The
constant rain for the last the last couple of months is getting to me and, I
notice, is getting to my patients. We
are now in the sixth or seventh week of unremitting grey skies and frequent
downpours, and this is much harder for everyone to tolerate in summer than in
winter. It is not just a factor of expectation - we are, of course, used to
rain and grey skies in winter - but there is actually more dampness around in
warmer weather. The humidity is greater
in summer than winter, as hot air holds more moisture than cold air. This isn't
a problem if the weather is hot, or even warm. The humidity then stays locked
up in the atmosphere and doesn't affect us so much. But this year the
temperatures are lower and all the weather fronts are stuck, so the humidity
keeps coming down as rain or mist.
In
Chinese medicine, there is a condition known as "dampness", which is
differentiated into "external and internal dampness". The symptoms which characterise this
condition include things such as lethargy, feelings of heaviness in the body,
e.g. dragging your legs upstairs, heavy headedness, muzzy head, fuzzy
headaches, blocked nose, phlegmy coughs, generally achy limbs, difficulty in
thinking clearly, sluggish digestion, lack of motivation, reluctance to take exercise,
a sort of "couch potato, can't be bothered" feeling!
Dampness
in the body can arise from lifestyle factors such as diet, but can also arise
as a result of dampness entering the body from outside - for example when
living conditions are damp, or the weather is unusually wet, like it is now!
Interestingly,
patients are now coming into the clinic with more of these kind of symptoms
than they normally do at this time of year.
"Internal dampness" can be counteracted, according to Chinese
medicine, by the right sort of food, by wearing the right sort of clothes, and
by taking exercise (it blows away the dampness). A diet that counteracts dampness includes
having hot food, eating "drying" foods, and drinking
"drying" beverages - think of things that have an astringent taste,
like jasmine tea, or walnuts. Avoiding
"damp" foods also helps - think of things that have a claggy, gloopy
texture, fatty foods, for example.
Some acupuncture points are described as having the
function of draining dampness, as this condition is well recognised in China, a
country that also has regions that are very damp. As a result, possibly, the
traditional Chinese diet contains very little in the way of "damp"
foods.
For more information, feel free to contact me via my website
http://acupuncture-bristol.co.uk/index.html
