Heart: Fever, Head, Brain, Circulation, Concentration
Small Intestine: Constipation, Neckache
Emotions and States
Heart and Small Intestine: Restlessness, Impatience
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tcm
Liver: Inflammation, Tremor, Wind, Indigestion, Intoxication
Gallbladder: Lateral rib-ache, lateral headache
Emotions and States
Liver and Gallbladder: Anger and Irritability
Image
Greater Celandine about which Wikipedia advises “… this herb has been recognized as a useful detoxifying agent … it was also once used to treat liver disorders, owing to the juice's resemblance to bile.”
In Chinese Medicine it is known as Bai Qu Cai and classified as a bitter, pungent, slightly warm herb.
Normal hiccups are a temporary inconvenience. Persistent Hiccups (2-30 days) are miserable. Alhamdulillah. Intractable Hiccups (30+ days) … I can’t imagine that.
I write this having had Persistent Hiccups for 7 days.
The hiccups stopped for periods of an hour, or two to four hours. As soon as they do, that’s when I slept. Whatever the time of day or night. Otherwise, sleep deprivation will replace the hiccups as the major problem. Usually I was woken by the onset of hiccups or they start again as soon as I got out of bed. The hiccups were sometimes normal hiccups. But there were two other types of hiccups. One can be described as “hicc-up-up-up”. The other, the most unpleasant, was a hiccup but with a very clammy, sticky roof of the mouth with the tongue getting stuck to it. The hiccups seemed the most worse in the evening and best or disappeared around 2am.
Professional Status
Do not take any of the medical treatments set out here, except under the care of a professional. For myself, as a qualified Hijama Practitioner, qualified Chinese Medicine Practitioner and Hakeem, I feel I’m safe ground with all of these treatments, except, of course, the western medicine and for that I defer completely to GPs and Consultants in the NHS and private practitioners.
Faith and Spiritual Practices
Stay connected with your current practice, whatever that is. It’s a time when you are forced to re-connect. And it is, therefore, a blessing. Reach out. Ask for help. Submit. Especially at night, especially just before dawn. My personal mantra (it’s on my phone screensaver) is, “Allah is totally aware of my circumstances and He only wants the best for me.”
Cultivate your fighting spirit. Martial arts mentality (if we fight, we might both get hurt, but it’s me who’s going to win), strength training (when the gyms reopen). Fight the fear (that it is never going to stop).
Support
It is very useful to have as much support and love from a partner, family and friends as you can. Reach out. Ask for help.
Approaches
I am following western medicine protocols via Emergency GP services at the local hospital, Chinese Herbal Medicine, Unani-Tibb (Islamic Medicine), western herbal medicine, folk remedies and home remedies.
I have not yet done acupuncture – it’s difficult to do that on yourself for this particular condition (there are some points on the back) and the acupuncture clinics are just now reopening (as part of the Covid-19 lockdown re-opening rules). And by the time they went, there was no longer any need to make an appointment. I will now be getting a TCM diagnosis from one of my teachers at the College of Chinese Medicine and pursue acupuncture and herbal medicine as advised.
Treatments
These are the things that I did, with varying degrees of success. My approach was to do a lot of things at once. Because it may be the combination of treatments is the solution. Sometimes, there is no time to do things sequentially. One needs to find a solution and then work back and eliminate what’s not part of the solution.
This list is not in any particular order but the more successful ones I have mentioned first (sort of, as things are evolving and changing). This list is not exhaustive.
Fasting
Intermittent Fasting - with warm water
Hijama - wet cupping
First line A&E medicines – immediate effect but heavy-duty side effects. Ask a lot of questions before giving consent. Some of the medicines are anti-psychotic drugs. It felt like a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
Second line Emergency GP medicines
Oxymel – honey and vinegar mix
Oxymel plus Blackseed Oil
Shadow Boxing – mouth closed, elbows tucked in tight
Chicken soup
Ice cream *
Straight back in prayer, standing, bowing and prostration
Vagus nerve stimulation. Qur’an, Dhikr, Wird, Dua, Ruqiya, Singing (in an appalling flat-toneless way)
Chinese Herbal Medicine Formulas – combinations of Hai Feng Teng, Feng Fang, Huo Po, Ban Xia, Chen Pi, Shen Qu, Yu Yin, Bai Dou Kou, Da Huang
Vaping with CBD oil
Distractions - an absorbing film, an interesting conversation (my hiccups went for 2 hours after I started chatting with the paramedics about acupuncture for their bad backs), surprises (the garden parasol flying into next door’s garden).
