If you haven’t already, you can read this to get a quick introduction to TCM
That can provide you a quick overview of how the organs function and it might help you to understand today’s sharing too
Now of course, I learnt Everyday Chinese Medicine from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in Coursera so you can also do that to get all the relevant information
After all, I’m still learning as well š
If you read the previous article, you will have learn about how certain organs and emotions are connected and naturally, those can cause sicknesses too
Those are the 7 emotions that can cause internal injuries
Another way is food and work
So today’s sharing is mainly on the 6 External Pathogens and how it affects us
The 6 External Pathogens in TCM
You probably already know of a couple of them, namely wind, heat, and cold but there are actually 6 External Pathogens
They are Wind, Summer-Heat, Cold, Fire, Dampness, and Dryness
The 6 External Pathogens are named such because they refer to the climatic weather, or environmental changes that may affect us if we are unable to protect ourselves
Of the 6 that affect us externally, there are 5 that might originate internally within us due to Zang-Fu disturbances
And these 5 are known as the 5 Evils
Summer-Heat is the only one that is purely an External Pathogen
To add on, it is possible to be afflicted by 2 or more External Pathogens to bring about a disease
Or even a combination of External Pathogen and Evil
A TCM Practitioner will need to understand various factors in order to diagnose accurately
After all, you might think its only a fever, but depending on whether it is a cold fever or a hot fever will require different treatment methods
For example, one of my clients was sharing about how her daughter has a fever and thinking how to bring her temperature down
However, through the interview process of getting to know what happened, she brought her daughter to play in aircon places like Changi Airport, Expo etc
Which could be considered an external cold environment
This confirms the fever to be a Cold fever, derived from excess cold, also observed as her daughter is shivering from cold
Her fever comes about as the body’s natural fight against the excess Cold
Hence we can use warming food like ginger tea, chicken broth etc to counter the cold
And yes, although I have a basic understanding of TCM, I will only recommend food and not herbs
Anyway, let’s go into the meat proper
1. Wind
The Wind External Pathogen tends to occur in a climate with a lot of wind and following the seasons, occur mostly in spring
Now if one were to grow up in such an environment, they might develop a resistance to it naturally
However, if one were to grow in another environment, such as Summer-Heat or Cold, then when they travel to a place with Wind conditions, they are more prone to developing Wind related symptoms
Therefore, prepare the right protection when travelling
The Wind Evil can come from a dysfunction of the liver
Regardless of which, Wind is of a yang nature and tends to rise, disperse, move upward and outward
Secondly, Wind is also moving and changing
This movement might cause possible variables in the resulting symptoms or even the location of the disease
The change means that the symptoms come about rapidly
Thirdly, the usual signs and symptoms of Wind include tremors and involuntary movements
Finally, Wind is considered a common and leading cause for most kinds of diseases
Thus it is also considered the most important one
I believe most of us thought that Wind is just in the stomach but turns out it isn’t
Other common symptoms could be headaches or lightheadedness because Wind tends to rise and move upwards
However, it might also cause leg pain or even accidents due to the tremors or involuntary movements
Naturally, a lack of sleep or drinking a lot of alcohol can overwork the liver, which may produce excess wind
Which probably makes sense why we get hangovers and headaches after drinking alcohol and partying late into the night
2. Summer-Heat
The Summer-Heat External Pathogen tends to occur in climate and weather where its scorching hot, and following the seasons, occurs in the summer
Similarly, people who grow up in places with hot summer (as an example) might develop a resistance or a way to cool off
But if someone from a cooler country were to visit such a place during the summer, then they might be more prone to develop Summer-Heat symptoms
Summer-Heat is of a yang nature, and tends to rise and disperse
It exhaust qi and impairs body fluids, causing thirst and a desire for cold drinks
The usual symptoms of Summer-Heat is a high fever and reddish complexion, and the color of the urine might be a deep yellow
Summer-Heat is often accompanied by Dampness and this results in possible symptoms of nausea, fatigue, vomiting or turbid stool
As mentioned earlier, Summer-Heat is the only External Pathogen that does not have an internal Evil
And while Singapore is probably an environment where we might get Summer-Heat symptoms, we also spend a lot of time in an aircon environment if we work in an office
In fact, even schools are converting more classrooms and lecture rooms into an aircon environment
Something to note is when we stay in an aircon environment for too long (getting Cold) and then suddenly moving into the Summer-Heat environment
Depending of course on the variables of time spend, and how big is the change in temperature, we might get a combination of Cold and Summer-Heat symptoms, or even Wind
3. Cold
The Cold External Pathogen occurs in an environment where its very cold, and following the seasons, occurs in the winter
People who grew up in a cold environment might develop a resistance to the cold
But people visiting from other countries might be more prone to develop Cold symptoms
That’s why some people might develop a cold or flu after visiting a cold place like Taiwan or Japan
The Cold Evil usually comes about when there is yang deficiency
Regardless, Cold is of a yin nature, and tends to impair yang
Excess of Cold will display signs of yang deficiency
Secondly, Cold may impair the flow of qi and blood, sometimes even blocking them, which might cause various kinds of pain
Finally, Cold will cause constriction which may lead to contraction of muscles, tendons, etc and causing spasms
