Wholesome Wellness Centre

In the theory of TCM, the human body connects to the outside world through apertures we call orifices: the nose, mouth, ear, anus, urethral opening etc.  The anal and urethral openings are referred as the lower orifices; it is where urinary tract infection (UTI) often occurs.

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is inflammation in the urinary system. Associated symptoms include irritation in the urethral opening, bladder and even the kidney.  Due to relatively short and straight anatomy of the female urethra, women experience higher risk of UTI.  The first sign of UTI is irregular urine discharge; patients of UTI will experience burning sensation and sharp pain in the urethra when the urine is released.  With higher frequency and minimal quantity, the colour of the urine is slightly yellow and may even appear red.  When accompanied by bladder inflammation, UTI will also result in soreness and pain in the lower abdomen.  In TCM, such urination disturbance is termed stranguria.  The most typical is heat stranguria, but UTI may also come with blood in urine discharge or even struvite, in such cases they are respectively termed hematostranguria and stone stranguria.

For the most part, modified Ba Zheng San is prescribed for patients suffering from heat stranguria.  Upon suffering from a common cold, Ms. Cheng had developed signs of nephritis and UTI; she was experiencing lower back pain and chest tightness when she came to seek for treatment.  At the time, modified Ba Zheng San was prescribed for her.  In addition, acupuncture was performed on her San Yin Jiao, Yin Ling Quan, as well as Sha Sun Hung of Tung’s.  Her symptoms showed immediate relief and she was able to urinate more smoothly again.  Aside from the intake of modified Ba Zheng San, Ms. Cheng was also advised to avoid juice related food product.  From past experiences, the cranberry juice remedy recommended by naturopaths for UTI does no good but harm; at times it could lead to weak bladder detrusor muscle and even result in urinary incontinence.

In order to maintain a healthy urinary system, immense water intake and urinating often are important: water can speed up your metabolism whereas urinating helps in expunging the toxic substances out of your body.  The average water consumption is approximately 2 L per capita per day.  Hence, immense water intake and urination often keeps the urinary system alkaline thus preventing bacterial growth.  In addition, avoid staying up late and holding your urine at all times as fatigue can lower the immune system, thereby increasing the likeliness of bacterial invasion.  Suppressing the urge to void is a common problem among the working class.  After all, why not get the job done when I can hold?  Having said that, there are hundreds of symbiotic bacteria living in our body.  Long term exposure to hot and sweaty working environment with insufficient water intake will definitely weaken the urinary system and result in an autoinfection.  So at the end of each day, ask yourself, “Have you hydrated yourself today?”

Spring is peak season for the Rotavirus, the main virus that causes the stomach flu. If you suffer from symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, light-headedness, sore throat, low or high fever you may have the flu. As the name suggests this illness spreads fairly fast and extensively. Often it starts with children in the household and spreads to the main caretakers such as parents and even grandparents.
TCM’s approach is a safe and effective way in treating and blocking off stomach flu and its progress. It does not pinpoint types of viruses or strains of bacteria. It focuses on the mechanism of the disease and the system balance that is off caused by external evils such as wind, dampness or heat. By applying acupuncture, herbal medicine and food therapy, the dynamic internal balance is restored and the external evils are calmed and expelled, and thus the health is regained.

During this pandemic time, the following preventative measures can be applied in the household:

• Avoid food of cold nature such as watermelon, pop, an ice cream and greasy food. These foods damage and hinder the digestive function which will result in bacterial or viral infection.
• Avoid food of hot nature such as nuts, and deep-fried,spicy and baked cuisine. These will damage the lining of the throat, and allow viruses or bacteria to attack tonsils and cause infection.
• Wash hands frequently and avoid sharing mugs, cups or cutlery with family members who have flu symptoms.
• Call your doctors (TCM doctor or physician) when you notice any digestive discomfort, aches and pains and deal with the cause before it progresses.

Have a happy and healthy spring.

