Why Use Traditional Chinese Medicine?
Part 2 - Exterior/Interior, "Pernicious Evils", and Weather Sensitivity
The second article of a series about Traditional Chinese Medicine
by Judy Fitzgerald

To Read Part 1 of this series click here.
To Read Part 3 of this series click here.

In the first article we looked at five TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) concepts - Qi, Hot/ Cold, and Yang/Yin. In this article we look at Exterior vs. Interior.

"Evils" can attack the body either at the Exterior or the Interior. The
Exterior is the arms and legs, the head and neck, the skin, the muscles, the bones, and the meridians (pathways of Qi (energy) flow). The Interior is the trunk of the body and the interior Organs. Exterior conditions include things like many headaches, sore muscles, many skin conditions, sinus and nasal congestion, watery eyes, and arthritis and rheumatism. Interior condtions include things like changes in bowel or urination habits, digestive system problems, breathing problems, changes in behavior, and reproductive system problems.

In general Exterior conditions are not as serious as Interior conditions, and are easier to treat. This does not mean that Exterior conditions are never very painful and debilitating. They can be extremely debilitating. Just ask anyone who suffers from a very severe headache or arthritis. And, Exterior Evils can move inward and penetrate the Interior if not properly treated (like in the case of the common cold developing into pneumonia).

What are these "Pernicious Evils"? They are Heat, Cold, Wind, Dampness, Dryness, and Fire.

TCM pays a lot more attention to environmental conditions than Western medicine does. This includes not only weather conditions in nature but artificial weather conditions like a building's heating and cooling system, sitting in front of a fan, using a hair dryer, a house that traps moisture, etc.

Pernicious Evils can arise in the environment, attack the Exterior of the body, and move inward to the Interior. Or, they can arise in the Interior of the body as the result of diet, poorly-handled emotions, and other factors. For example, another term for Yin Deficiency is Deficiency Heat. Yin cools and calms the body. If there is not enough Yin to cool the body properly, Heat results. Likewise, Cold can develop in the Interior as a result of there not being enough Yang to warm the body properly.

But this article primarily is about the effects of Perncious Evils on the Exterior. Let's look at an Exterior Evil that just about everyone has experienced - the common cold.

In TCM, the common cold is due to Wind Cold (or in some cases Wind Heat). This does not contradict the Western germ model of colds. What it says it that getting too cold, working outside in the wind, being subjected to unusual changes in temperature (like a cold snap in summer or an unusual warm spell in winter) will lower a person's resistance and allow that person to "catch" a cold if the person's Protective Qi is not strong.

Protective (aka Defensive, aka Wei) Qi is a type of Qi that circulates at the surface of the body and protects the person from environmental conditions invading the body and weakening it. If a person's Protective Qi is Deficient, the person will be prone to catching every germ that comes along and/or to being very weather sensitive. This is a person who gets headaches when it gets too cold or too hot, who has increased problems with allergies and allergy-like symptoms when the wind blows, or who feels miserable in general every time a weather front comes through and the weather changes. This is a person who has problems adjusting to changes in the weather.

There are herbs that will supplement Protective Qi. One of these is
astragalus (aka Radix (root of) Astragali, aka Huang Qi). In TCM herbalism, astrgalus is classified as a Qi tonic herb. This particular Qi tonic herb will supplement Protective Qi in particular. WARMING: Do not take any tonic herb if one already has an infection as the tonic herbs can "feed" an infection.

The acupoint Bladder 36 (aka Bearing Support) will increase resistance to Wind and Cold. Bladder 36 is located on either side of the back, "near the spine, off the tips of the shoulder blades." (Acupressure's Potent Points, Michael Reed Gach, p. 59.) Holding this point or massaging this general area of the back will help increase resistance to invasion by Wind Chill. Gach mentions that right before a cold or the flu sets in, the muscles in this area of the back will tend to get tense. (p. 59)

TCM teaches that under the wrong conditions, any Pernicious Evil can turn into toxic Fire. This includes Cold. The common cold usually has a TCM Root of Wind Chill invading the body due to weak Protective Qi. One effect of Cold on the body is to cause pores to close. The Wind Chill then becomes trapped in the body, in particular the Lungs where it can turn into the toxic Fire of pneumonia. This is why in traditional medicine systems from around the world, the treatment of a cold in its initial stage is to induce sweating. One wants the pores open (when a cold is in its early stage) so the Wind Chill can be expelled. The poetic way that the Chinese put this is that one does not lock up the house while the thief is still inside. One wants the thief to be able to get out of the house. (Note: In later stages of the cold or flu, one does not want to induce sweating as this can weaken the person too much and create problems. Inducing sweating is only proper during the initial stage of a cold when Cold has caused the pores to close.)

In a future article we'll look at the Exterior Evil condition known as
Painful Obstruction Syndrome (Bi Pain), or as it's known in the West, most cases of arthritis. This one can have a TCM Root of Cold, Wind, and/or Damp attacking the Exterior of the body.

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Judy Fitzgerald runs a list called Chinese Healing on yahoo groups at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ChineseHealing