What are the main causes of wind-cold-dampness arthralgia?

Wind-cold-dampness arthralgia is a common medical term. The effect of wind-cold-dampness arthralgia on our body is that it will cause blockage of qi and blood, insufficient vital energy, and cause qi and blood stagnation. The first step for patients with wind-cold-dampness arthralgia is to dispel the cold, and then remove the moisture from the body to achieve the effect of conditioning. The medical explanation of wind-cold-dampness arthralgia must start step by step. It may be because people do not pay attention to taking care of their bodies, which leads to the invasion of wind and cold, so wind-cold-dampness arthralgia will occur. In normal times, we must find appropriate treatment, stabilize the condition, and prevent the condition from continuing to worsen. Patients with wind-cold-dampness arthralgia must pay attention to the numbness and pain that will cause whole body, swelling and pain, insufficient qi and blood, weak kidneys, and qi and blood deficiency. These symptoms must be adjusted in time, and appropriate methods must be chosen for treatment.

Fengcold-dampness arthralgia is the name of a disease in traditional Chinese medicine, which is a collective term for moving (wind) arthralgia, painful (cold) arthralgia, and fixed (dampness) arthralgia. See Volume 20 of Shengji Zonglu. Due to the mixed arrival of wind, cold and dampness, qi and blood stagnate, and symptoms include heaviness and pain in the body, cramps in the limbs, and even running pain, or numbness in the hands and feet. It is caused by external evil invading the meridians, blocking the flow of qi and blood, causing symptoms such as soreness, pain, numbness, heaviness and difficulty in flexion and extension in the joints and limbs, which is called arthralgia. The treatment should be to dispel wind, relieve cold and eliminate dampness.

Causes

Wind-cold-dampness arthralgia is caused by the invasion of meridians by the three external evils of wind, cold and dampness, resulting in obstruction of the smooth flow of qi and blood.

1. Insufficiency of vital energy is the internal factor of arthralgia and the basis of pathological changes. A weak body with loose pores and weak defense system creates conditions for being attacked by pathogenic factors. Therefore, the Treatise on the Causes and Symptoms of Various Diseases, Wind Diseases. Rheumatism and Arthritis says: "Deficiency of blood and qi leads to rheumatism." "Ji Sheng Fang. Bi" also said: "It is all due to physical weakness, loose pores, exposure to wind, cold and dampness that causes Bi." The vital energy is insufficient and unable to drive out the evil, so the pathogenic factors linger and the disease continues.

2. Exogenous wind, cold and dampness are mostly caused by living in a damp environment, wading in water and rain, sleeping in the wind, in fog and dew, climate changes, alternating cold and heat, etc., which allow wind, cold and dampness to take advantage of the opportunity to invade the human body. As the Suwen Bi Lun says: "Wind, cold and dampness come together and cause Bi.

Wind, cold and dampness often harm each other and cause illness. Wind is a yang evil that opens the pores and has the power to penetrate. Cold takes advantage of this power to invade the body. Wind also takes advantage of the accumulation of cold to cause the evil to attach to the diseased area, thus becoming the basis for injuring people and causing illness. Dampness takes advantage of the dispersing power of wind and the contracting power of cold to invade the tendons, bones and muscles. Wind and cold take advantage of the nature of dampness to stick to and cling to the limbs and not go away.

The basic pathogenesis of this disease is that wind, cold and dampness pathogens stay in the muscles, tendons, bones and joints, causing obstruction of the meridians, poor circulation of qi and blood, stiffness and malnutrition of the tendons and veins of the limbs. However, wind, cold and dampness have different emphases. If the wind is severe, the pathogenic factors will spread and the lesions will wander; if the cold is severe, the yang energy will be killed and the pain will be severe; if the dampness is severe, the pathogenic factors will stick and solidify and the lesions will remain fixed.

If arthritis does not heal over time, the poor circulation of qi, blood and body fluids will become more severe day by day, blood vessels will be blocked, body fluids will coagulate, phlegm and blood stasis will form, blocking the meridians and penetrating deep into the bones and joints, causing symptoms such as skin ecchymosis, swollen and deformed joints, and even penetrating deep into the internal organs, causing symptoms of organ arthritis.

The initial illness is real, but long-term illness will inevitably damage the vital energy and cause a mixture of deficiency and excess, accompanied by symptoms of qi and blood deficiency, and liver and kidney insufficiency.

