Graves Disease

There are several lifestyle and emotional factors that are related to Grave’s disease, but I’ll be looking specifically at the anger connection here. In Chinese medicine anger is neither negative nor positive, it’s part of the Five Element cycle and a creative force – if it is understood, expressed and used properly. But if anger isn’t […]

Difficulty swallowing

Difficulty swallowing (if it is not a condition related to a neurological disorder or physical event) is connected with liver chi stagnation which means your chi is not flowing smoothly. In TCM the rhythmic contraction and relaxation of the throat, oesophagus and the opening of the stomach, that is required for the action of swallowing, […]

Insomnia

I suffered from insomnia for years and it nearly drove me crazy. I tried all sorts of things from sleeping potions, to various forms of therapy, to desperate bottles of wine and nothing worked. This is because insomnia is lifestyle induced so the only cure is lifestyle changes. In TCM insomnia is caused by an […]

Nosebleeds

Nosebleeds are not generally considered to be serious from the perspective of Western medicine, but in lifestyle medicine I think of the little symptoms as warning lights on the dash, and frequent nosebleeds are an indicator that your lifestyle is impacting on your blood and/or your liver chi. You are on the way to, or […]

Eye Floaters

In TCM your eyes, and eye health, are connected to your liver. If your organ chi declines, vision becomes blurry and floaters form. But, as chi levels increase, your vision and floaters clear. So eye floaters can be viewed as a sign of a deficiency pattern. It’s like a warning light for low chi levels […]

Epigastric Pain

Epigastric pain can be sudden and with an obvious cause such as overeating (think xmas lunch) which causes liver chi stagnation, or it can be chronic. In the latter, epigastric pain is usually affiliated with a yin deficiency which is a condition that builds slowly over time as a result of lifestyle factors. I’ve treated […]

Hiccups

From the lifestyle medicine angle, some kind of resistance to the flow of life, which can translate as muscle spasms in the diaphragm, underlies ongoing hiccups. Your diaphragm is the physical location of your liver, and the hub of chi-flow. Hiccups might appear to be a small thing and not worth worrying about but, as […]

Abdominal Distension

Abdominal distension is what happens when chi stagnates in your abdominal area. This is the hub of chi flow in your body. Abdominal distension is not bloating, as it doesn’t go down, and in the initial stage it is not fat, it is not weight gain, it is just chi stagnation. This begins on an […]

Amenorrhea

Amenorrhea is always associated with an overly yang lifestyle that depletes the yin. Yin is the basis for blood and the depletion of yin interferes with menstrual blood production. Blood is a vital substance and if the body can’t afford to lose any more of it, amenorrhea becomes a safety mechanism to prevent burn-out. Amenorrhea […]

Acid Reflux

Acid reflux is the outcome of a valve malfunction (your lower oesophageal sphincter or LOS) and stomach acid flowing upwards rather than downwards. The solution is simple; fix the valve and enable your stomach chi to descend so that stomach acid flows downwards. Lifestyle is what causes the valve malfunction and the reversal of stomach […]