If you have seen enough movies then the following scenario will definitely sound familiar. It is when a handsome lad decides to make a move on a lovely serene night, but only to attain rejection and a distasteful frown from his sweet companion. “Sorry honey, not today, I have a headache,” his partner groans. Excuse or not, love is no longer in the air.
According to statistics, with migraines in the lead, women are three times more likely to develop headaches than men. Ms. Wong is a patient of chronic headaches found to be triggered by climate change. Struck by severe migraines, she was suffering from nervousness and high agitation when she came to seek for treatment. To help alleviate her tension and the pain, acupuncture was performed on the following acupuncture points: TaiChong, ZuLinQi, HeGu as well as the headache points of Tung’s. In accordance with the treatment, aromatherapy was carried out and peppermint essential oil was applied to relieve the irritating emotion and stress. In an hour’s time, her symptoms improved drastically, she felt more relaxed, and went home with personalized herbal prescription.
Ms. Wong’s migraine is considered as an external wind-cold invasion in the filed of TCM, and modified Chuan Xiong Cha Tiao San, a Chinese herbal formula, is among the best prescription for such syndrome.
In the theory of TCM, the human head is the convergence of all yang meridians; it is where the essence of the five viscera and six bowels meet together. TCM separates headaches into two major categories: exogenous and endogenous. Often time, exogenous headaches are caused via wind invasion, with patterns including wind-cold, wind-heat and wind-dampness etc. Endogenous headaches, on the other hand, are often the result of weak viscus and bowel meridians; its patterns include blood stasis, phlegm obstruction, and hyperactive liver yang. Due to the dissimilarities in headache patterns, a personalized treatment is to be applied each time. Hence it is always necessary to consult a certified TCM doctor for diagnosis and treatment.
To avoid exogenous headaches don’t leave the house with semi-dry or wet hair. Such habits can easily cause head-wind, which is a TCM term for year round headaches or migraines. Bad lifestyles are the cause of the aforementioned headaches, so hopefully all readers suffering from headaches have learnt from this article: change your habits to flee the pain.

Yes, you have heard it in the news, in the radio and from terrified people around you. It is estimated that one out of three Canadians are going to be infected with H1N1 flu virus. So what you can do to keep yourself and your family free from being the victims of this pandemic?

Compared with SARS, H1N1 has a much lower mortality rate but is highly contagious. We also see young people are more prone to suffer from H1N1 because of less encounter with flu and less antibodies (May 2009, CDC). H1N1 starts with symptoms no different than other flu: sore throat, cough, headache and fatigue. Therefore, people often miss the signs and allow the virus to progress further. However, there are symptoms such as loss of appetite, body aches and pains and diarrhea or even vomiting should ring a bell that it may not be just flu or common cold.

TCM’s approach does not pinpoint types of viruses or strains of bacteria. It focuses on the mechanism of the disease and the system balance that is off caused by external evils such as wind, dampness or heat. By applying acupuncture, herbal medicine and food therapy, the internal balance is restored, and the external evils are dispelled, and thus the health is regained.

During this pandemic time, the followings are some preventative measures that can be applied in the household:

Avoid food of cold nature such as watermelon, pop and ice cream, and greasy food. Food of cold nature will damage and hinder the digestive function which will result in virus infection.

Avoid food of hot nature such as nuts, and deep-fried, spicy and baked cuisine. Food of hot nature will damage the lining of the throat, and thus allow virus or bacteria to attack tonsils and cause infection.

Wash hands frequently and avoid sharing mugs, cups, or cutlery with family members who has flu symptoms.

Call your doctors (TCM doctor or physician) when you notice any digestive discomfort, aches and pains and deal with the cause before it progresses.

How does Traditional Chinese Medicine work?

Abbreviated as TCM, traditional Chinese medicine is a unique diagnostic and treatment system that has been practicing as the chief medical modality in China since 20^th century B.C.. The role of TCM doctors at that time was as the family doctors today for they take care of the health and wellness of their patients.

The core concept of TCM is about restoring and maintaining a state of dynamic balances of yin and yang, qi (energy) and blood, and cold and hot in our body. When the equilibrium in our body is subjected to external stress, imbalance occurs.

The unique diagnostic system in TCM is “pattern differentiation”. For example, a migraine headache might be pattern of qi (energy) stagnation in the liver meridian, pattern of blood stasis, or pattern of external wind invasion depending on the clinical manifestations of the migraine.

Through a combination of observation, olfaction and auscultation, inquiry, and palpation, TCM doctors are able to detect the underlying imbalance of the physical and emotional bodies that cause functional discomforts, signs or even symptoms.

When root cause is pinpointed, different treatment modalities such as Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine, Tui-na, Moxibustion, Food Therapy, and Life style coaching are applied customarily based on the condition and needs of patients. Often time, patient’s diet, living environment and climate are taken into consideration in order to facilitate the restoring and rebalancing of the body.