-IBIS-1.5.0-
tx
musculoskeletal system
spinal segmental lesion
psychospiritual approaches

metaphors and correlations

• Rigid, stiff thinking. (Hay, 1984, p. 184)
• 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:
Kidney ~ Shen stores Jing (Essence) and governs birth, growth, reproduction, development, and aging; houses the Zhi (Will); expresses ambition and focus; governs Water to regulate body fluids; provides the "Fire of Life" through its Yang functions; provides the nourishing and stabilizing qualities of Yin and Water; controls the bones, particularly the lumbar spine and knees; relates particularly to chronic conditions because it carries the constitutional endowment from the parents; and displays the effects of sexual dissipation (especially excessive ejaculation), overwork, aging, chronic debilitation, and extreme stress.
»
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; abundant sweating (Seem, p. 28); fearfulness; apathy; chronic fatigue; discouragement; scatteredness; lack of will; negativity; impatience; difficult inhalation; low sex drive; lumbago; sciatica; and musculoskeletal irritation and inflammation, especially when worse from touch. As always, chronic Yin Xu (Deficiency) predisposes to acute inflammation.
» Intense or prolonged fear depletes the Kidney. Overwork, parenting, simple aging, and a sedentary or excessively indulgent lifestyle all contribute significantly to Kidney Xu (Deficiency).

» Mental signs of Bladder channel disorders include changeable moods, over-enthusiasm, suspicion, jealousy, lack of confidence, and mental lassitude. (Seem, p. 28)

Liver ~ Gan is the home of the Hun (Ethereal Soul); it relates to decisiveness, control, and the principle of emergence; stores the Xue (Blood); 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 Qi Stagnation reflects and accentuates emotional constraint as the Liver's function of facilitating smooth flow in the body is constricted. Stagnation is associated with frustration, irritability, tension, and feeling stuck. With time this pattern tends to produce a gloomy emotional state of constant resentment, repressed anger or depression, along with tightness in the chest, frequent sighing, abdominal tension or distension, and/or a feeling of a lump in the throat with difficulty in swallowing. (Maciocia, p. 216) Xue Yu (Blood Stasis) often begins with Qi Stagnation.


therapies

affirmation:
• I am safe enough to be flexible in my mind. (Hay, 1984, p. 184)

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
treatment of pain
body reveals: the spirit
converting a symptom to a signal
state-dependent learning
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.