Damp, Wind and Cold: Treating Winter and Spring Musculoskeletal Conditions
John Amaro, LAc, DC, Dipl. Ac.(NCCAOM), Dipl.Med.Ac.(IAMA)
Though they appear natural and just a usual part of our lives, weather conditions such as dampness, wind and cold can create havoc in susceptible patients, affecting their health considerably. In most parts of the world, severe weather may last for months, with one weather system being replaced with another. It is not unusual for your patients to be able to accurately predict when the next weather front is on the way. Their right knee, left shoulder, neck or hip can be a much better predictor of weather than the local forecaster.
All environmental factors including heat and dryness can be instrumental in creating health conditions. However, it is the extremes of damp, wind and cold that seem of environmental factors through the proper functioning of the eight extraordinary meridians and the musculotendinous meridians.
Under usual and healthy conditions, the network of the extraordinary and musculotendinous meridians protects the internal visceral meridians from the devastating effects of environmental factors. As long as these two meridians are functioning normally, environmental weather conditions pose no threat. However, when there appears to be a breakdown in either system, musculoskeletal symptomatology is the rule.
This is why winter weather can create so many orthopedic problems: arthritis; myofascitis; stiffness; and pain. The treatment of environmental factors could fill a textbook with explanations and descriptions. However, establishing a simple-to-use explanation and treatment approach is invaluable. While most practitioners will spend years trying to figure out what it really all means, the practitioner following the graphics in this paper will begin to achieve remarkable results in a variety of weather-related problems.
The graphics include the classic points that dispel dampness, wind and cold, and have been responsible for helping countless patients deal with a condition which does not have a good solution via any other approach. We could spend the better part of a day and barely scratch the surface on what the treatment approaches could be on the meridian acupuncture approach to winter and spring orthopedic problems. The graphics illustrate the specific points that are classic and historic in the effective treatment of conditions aggravated by wind, cold and damp.
Clip the graphics and make them a part of your library. These are some of the most powerful points you will ever use in the treatment of weather-related conditions. When your patients begin to complain that the storm is two days away or they are in the throes of a severe flare-up due to the weather, begin using these points. It is not unusual to use all three environmental factor points in one patient. The incredible effectiveness of these points will amaze you.
Have a great winter and spring, and a fabulous year of the horse!
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