Cold enters the kidney easily, so if you are going to a cold environment for a holiday, or spend many hours in a cold office environment, keeping yourself warm and protecting your kidneys is a first step
One of my client’s dad had Cold symptoms but instead of taking something warm like ginger tea, he took barley which is cooling
After which, due to the increased Cold inside him, he developed lower back pain where the kidneys are
When he started taking ginger tea, his symptoms started to clear up one by one
It could probably clear up faster if he didn’t continue to sleep in an aircon environment but that’s another story haha
That’s why it is important to have an approach of differential diagnosis like in TCM
By understanding the various environments, diet and nutrition, that the person is experiencing or interacting with
Besides the usual tongue diagnosis or pulse taking
4. Fire
The Fire External Pathogen occurs in climate that is far hotter and fierce than the Summer-Heat External Pathogen
The Fire Evil usually comes about when there is excessive yang
Thus Fire is of a yang nature, and tends to burn and move upwards, which might cause insomnia, or even ulcers to form
Secondly, it impairs qi and consumes body fluids, which can cause dryness and burning pain
If you imagine Fire as something burning, painful and damaging, then those will be the more extreme possible symptoms
Ulcers, blisters, sores, pus will be some examples of those symptoms
Otherwise the common ones will be headaches, fever, or even dry mouth
Kind of like the Fire has evaporated moisture from the body
There will be some overlapping of symptoms for Summer-Heat and Fire, since both are similar and Fire is hotter and fiercer than Summer-Heat
Just to touch on it a bit, as I mentioned heart-fire in the previous article linking TCM and Mental Health
In TCM, heart-yang and heart-fire are similar and can be used interchangeably
And a balanced heart-fire is considered a healthy state
That allows for positive emotions and stability, clear thinking, and even a sense of inner peace
However, an imbalanced heart-fire can cause issues
Excessive heart-fire might cause profuse sweating, palpitations, agitations etc
While not enough heart-fire might cause lack of motivation and energy, depression or even becoming apathetic
Naturally there is also liver-fire and kidney-fire too, and thus, understanding from a holistic point of view allows for a more accurate diagnosis and solution
5. Dampness
The Dampness External Pathogen occurs in wet climate, high humidity, and even being in the rain
The Dampness Evil occurs when the spleen is unable to function properly, leading to issues to the water metabolism
Dampness is of an yin nature, and it can impair yang and obstruct qi in performing its functional activities
Secondly, it is heavy and turbid, and there might be low motivation, sluggishness, heavy sensations in the head and body
Additional signs might include slimy or greasy symptoms, such as phlegm
Thirdly, it is usually difficult to cure as a Damp disease is often lingering
Lastly, Dampness tend to move downward, and thus often have signs such as swollen ankles, swollen legs
If you read the previous introduction to TCM, you will have learnt that the spleen relates to the emotion of anxiety
Thus, since Dampness affects the spleen, or a dysfunction of the spleen causes Dampness, then anxiety is a possible by-product as well
Relating to low mood, feeling sluggish, easily fatigued, as a possible factor for depression
Naturally, Traditional Chinese Medicine looks at our physical and emotional states as a balancing act
Thus, if one were to fall into depression due to external factors, that might also cause a dysfunction of the spleen and thus increase Dampness within
Phlegm and Dampness are closely linked, although sometimes Phlegm might be considered separated from Dampness
That’s where you might get a pattern of Damp-Phlegm for example
6. Dryness
The Dryness External Pathogen tend to occur in environments that have a dry climate, or when there is a sudden change to a dry environment
The Dryness Evil occurs when there is a loss of blood, essence, and body fluids, whether from a long term illness or a side effect of another External Pathogen
Summer-Heat or Fire for example can cause Dryness to the the loss of body fluids like excessive sweating
And especially if we do not replenish our fluids with water or moisturizing foods
If there is a physical injury that results in excessive blood loss, our body needs to replenish the blood with the right food and nutrition otherwise, we will experience Dryness as well
Such symptoms might be seen with dry and cracked lips, dry skin, dry and itchy eyes, dehydration, dry mouth etc
Naturally, in TCM, food have different properties of heat or cool, moisturizing or drying, which if taken in excessive or imbalance amounts, might cause respective symptoms
And medicine can have similar effects as well
My mom got some blood pressure medication which causes her to cough, and since there is no phlegm, and no other symptoms, one might consider it as a dry cough
And if so, consumption of dry foods like oats will induce more dry cough instead
As it turns out, she does eat oats for breakfast and cough more throughout the day
When she stop eating oats, she cough much less throughout the day
Of course, another option is to not take the medication that is causing the Dryness to begin with hahah
How TCM Sees Sickness
TCM is more of balancing our body through the environment and our food, our physical and emotional states
Any imbalances can cause us to have symptoms especially when we are not eating the right food or taking care the best way possible to counter or balance environmental factors
And having an approach to understand what is happening allows for a more effective solution
Like a fever may not just be due to Heat, it can be due to Cold or even Wind, or perhaps a combination of Wind-Heat that is causing the fever
We got to have a bird’s eye view of all the symptoms to understand what might be causing the possible patterns for the symptoms
Once you understand this, you can look into food as a way to counter or balance whatever else is happening to reduce the symptoms or even resolve them effectively
If you got any questions or need some assistance, feel free to drop me a PM here on Facebook