Drinking water from the wrong side of the glass ***
Ice cold water *
Literally, “a spoon full of sugar” **
Rocking back and forth in fetal position
Being rocked back and forth in a fetal position
Standing on your head
Sucking a lemon (then you get to make lemonade)
Sunbath of kidneys
Notes
* My concern about the cold treatments is that they introduce a cold-dampness into the system and intuitively this is a cold-damp problem, rooted in a cold-damp type of constipation/wind imbalance. Here, I am using ‘wind’ in both the western sense and the Chinese Medicine sense. Indeed, the cold treatments seem to give some immediate relief but longer time were probably only exacerbating the problem.
** Normally, I would avoid sugar at all costs. The dampness and heat is problematic.
*** “I think hiccup cures were really invented for the amusement of the patient's friends.” Bill Watterson
In March 2020, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, supported by the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation (which had jointly established the Global MediXchange for Combating COVID-19 (GMCC) programme, with the support of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence and Alibaba Health, to help combat the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19) published its “Handbook of COVID-19 Prevention and Treatment Compiled According to Clinical Experience” and including a section on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) which said,
“Classification and Stage
COVID-19 can be divided into early, middle, critical and recovery stages. At the early stage, the disease has two main types: “wet lungs” and “external cold and internal heat.”
The middle stage is characterized by “intermittent cold and heat.”
The critical stage is characterized by “internal block of epidemic toxin.”
The recovery stage is characterized by “qi deficiency in lung-spleen.”
The disease initially belongs to wet lung syndrome. Due to fever, both intermittent cold and heat treatments are recommended. In the middle stage, cold, dampness, and heat coexist, belonging to “cold-heat mixture” in terms of TCM.
Both cold and heat therapy should be considered.
According to the theory of TCM, heat should be treated with cold drugs. But cold drugs impair Yang and lead to a cold spleen and stomach and cold-heat mixture in the middle-Jiao. Therefore, in this stage both cold and heat therapies should be considered.
Because cold-heat symptoms are commonly seen in COVID-19 patients, the cold-heat therapy is better than other approaches.”
The Report also went on to outline herbal remedies. These should be taken only at the direction of a qualified TCM Practitioner. The notes that follow are for reference only for TCM Practitioners only. The Report said,
“Therapy Based on Classification
(1) Wet lungs
Ephedra Herb 6 g, Semen Armeniacae Amarumg 10 g, Coix Seed 30 g, Liquoric Root 6 g, Baical Skullcap Root 15 g, Huoxiang 10 g, Reed Rhizome 30 g, Cyrtomium Rhizome 15 g, Indian Buead 20 g, Chinese Atractylodes Rhizome 12 g, Officinal Magnolia Bark 12 g.
(2) External cold and internal heat
Herba Ephedrae 9 g, Raw Gypsum Fibrosum 30 g, Semen Armeniacae Amarumg 10 g, Liquoric Root 6 g, Baical Skullcap Root 15 g, Pericarpium Trichosanthis 20 g, Fructus Aurantii 15 g, Officinal Magnolia Bark 12 g, Tripterospermum Cordifolium 20 g, White Mulberry Root-bark 15 g, Pinellia Tuber 12 g, Indian Buead 20 g, Platycodon Root 9 g.
(3) Intermittent cold-heat
Pinellia Tuber 12 g, Baical Skullcap Root 15 g, Golden Thread 6 g, Dried Ginger 6 g, Chinese Date 15 g, Kudzuvine Root 30 g, Costustoot 10 g, Indian Buead 20 g, Thunberg Fritillary Bulb 15 g, Coix Seed 30 g, Liquoric Root 6 g.
(4) Internal block of epidemic toxin
Use cheongsimhwan for treatment.
(5) Qi deficiency of lung and spleen
Membranous Milkvetch Root 30 g, Pilose Asiabell Root 20 g, Roasted Largehead Atractylodes Rhizome 15 g, Indian Buead 20 g, Fructus Amomi 6 g, Siberian Solomonseal Rhizome 15 g, Pinellia Tuber 10 g, Tangerine Peel 6 g, Wingde Yan Rhizome 20 g, Semen Nelumbinis 15 g, Chinese Date 15 g.
Patients in different stages should take different approaches. One dose per day. Boil the medicine in water. Take it every morning and evening.”
