Headache*
Once I treated two young people. Both of them had headache, but the cause and symptoms are completely different. The first person was sleeping under vent of AC for a whole night, and felt swelling headache after waking up, which followed the same rhythm of the heartbeat. According to TCM theory, this headache is result of Liver-Yang hyperactivity due to Qi and Blood stagnation, caused by retention of Exogenous Evil.
The second patient had headache where the head felt empty and pain after spending several whole nights surfing the internet. This was caused by deficiency of Qi and Blood, because Original Yang was insufficient and unable to reach the head, so the pain felt empty. The cause of their headaches was different, so was the treatment.
I performed moxibustion** to the first guy on acupoints of Sishengcong and Taichong, the goal was to open up the Qi, so it would help circulation of the Blood and eliminate the headache.
As for the second guy, I performed moxibustion** on acupoints of Zusanli, Sanyinjiao, and Xuehai, which was intended to nourish the Kidney-Yang. When Original Yang rose to the head, the head would no longer feel empty.
These two patients are very typical, one caused by invasion of Cold-evil, which led to stagnation of Qi in the body that further blocked the meridians. The other was physically weak, and Original Yang insufficient. According to my experience, Cold-evil, Qi stagnation, and Original Yang Deficiency are the three primary causes of disease of modern people.
In my career I encountered many patients just like these two patients. Their illnesses may be different, but all of the same causes of Cold-evil, stagnation of Qi, and deficiency of Original Yang. The diseases ranged from minor ones as cold and cough, to grave ones like heart attack and stroke.
I always remind my patients of these three major causes of disease and ask them to take better care of their health. After all, ‘An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’.
*These cases are selected from a book “Various Diseases Treated by Moxibustion”, written by Shan Xiamin, a renowned Chinese doctor .
**Severe adverse effect may occur, one should not perform any type of moxibustion without instruction of person of rich experience or professional.