-IBIS-1.5.0-
tx
musculoskeletal system
facet syndrome
psychospiritual approaches
metaphors and correlations
Spine represents flexible support of life. (Hay, 1984, p. 183)
Chronic pain syndrome develops as a result of having chronically negative attitudes and/or unconscious emotional response mechanisms that keep a person continually in stress. Chronic attitude problems are so much a part of a person's self-image that he or she does not recognize them as separate from the personality. Nothing is more difficult to identify than our assumed 'natural' ways of being in the world that are essentially patterns we have developed to help us cope. Certain body parts susceptible to chronic negative patterns include the spine, the stomach (as in ulcers), and the head (tension and migraine headaches). (Shealy, p. 256-266)
Chinese psychophysiology:
Liver ~ Gan is the home of the Hun (Ethereal Soul); it relates to decisiveness, control, and the principle of emergence; maintains smooth flow of Qi and Xue (Blood); controls the muscles, ligaments, and tendons, especially the contractility of the muscles and moistening of the sinews; and reflects emotional harmony and movement.
» Healthy expressions are kindness, spontaneity, and ease of movement.
» Liver Xu (Deficiency) signs include impotence; frigidity; pain in thighs, pelvic region, and throat; ready tendency to "the blahs" (Seem, p. 28); timidity; depression; irritability; vertigo; pruritus; dry skin and/or tendons; asthma; aching at the waist; hernia; and difficulty raising head up and down.
Kidney ~ Shen governs birth, growth, reproduction, development, and aging; houses the Zhi (Will); expresses ambition and focus; controls the bones, particularly the lumbar spine and knees; and displays the stresses of aging and chronic degenerative processes.
» Healthy expressions are gentleness, groundedness, and endurance.
» Kidney Xu (Deficiency) signs include indecisiveness; confused speech; dreams of trees submerged under water; cold feet and legs; and abundant sweating (Seem, p. 28); back pain; fearfulness, apathy, discouragement, and scatteredness; lack of will; negativity; impatience; difficult inhalation; low sex drive; lumbago; sciatica; and musculoskeletal irritation and inflammation, especially when worse from touch.
» Intense or prolonged fear depletes the Kidney. Often chronic anxiety may induce Xu (Deficiency) and then Fire within the Kidney. (Maciocia, p. 250) Overwork, parenting, simple aging, and a sedentary or excessively indulgent lifestyle all contribute significantly to Kidney Xu (Deficiency).
therapies
affirmation:
I am supported by life. (Hay, 1984, p. 183)
psychotherapy:
Those who are prone to inflammations are attempting to avoid conflicts. The following questions may be useful:
» What conflict in my life am I failing to see? hear? feel? move?
» What conflict am I dodging?
» What conflict am I failing to admit to? (Dethlefsen, p. 108)
process paradigm: (experientially oriented)
What is the symptom preventing me from doing? What is the symptom making me do? (related materia medica listings: musculoskeletal system interview)
related materia medica listings:
the shadow and physical symptoms
body reveals: the spirit
converting a symptom to a signal
affirmations: guidelines and precautions
process paradigm
footnotes
Reprinted from The Foundations of Chinese Medicine, Maciocia, Giovanni, 1989, by permission of the publisher Churchill Livingstone, a division of Elsevier Limited.