Spleen: Malabsorption, Diarrhoea, Immunity, Blood
Stomach: Acidity, Ulcer
Emotions and States
Spleen and Stomach: Brooding and Worry
Kidney: Reproduction, Lower Backache, Knees, Hearing, Virility, Fertility
Bladder: Urinary, Polyuria
Emotions and States
Kidney and Bladder: Fear and Shock
Image
Henry Vandyke Carter [Public domain]
Lung: Respiratory, Asthma, Bronchitis, Sweating
Large Intestine: Colitis, Appendicitis
Emotions and States
Lung and Large Intestine: Grief, Sadness
“The Omentum (Latin for "apron") is a medical term referring to layers of peritoneum that surround abdominal organs … The greater omentum … is a large apron-like fold of visceral peritoneum that hangs down from the stomach … The greater omentum is larger than the lesser omentum, which hangs down from the liver to the lesser curvature.” (Wikipedia)
“The common anatomical term "epiploic" derives from "epiploon", from the Greek epipleein, meaning to float or sail on, since the greater omentum appears to float on the surface of the intestines.” (Wikipedia)
There’s an interesting, graphic, comparison of a healthy omentum and a not-so-healthy one here:
The omentum has, amongst other things, immune functions using white filters called milky spots for the surrounding fluids. These milky spots are very small white-coloured areas of lymphoid tissue.
A June 2017 review by the University of Alabama reported that, “the fluid around the abdominal organs doesn't just sit there, it circulates through the milky spots …Milky spots collect cells, antigens, and bacteria before deciding what's going to happen immunologically."
Galen states, “It is in this way, therefore, that the stomach, when it is in need of nourishment and the animal has nothing to eat, seizes it from the veins in the liver. Also in the case of the spleen we have shown in a former passage[384] how it draws all material from the liver that tends to be thick, and by working it up converts it into more useful matter. There is nothing surprising, therefore, if, in the present instance also, some of this should be drawn from the spleen into such organs as communicate with it by veins, _e.g._ the omentum, mesentery, small intestine, colon, and the stomach itself. Nor is it surprising that the spleen should disgorge its surplus matters into the stomach at one time, while at another time it should draw some of its appropriate nutriment from the stomach.” (our italics)
Ayurvedic medicine has it as secondary tissue, upadhaatu, as part of fat tissue, medodhatu, that which supports and nourishes the fatty tissue, as part of lubrication and energy storage. Part of the element of water.
Dr Louis Gordon ventured that the omentum may the gut of the brain. In Traditional Chinese Medicine the brain is the “sea of marrow”. It may be possible to see the omentum as the stomach’s “sea of marrow” and also connected to the Triple Warmer meridian.
Image
Dr. Johannes Sobotta [Public domain]
Radix Ginseng (the root) is Ren Shen in Chinese Traditional Medicine (TCM).
Dan Bensky and Andrew Gamble in “Materia Medica” in an extensive listing, say it is,
“sweet, slightly bitter, slightly warm” and is one of the “herbs that tonify the Qi”. It is contraindicated “in cases of yin deficiency with heat signs, heat excess, or in the absence of significant qi deficiency … also contraindicated for hypertensive patients with ascendant liver yang and in cases of very high blood pressure.”
Siberian ginseng is classified as an “Adaptogen and Tonic”(Menzies-Trull in "The Herbalist's Prescriber").
“Anti-depressive, increases resistance and improves both physical and mental performance… it will raise lowered blood pressure to a normal level… it can be used in general for exhaustion states and weakness.” (David Hoffman in “The New Holistic Herbal”).
Unani Tibb: For, amongst other things, “digestion, stimulate malfunctioning endocrine glands and is a powerful antispasmodic in diseases such as asthma” (Robert Thomson, in “The Grosset Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine” (1980).
In a November 2017 study by the Institute of Medicine, Kant Baltic Federal University it was stated, “The isolated components have antimicrobial and regenerative properties. Our plan is to participate in the development of a medicinal drug for comprehensive treatment of bone diseases and injuries associated with the risk of infectious complications. Plant materials are less toxic. They can be administered as regular pills making the treatment much easier,"
A November 2019 study published by the Chinese Academy of Science found that an extract from ginseng can act
"as a novel anti-obesity probiotic, [Enterococcus faecalis] and [myristoleic acid which] can reduce adiposity via [brown adipose tissue] activation and beige fat formation,"
"This study demonstrates the important role of [myristoleic acid] in reducing obesity and improving related metabolic syndrome, as well as its tremendous application prospects,"
These are some of the acupuncture points for excess phlegm (and other imbalances). The treatment takes four sessions, at weekly intervals. Core points, including the Four Gates, the Kidney Formula and Ying Tang, form the basis of the treatment with specific additional points in each weekly session:
Week One
Governing Vessel 26: inappropriate laughing or crying, irritability, fatigue, epilepsy.
Lung 11: epilepsy, sore throat, heat.
Spleen 1: disorientation, epilepsy.
Week Two
Pericardium 7: inflexible attitude, irritability, material desires, inordinate crying or laughing, lack of direction in life.
Bladder 62: headaches, epilepsy.
Governing Vessel 16: rigid tongue, lock jaw, loss of voice, headache.
Week Three
Stomach 7: lock jaw, neurological conditions.
