What Symptoms?

Traditional Chinese Medicine has a long and complex history. But boiled down to its basics, it views the individual as an integrated whole. What does this mean? It means, as acupuncturists, we cannot separate out one part of the body from the other and treat something in isolation. Our moods, emotions and thoughts are as much a part of our health as our legs and arms. The meaning of this is that symptoms can appear anywhere in our lives if we subscribe to the ‘whole body’ approach to health. Which is why when you visit an acupuncturist with back pain, you are as much likely to be asked about periods and emotions as the physical point of the pain.

This is better explained with an example. If you had a weakness in Liver, it doesn’t necessarily mean there is something physically wrong with your Liver. Because Chinese Medicine views organs as what they do rather than what they are (but yes, they also take into account what the organ is). In Chinese Medicine, Liver is associated with the free flow of Qi and Blood (Xue), the smooth planning of your life, the emotion of anger (think frustration, repressed feelings), sour foods, the color green, the Spring time, Wind, Liver is associated with the Eyes and so on.

Imagine someone walks into the clinic and is complaining of headaches and neck pain. The cause could be several factors – anything from problems with cervical vertebrae, stress, bad sleeping position or poor sleep, dehydration, worry, depression, vitamin deficiency, or traumatic injury. As an acupuncturist, the process of narrowing down the treatment required means we look at the whole body. Symptoms present in the strangest of ways and I’m constantly amazed and the correlations between ancient texts and symptoms today.

For fun, think of the difference you might notice if someone is dressed all in black or brightly coloured clothing. Now wonder, is the brightly coloured clothing indicative of someone carefree, outgoing and full of life? Or – and here’s the nub – are they over compensating and covering something deeper? In a way, Chinese Medicine doesn’t really believe that the red jumper you threw on today is just some random jumper you pulled out from under the bed. On a deeper level, there was a reason you chose red, there is a reason you thought of the jumper under the bed, there is a reason you left it under the bed in the first place.

What if you wear a bright white hoodie, hood up, with black jeans? Is it simply a fashion choice? Are you feeling depressed but covering it over? Is it a subconscious choice that you need to reach brightness (white) but really, deep down, you feel rather depressed?

The problem then, is at what stage do we stop digging. The left leg you keep injuring over and over could be a sign of a structural weakness in that leg. Or it could be related to trauma as a child or even the health of your parents and what was passed along the line to you. At some stage, in a clinical setting, we have to say to ourselves that we have enough information to say why you keep injuring that leg rather than wondering what went on in your grandparents lives to cause a structural imbalance in one of the leg meridians.

A whole body approach to health means we look at everything. Any because it’s a whole body approach, it means that when you tell us you have an aversion to Wind it serves as an important sign for where to begin treating that headache you’re experiencing. Equally, the big green scarf you have wrapped about your neck is a sign, as are the irregular periods or dry skin patches.

Which got me to thinking about all the things we do and how we act in daily life that symptoms can manifest in.

If health is a a whole body approach then symptoms can appear in;

• how you dress – the colours and styles.
• How you interact with others
• how you carry yourself, walk, hold yourself.
• Introvert or extrovert
• how you feel emotionally.
• what care you take of yourself
• your sense of self worth
• If you over extend yourself
• how you speak – tone & pitch, words.
• If you prefer the woods over the beach.
• Sleep patterns.
• Daily habits
• Any routines you keep or do not keep.
• Diet
• Exercise
• Periods
• Childhood
• Trauma
• Physical injuries
• Skin health – rashes, bruises, blemishes
• The eyes – sparkling, dull, faded
• Hearing
• Phlegm & mucus
• Pulse and heart rate
• Your thoughts
• Where your focus is – past, present, future
• Whether you prefer hot or cold things or places.

What if (and its a big what if), symptoms start appearing at the most superficial levels first before illness hits? What if we find ourselves hating being out in the wind before the headaches come on? Or having a strong dislike for sour foods? Or having an itch or dry skin before lung illness hits? If we buy into the notion that health is a whole body approach, then the flip side of that is that symptoms are also likely to appear anywhere in our lives – from the superficial level of clothes we wear, to how we walk, talk, to the music we listen to, our pulse rate, to our plans (or lack of plans) about our future. This then goes on to become the the rash manifesting along the meridian and eventually, the illness in an organ for example.

We cannot really say we believe in a holistic – whole body approach to health if we discount that symptoms can appear anywhere in our lives. Healthcare in general has accepted that our emotional state is important in preventing illness ( think somebody who is constantly stressed developing an ulcer). Intuitively, we understand that somebody who doesn’t care enough about themselves to wash regularly has something deeper going on. With that in mind, it isn’t a far leap to begin to understand that our daily habits, choices and routines could also exhibit superficial symptoms that are like a signpost towards deeper things. That it isn’t that you ‘just dislike wind’ but that having an aversion to draughts and wind could be a pointer to a weakness within the Liver that hasn’t manifested on a serious level. Or that you cannot seem to get warm. That you have a predisposition towards black clothing. Or your walk is kinda funny – you walk lopsided. Or facial skin is dry and itchy while skin elsewhere is good.

Holistic health and a whole body approach means all these superficial things could be symptoms of deeper things that haven’t quiet manifested fully. Yet. Chinese medicine has a lot to teach us about these things.