Chinese Medicine – Healing Vitiligo with Ancient Health Wisdom – Part 3
Bai Dian Feng or White Patches Wind or White Enemy Wind, as it is know in Chinese is the modern equivalent of vitiligo. The Chinese have been helping people heal from virtually every known health problem for thousands of years, including problems such as vitiligo. It astounds me every day how wise this medicine is and how powerful it is to get the body what it needs in order to heal. Your body is what heals itself, the job of the practitioner and patient is to provide the optimal environment for that healing to occur.
In Chinese medicine, we treat the whole person, not just one particular health problem. We see the body as a whole and everything affecting it including physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, environmental and familiar influences. While vitiligo has been noted to appear without symptom, when we delve deeper, it is rarely experienced by itself. Therefore, we look for the pattern in the body that this related too. Each pattern is dealt with differently, which is why it is very important to know about all other symptoms present. Here are the underlying patterns which one may see in this problem.
- Spleen and Stomach deficiency. The stomach and spleen in Chinese medicine help to digest food and extract usable nutrients to supply them to the body. Many formulas exist to deal with a variety of issues related to spleen and stomach deficiency.
- Qi and blood deficiency and/or stasis. Qi is typically known as energy and herbs and foods exist that help the body to produce energy better and increase the quality of the blood, which in turn nourishes the skin.
- Blood heat and bodily heat. Too much internal heat will dry out body fluids, which in turn won’t nourish the skin. Herbs can help to cool the body down.
- Liver (wind) and Kidney deficiency. Since this is known as a “wind” problem in Chinese medicine, by nurturing the blood, wind can die down internally.
- Emotional factors. This will be discussed in Part 4 on the consciousness of this problem.
In order to treat the above problem, the pattern must first be identified. Once the pattern is identified, Chinese food therapy, acupuncture and herbs can be taken to restore balance in the body. When balance occurs, problems minimize and/or go away. If you have never done acupuncture, please give it a try. Giving it a try does not mean going one time. Acupuncture works best when it is done more frequently, at least in the beginning of treatment. Anywhere from 5-20 sessions may be needed for balance in the body.
Both internal herbs and external liniments, lotions and ointments of various kinds have been used very successfully. Below are a couple of the herbal formulas that address the above patterns. We make these formulas individually here in the clinic. 200 grams (400 capsules of 500 mg each) of formula is typically around 50 dollars plus shipping. Contact me if these formulas are of interest to you. They can be shipped anywhere in the world. Again, it is critical to do a thorough intake by a trained Chinese physician before taking herbs to determine what is right for you.
- Formula one: Enriches qi, moves stagnation, quickens blood circulation, resolves toxins, excretes dampness, eliminates patches, expels wind, stops itching. Herbs: Bu gu zhi, huang qi, bai ji li, hong hua, wu shao she, dang gui, chuan xiong, xiang fu, bai xian pi, zi cao.
- Formula two: for stomach and spleen deficiency. Herbs: pi pa ye, ju hua, yi yi ren, gou qi zi, huang qi, bai zhu, shan zha, shan zhu yu, dang shen
- Formula three. For qi and blood deficiency. Herbs: xing ren, lian zi, bei xie, gou qi zi, shan zhu yu, da zao, huang qi, dang gi.
- Formula four. For kidney and liver deficiency. Herbs: tu si zi, fu pen zi, gou qi zi, bie xie, xuan shen, long yan rou, bai shao, dang gui.
- Formula five: For tonifying the liver and kidney, nourishing blood, purging toxins, clearing heat, promoting circulation. Herbs: he shou wu, dang gui, gou qi zi, chi shao, she chuang zi, di fu zi, bai xian pi, zhi gan cao, huang qi, gui zhi
Many herbal ointments are used in China to help topically with vitiligo. If after making lifestyle changes, doing a whole supplementation protocol, getting acupuncture, doing food therapy and taking powerful herbal formulas and you don’t see the problem improving, then looking to external ointments would be a next step.
Lastly, but certainly not least, are the emotional factors that stand behind this condition. The consciousness of vitiligo is perhaps the most important aspect in dealing with this problem. Many have healed simply by dealing with the emotional patterns within them that relate to this specific condition.
Part 1 – Lifestyle factors of healing from vitiligo
