's a lot of really good info on pain on the Giovanni Maciocia website.

 

http://www.ambrit.co.uk.giovanni-maciocia/default.html

 

He uses some different terminology from what many on here are used to. For

example " Full " or " Fullness " mean Excess. " Empty " is Deficient. People will a

strong acupuncture background frequently will use the Full/Empty terms instead

of Excess/Deficiency because the emphasis is slightly different.

 

There're a lot of good diagnostic hints in this article. He starts out with some

of the most basic information of all: If the pain is dull in nature, it's

usually due to Deficiency. If it's severe, it's usually due to Fullness

(Excess).

 

Some of the things is covers includes pain with a sensation of heaviness

(possible Dampness or Phlegm), pushing pain (sharp pain with a feeling like

something is pushing out - severe Qi Stagnation), throbbing pain in the head

(Liver Yang rising, also consider Blood Deficiency and/or Yin Deficiency as

possible root of Liver Yang Rising), and distending pain (pain with sensation of

bloating - zhang tong - possible Qi Stagnation, treat with warm-spicy herbs that

move Qi).

 

Even the time of day of the pain can be revealing. Daytime pain often is due to

Qi or Blood problems. Nighttime pain often is due to Yin problems or Blood

stasis. (Yin Deficiency manifests more than one problem at night. Yin Deficiency

also can manifest as night sweats.)

 

Pain after eating points to an Excess condition (Qi Stagnation, retention of

food, and/or Blood Stasis. Pain before eating which is helped by eating may

point to Stomach and/or Spleen Deficiency.

 

He goes into a little more detail than we've gone into on here concerning

pressure and temperature. If the pain is made worse by pressure, this is an

Excess (Full) condition. The possible Excess may be Dampness, Phlegm, Qi

Stagnation, Blood Stasis, or retention of food.

 

If pressure helps, this is Deficiency condition.

 

If warmth helps and cold makes the pain worse, this is Cold and/or Yang

Deficiency. If cold packs ease the pain and warmth makes it worse, this is a

Heat condition.

 

Localized pain often is due to Phlegm or Blood Stasis. If the pain moves around,

this is usually Qi Stagnation. But Wind in the joints also can cause pain that

moves around.

 

I want to mention some other things about pain that are not in the article. In

general, you tonify Deficiency disorders. You disperse Excess disorders. When a

condition is both Deficiency and Excess, the general rule is to disperse the

Excess first before you tonify the Deficiency. If you didn't, you'd be adding

energy to a body that already has too much energy blocked up in some places.

 

This is a general rule that usually holds. But sometimes it's proper to treat

both the Excess and the Deficiency at the same time. In a few cases you will

want to treat the Deficiency first. Cold Phlegm may be an example of this. I

finally got the book on Phlegm evils. I haven't had time to really sit down and

study it yet (just read through it), but there are some cautions in there about

treating the Phlegm (Excess) first before warming the body. If the Cold which is

causing the Phlegm is coming from Yang Deficiency, you need to treat the

Deficiency in order to get rid of the Cold Phlegm.

 

I recommend this website for picking up a lot of TCM info. There's also an

article on post-natal depression and one on treating the flu.

 

Victoria

 

 

 

 

 

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