Clinical manifestations

Wind-cold-dampness arthralgia. Joint pain or partial muscle soreness, heaviness and numbness may lead to limb stiffness or even joint swelling if it persists for a long time. It can be divided into the following three types:

1. Xingbi

The pain in the joints of the limbs is wandering and not fixed in any place, sometimes accompanied by chills and fever, with a yellow and greasy tongue coating and a floating pulse.

2. Painful arthritis

Pain in the whole body or in local joints, pain is localized, relieved by warmth but aggravated by cold, with white tongue coating and tight pulse.

3. Paralysis

Joint pain, skin numbness, pain in a specific location, often triggered by rainy, windy and cold weather, with white and greasy tongue coating and a soft and slow pulse.

Treat according to syndrome differentiation

This disease is caused by the obstruction of meridians by evil qi, resulting in poor circulation of qi and blood. Therefore, the treatment principles of this disease are to eliminate evil qi, activate meridians, relieve acute pain, and stop pain.

Because evil qi is mixed, the treatment methods of dispelling wind, dispersing cold, removing dampness, and unblocking meridians should be taken into account at the same time. Because evil qi has a tendency to prevail, dispelling evil and unblocking meridians have different focuses. Insufficiency of vital energy is an important cause of this disease. Long-term illness has depleted vital energy and has caused a mixture of deficiency and excess. The patient should strengthen the vital energy and eliminate the evil, and strengthening the vital energy will help eliminate the evil. If the wind evil prevails or the disease has long entered the meridians, the patient should be assisted with blood-nourishing products, as the saying goes, "to treat wind, you must first treat the blood, and when the blood circulates, the wind will disappear"; if the cold evil prevails, the patient should be assisted with yang-boosting products, so that the yang qi will be vigorous, the cold will be dissipated and the meridians will be unblocked; if the dampness evil prevails, the patient should be assisted with spleen-strengthening and qi-invigorating products, so that the spleen will be strong and able to overcome the dampness. Invigorating Qi and nourishing blood, as well as tonifying the liver and kidneys are important treatments for deficiency syndromes and stubborn arthritis.

Xingbi

Symptoms: Soreness and pain in joints and muscles of the limbs, wandering joints up and down, left and right, but more common in the upper limbs, mostly cold pain, but can also be mild heat pain, or aversion to wind and cold, thin white or thin greasy tongue coating, floating or floating-tight pulse. Treatment principle: dispel wind, dredge meridians, dissipate cold and remove dampness. Main prescription: Xuanbi Dajing Decoction. Prescriptions: beehive, black-necked snake, earthworm, mantis, clematis, angelica root, notopterygium, siler, gentiana macrophylla, herba scutellariae, vine of green wind, angelica sinensis, and pangolin. The prescription uses beehive, black-necked snake, earthworm, and mantis to open up the meridians and activate the collaterals to relieve numbness; clematis, notopterygium, siler, gentiana macrophylla, scutellaria baicalensis, and green wind vine to dispel wind and eliminate evil; angelica sinensis nourishes blood and activates blood circulation; and pangolin removes stagnation in the collaterals.

If the joints of the upper limbs such as shoulders and elbows are mainly affected, it means that the wind is stronger than the upper parts. You can add Qianghuo, Baizhi, Morus alba, Weilingxian, Curcuma longa, and Chuanxiong to dispel wind, dredge the meridians and relieve pain. If the disease mainly affects the lower limb joints, it means that the dampness is stronger in the lower parts. In this case, add Angelica dahurica, Achyranthes bidentata, Stephania tetrandra, Trichosanthes kirilowii, and turpentine to dispel dampness and relieve pain. For those with mainly waist and back joints, it is mostly related to insufficient kidney qi. Add Eucommia ulmoides, Viscum album, Epimedium, Morinda officinalis, Dipsacus asparagus, etc. to warm and nourish the kidney qi. If there are swollen joints, thin yellow tongue coating, and signs of pathogenic factors turning into heat, use Guizhi Shaoyao Zhimu Decoction with modifications. Or you can add or subtract ingredients to Fangfeng Decoction, which uses Fangfeng, Ephedra, Qinjiao, and Pueraria to dispel wind and dampness; cinnamon and angelica to warm the meridians and promote blood circulation; Poria to strengthen the spleen and eliminate dampness; ginger, jujube, and licorice to harmonize the middle and regulate the blood circulation.