All Posts tagged health topics

Getting up close and personal can be embarrassing if you have halitosis – more commonly known as bad breath. It’s usually a transient condition caused by poor oral hygiene. If you don’t clean your mouth properly, dead cells and food debris get caught in various cavities. But if you continually…

Tonsillitis is a common cause of sore throats. The tonsils are important immune glands. Normally, they fight germs entering the body though the mouth and nose, but sometimes they’re overwhelmed by a bacterial or viral infection and inflammation results. Symptoms include a sore throat, difficulty in swallowing, headache, fever, enlarged…

Hypertension is a silent killer that can cause serious damage to the heart, brain, kidneys and eyes. In most cases, the condition is discovered during a routine checkup. From a traditional Chinese medicine perspective, hypertension or high blood pressure usually originated from overstimulated emotions, poor diet and internal weakness. These…

Detoxification is a buzzword, these days. Many people visit spas or go on special diets after overindulging. Traditional Chinese medicine promotes moderation in all things, but for most of us this is hard to live up to. Ridding the body of harmful substances is a continual and natural process. In…

Because cold symptoms vary from person to person they need to be treated differently. For example. Those with aches, chills, a mild fever, running nose, sneezing and a cough are usually treated with pungent herbs with warm properties. Perilla leaf, schizonepeta herb, ephedra and cassia twig can help the body…

For many people, winter means respiratory trouble. Nasal itching, constant sneezing, a runny nose and watery, itchy eyes may develop within minutes after breathing in allergens. Instead of avoiding the allergic triggers or simply seeking symptomatic relief, traditional Chinese treatment of allergic rhinitis focuses on the internal weakness that causes…

Depression involves the body, mood and thoughts. It affects the way you eat and sleep, how you fell about yourself and what you think about. Besides the mental disturbances, associated physical complaints may include headache, dizziness, weakness, palpitations, shortness of breath, poor appetite, sweating, ear-ringing and a dry mouth. Generally…

Commonly called a yeast infection or thrush, candidiasis is a fungal infection that commonly affects women. Although traditional Chinese medicine doesn’t have a diagnosis of candidiasis, it comes under the categories of genital itching and leukorrhoea. Since yeast thrives in damp conditions. It follow that accumulation of dampness leads to…

In traditional Chinese medicine, irritable bowel syndrome is regarded as being due mainly to emotional disturbances leading to organ disharmonies. The liver is the organ most affected by stress. Long-term emotional stimulation causes liver stagnation, which is said to interfere with the digestive functions of the spleen and stomach. When…

In traditional Chinese medicine, treating a scratch isn’t just a matter of applying a plaster. TCM regards the body as an organic whole, with the internal and the external connected by channels (meridians). Superficial lesions – such as scratches or bites – are said to be influenced by the internal…

Headaches often render is unproductive at work, disturb our social lives and can cause havoc with schedules. Stress, an unbalanced diet and lack of sleep – as well as a genetic disposition to headaches – can be to blame. Other cases range from eye strain to sinusitis and life-threatening conditions…

Whether you’re a weekend jogger or a hard-core marathon competitor, you could suffer an injury or sprain. According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), sports injuries don’t only cause tissue damage, they also allow external pathogens to invade, disrupting the circulations of chi and blood at the affected area. When chi…

Hong Kong appears to be a city of insomniacs from the number of shut eyes and nodding heads on public transport. Lack of sleep can interfere with memory, energy levels, mental abilities and emotions. Traditional Chinese medicine regards sleep as important for maintaining the balance of yin (which predominates at…

In 12th-century China, tumours were described as masses that were “rock-firm with uneven surfaces”. Over the centuries, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has developed knowledge about treating cancer, and most anti-cancer ingredients used are derived from ancient remedies. Although traditional therapies have been replaced by modern treatments, TCM’s complementary role in…

Undergoing major surgery carries the risk of complications. Preparations before and after the operation are the best way to help the process go smoothly. From a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) perspective, surgery often exhausts a person’s blood and chi (vital energy) causing internal disharmonies. Besides acupuncture, some TCM methods can…

According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), emotions are manifestations of the organs’ functions. TCM physicians regard anger, anxiety, fear, grief, extreme elation, over-thinking and terror as the most common disturbances. When these emotions become uncontrollable, they can damage organs. Extreme and prolonged emotional frustrations disturb chi flow (vital energy) in…

The exact cause of mouth sores isn’t known, but these painful white or yellow ulcers with red borders tend to be associated with viral infections, food allergies, stress, and nutrient and immune deficiencies. They’re prevalent among people living in urban areas. In traditional Chinese medicine, sores or ulcers are regarded…

According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), long-term stress and intense emotional stimulation adversely affect the liver. In TCM, the liver promotes flowing and spreading movements – by stimulating flow, the liver controls the smooth movement of chi, blood and body fluids, and spreads them round the entire body. There are…

When a woman conceives, her body undergoes changes that enable the baby to grow. Morning sickness (although it can occur at any time), fatigue and other symptoms are more prominent in the early months, making pregnant women uncomfortable. From a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) perspective, these conditions occur because of…

Traditional Chinese medicine is said to be beneficial during the long recovery periods when bones are healing. After setting or surgery, the bone site undergoes different processes such as inflammation, repair and, finally, remodeling to restore its original physical and mechanical properties. Chinese bone-setting specialists use internal and external remedies…