All Posts tagged External medicine

In TCM external medicine, invigoration therapy is employed in the late stage of disease development or when individuals show various signs of weakness, so as to restore body resistance, promote wound healing and new tissue growth.

Supporting therapy helps the infected area to commence the healing process. Physicians focus on promoting the liquefaction of the abscess to facilitate pus drainage, in order to localize the infected area and control further spreading.

Blood harmonizing therapy is aimed at unblocking the meridians and smoothing blood circulation. Some conditions where this therapy is employed include nodules, warts, keloid, capillary dilations, purpura and thickness.

Qi activating therapy is usually employed for dissolving swelling or masses and relieving pain. TCM believes that most external diseases have pathological changes resulted from blood and qi stagnations, in particular liver qi stagnation.

Dampness dispelling therapy is indicated for conditions with effusions such as eczema, chronic sores and contact dermatitis. The therapy aims at resolving dampness with aromatics, promoting urination and drying dampness by desiccating herbs.

Phlegm resolving therapy is usually employed in conjunction with other therapies, such as dispersing wind, unblocking stagnation or nourishing blood, in order to obtain the most effective result.

In warming unblock therapy, herbs with warm and hot properties are used to dissolve phlegm, eliminate wind and dampness and activate meridian flows. The remedies are aimed at warming meridian, dispersing coldness, resolving phlegm, dispelling wind and dissolving dampness.

Clearing heat is an important therapy for various heat syndromes. In external medicine, it is used especially for yang syndromes; lesions that show obvious redness, heat, pustules, running sores or deep-rooted ulcers.

Interior purgation therapy is not only used for relieving intestinal stagnancy, but also for removing accumulated heat, fire, toxins and even retained fluid inside the body.

Exterior relieving therapy is used for dispelling pathogens from the superficial body. Herbs pungent in flavor and with cooling or warming properties are selected. In external medicine, physicians usually use the therapy for infections of the upper body or skin problems.

Internal herbal therapies employed by TCM external medicine include exterior relieving, interior purgation, clearing heat, warming unblock, phlegm resolving, dampness dispelling, qi activating, harmonizing blood, supporting and invigoration.