D. Clear Wind and Damp
Anti-rheumatics, Anti-arthritics
These herbs clear Wind, Cold and Damp from the muscles, joints and bones. They are therefore primarily used for painful obstructions including various Arthritic and Rheumatic conditions, as well as some types of Neuralgia.
The 4 main types of painful obstruction of the joints are:
1. Wind: moving and changing; place and severity of pain changes; aggravated by wind and stress
2. Cold: stiff and slow; fixed chronic type pain; worse in the cold or when immobile for too long
3. Damp: fixed, dull pain with swelling, chronic in nature, numbness; usually melancholic
4. Heat: hot, inflamed; usually acute with heat, redness, swelling; burning pain; moving aggravates
Of course, most often there is a combination of the above. Typically, old people with chronic conditions will have wind, cold and dampness together, and there will almost definitely be signs of Kidney and Liver deficiency marked by a dry mouth, chronic lower back pain, urinary frequency, nocturnal urination, tightness of the sinews, tinnitus etc. In these cases, herbs to strengthen the Kidneys and Liver must be added.
Younger people, strong constitutions and acute cases with painful joints with red, heat and swelling often have Wind, Damp and Heat, sometimes with Toxin.
Extras, TCM:
Erythrina Hao Tong Pi, Pinus Lignum Song Jie, Trachelospermum Luo Shi Teng, Homalomena Qian Nian Jian, Sinomenium Qing Feng Tang, Lycopodium Shen Jin Cao, Siegesbeckia Xi Xian Cao, Cudrania Chuan Po Shi, Tripterygium Lei Gong Teng, Kadsura Hong Gu She, Bombax Mu Mian Pi
Silkworm Feces Can Sha
Chinese Classification