Element & Medicine
Chinese medicine practitioners can detect ailments by reading the patients pulse and condition, and prescribe accordingly.
If 10 people goes to a western doctor and tells the doctor they got the cough, pretty much all 10 will be prescribed cough mixture. But go to a licensed Chinese medicine practitioner, and all 10 people who have cough might get a different set of medicine based on the cause of the cough, rather than the cough itself. That goes the same for fever, muscle pain, headaches and so on; the medicine prescribed by the master will be unique based on the imbalance of the elements in your body and from the environment. Here are the elements;
WIND
It is created by our own body, our inner system & also there is external wind that comes from the environment. An imbalance can cause us to have a Yin wind or a Yang wind. And the different kind of wind is prescribed with different sets of medicine. Because there are many herbs and plants required to treat the imbalance, masters of Chinese medicine has created concoctions that are ready to be drunk, and does not require knowledge of the proper way to mix and boil herbs. You can now purchase readymade concoctions for your ailments.
The concoction required for the Yin wind would be JiuWei JiangHuo.
The concoction required for the Yang wind would be XiangSa Liew June.
To give you an idea of how much herbs goes into a concoction, here is the list of ingredients in the XiangSa Liew June concoction; Radix Aucklandia Lappa, Fructus Amomum Villosum, Radix Codonopsis Pilosula, Rhizoma Pinellia Ternata, Rhizoma Atractylodes Macrocephala, Poria Cocos, Pericarpium Citrus Reticulata, Fructus Ziziphus Jujuba, Rhizoma Zingiber Officinale, Radix Glycyrrhiza Uralensis.
COLD
There are also two kinds of cold, that is the Yin cold, and the Yang cold. Colds can be brought upon by environmental or internal factors. Cold occurs when exposed to cold environments, which obstructs the flow of yang-qi, blood and body fluid.
The concoction required for the Yin cold would be Jing Fang Bai Du.
The concoction required for the Yang cold would be Yin Chiao.
HEAT
Heat can be brought about by the environment as well as eating hot foods. Heat pertains to the yang-qi and induces sweating and consumes body fluid when it disperses.
The concoction required for heat would be Zi Qing.
DAMPNESS
Dampness is brought upon by consuming excessive amount of oily food. Dampness moves slowly as it is heavy, inhibiting the activity of the yang-qi.
The concoction required for dampness would be Shan Ran Tang.
DRYNESS
Dryness is due to the environment as well as being produced by the inner self, by say consuming fried foods. Dryness is often caused by insufficient body fluid. This leads to dryness of the mouth, nose, throat and skin as well as low urine volume and constipation.
The concoction required for dryness would be Chih Pai Pa Wei Wan.
Visit Sensei Lee at Mont De China for consultations and purchases of herbs at No.9, Jln. SS24/8, Taman Megah, 47301 Petaling Jaya. Tel: 03-7804-9488