Conception Vessel 24: weak, thin, body, deteriorating, nosebleeds.
Pericardium 8: paranoia, fever, sweats.
Week Four
Governing Vessel 23: phlegm, nasal congestion, poor vision, dizziness, Alzheimer’s.
Conception Vessel 1: urinary and bowel leakages or obstructions, menstrual issues, prolapses. Because of it’s invasive nature, normally this point is replaced with Kidney 1.
Large Intestine 11: fever and vomiting.
A June 2019 survey by George Washington University found that, “Patients with psoriasis frequently use complementary or alternative therapies to treat their symptoms.”
The survey found, “… indigo naturalis [Qing Dai]-- a plant extract widely used in Traditional Chinese Medicine and recognized as a therapy for several inflammatory conditions -- has shown efficacy, but was not reported in the survey.”
An April 2019 study suggests that apart from the well-known therapeutic effects of acupuncture, it’s positive impact on wellness and as a preventative tool is becoming more recognised.
“…The researchers studied the effects of acupuncture on the victims of a 6.0 earthquake that caused nearly 300 deaths and left 30,000 people homeless in Amatrice, Central Italy … After the third treatment, both the pain and psychological symptom scores had significantly improved, with no serious adverse effects attributed to the treatment.”
Songxuan Zhou Niemtzow, MD (China), a Traditional Chinese Medicine physician in Alexandria, VA, states, "If acupuncture had an alternative name, it would be called 'prevention,'"
Nadia Volf, MD, PhD, Paris XI University (Paris, France) writes "although acupuncture can be a wonderful tool for treating a number of diseases, this therapy can be an even more wonderful tool for preventing them."
Although the causes of plantar fasciitis are not completely understood, the issue may be a muscle knot, or “myofascial pain” and is likely to be referred pain. This can be treated by acupuncture, gua sha or acupressure of its *trigger point* (often located away from the point of pain). In this case, the trigger point may be located at a precise point on the back of the calf muscle. In acupuncture, this point will be at or close to a point known as “Bladder 57” on the bladder meridian (in this case, nothing to do with the bladder … or perhaps it is)
Bladder 57 is also the feature point (the specialist point) for haemorrhoids and constipation. We have at least one case where a lady had all three (seemingly unrelated) conditions.
Perhaps there has been an injury to the back of your calf muscle (you might have knocked it on something, when getting in or out of the car or because of an insect bite).
It’s worth noting that ice therapy is contra-indicated after the first day of the pain because it blocks the blood flow and the healing processes that normally kick-in.
Is the plantar pain accompanied by calf pain, occipital headaches or upper back pain? The bladder meridian also runs through the lung 1.5 Chinese inches (Bladder 13) and at 3 Chinese inches (Bladder 43) on the back, measuring right and left from spinal point T3. It may be worth palpating those points to see if there is any tenderness, along with Bladder 10 (on the neck).
Du Zhong (Eucommia) is a nourishing Yang herb. It is warm, sweet and is a Kidney and Liver herb. It replenishes their vital functions, strengthens the sinews and bones and lowers blood pressure. It is useful for lower back pain and knee ache, impotence, frequent urination and warms the lower body. It forms part of various formulas we prescribe in the Clinic based on a TCM Holistic Diagnosis consultation.
Yusef was taught acupuncture and herbal medicine in the Traditional Chinese Medicine system by Paul Brecher BA FAcS TCM, Principal of The College of Chinese Medicine in London. Paul Brecher was taught by Paul Robin FAcS MPCHM MCAA, Head of the College of Chinese Medicine and TCM faculty Chairman of the Acupuncture Society. Paul Robin was trained by Dr Bernard Kai Lam Lee. Dr Lee was trained by his grandfather, Fook Sang.
The Replenishing Formula in the Abdominal Acupuncture micro-system is used to replenish energy, essence and blood. The intention is to support the body’s innate immune system to regenerate muscles, tendons and bones.
The heart, liver, kidneys, lungs and spleen are all targeted. It is especially useful for those with deficiency conditions.
Emotions may form a valuable part of diagnosis. So, for example, being overly worried can be an indication of excess in the spleen and stomach. TCM Practitioners use a range of diagnostic skills, including listening to the stomach and spleen pulse at stage 2 on the right hand, and asking a range of structured questions.
Emotions and physical symptoms can feed off each other, of course, and catching things early to break a cycle can be very important. Some things change over time and as they do, your discovering of new ways to approach optimal health means you gain valuable new resources.
Paul Robin and Paul Brecher in, “Practical TCM”, say, “To keep the lungs strong we eat rice, chicken eggs, duck and chestnuts. Then in autumn when it is dry our lungs can stay balanced.”