What to do when you feel tired physically, mentally, or mentally? Traditional Chinese medicine has a way to relieve sub-healthy fatigue!

Author: Peng Yuqing, Chief Physician, Oriental Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine

Reviewer: Dong Fuhui, Chief Physician, Institute of Orthopedics and Traumatology, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences

Sub-health is a new medical system. It is new relative to the modern medical system.

The modern medical system refers to diseases. Sub-health is not within the medical system but a health problem outside the medical system.

Modern medicine lacks understanding of sub-health and cannot find evidence. Indicators of various examinations may all be normal, and there is a lack of relevant measures and targets for treatment.

TCM understands diseases from a different dimension than Western medicine. TCM understands diseases from the dimension of health and has three major systems: health preservation, medical science, and rehabilitation science. TCM has a particularly complete system in terms of health preservation, rehabilitation, and health care. TCM has a theoretical treatment system to manage sub-health.

Sub-health is when the yin and yang, qi and blood, and internal organs functions begin to become unbalanced. At this time, it can be adjusted through traditional Chinese medicine, such as using Chinese medicine, acupuncture, acupuncture, and cupping as health care measures. Incorporating them into the population has great advantages in regulating sub-health.

Fatigue is a sign of low function or decreased adaptability, and is the number one state of sub-health. When fatigue occurs, it must be taken seriously and adjustments must be made.

1. How does traditional Chinese medicine treat chronic fatigue?

There are different types of treatment for fatigue in traditional Chinese medicine.

The main cause is mental fatigue. Mental fatigue can manifest as panic, palpitations, restlessness, timidity, fear, insomnia, etc. It is caused by problems with the heart qi, insufficient heart blood, and fatigue that damages the heart and spleen. The main treatment is to nourish the heart. Generally, Chinese medicine that nourishes the heart and spleen, or nourishes the heart and calms the mind, can be selected, such as Guipi Decoction and Tianwang Buxin Dan. When the heart blood is sufficient, the mind will be at peace, and fatigue will be relieved.

Mainly physical fatigue. The body feels heavy, stiff, tense, not refreshed, with back pain, shoulder and neck pain, headache, and feeling depressed every day. Chinese medicine believes that it is caused by liver qi stagnation. Focus on soothing liver qi, making the qi flow smoothly, and the qi and blood flow smoothly. The entire fascia, joints, and ligaments of the body are nourished, and fatigue will be relieved. Choose a prescription that soothes the liver, dredges the meridians, nourishes the liver blood, and stretches the yang qi.

Brain fatigue is the main symptom. Brain fatigue can manifest as headache, dizziness, memory loss, and poor sleep. Brain fatigue is mainly caused by kidney deficiency and liver depression. Choose a prescription that soothes the liver, strengthens the brain, and refreshes the mind, such as Shugan Yinao Decoction.

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How long does it usually take for Chinese medicine to cure fatigue?

If the fatigue has occurred recently, you have been busy with work some time ago, and you feel a little tired recently, have not slept well, and your body feels tight. If this kind of fatigue is discovered early, such as young people with sufficient qi and blood, treatment will be effective within two weeks.

If it is severe fatigue, continuous fatigue for half a year, a year, or even several years, depending on the degree of damage to the internal organs, some people need to adjust for three months, even half a year, or even longer. If accompanied by anxiety, depression, chronic insomnia, the treatment cycle will be very long.

Therefore, fatigue should be treated early, and never wait until the disease is very serious and the damage is very severe before treatment.

2. Are there any medicinal teas in traditional Chinese medicine that can relieve fatigue?

Medicinal tea can be used as an auxiliary treatment method, but syndrome differentiation is also required.

For patients with heart and spleen deficiency, restlessness, and insomnia, you can choose Ganmai Dazao tea. The jujubes must be cut into slices and then fried until they are charred. Raw or dried jujubes are not acceptable. Then add licorice and barley to make tea, which has the effect of nourishing the heart and calming the mind.

If you are under a lot of pressure and feel chest tightness and depression, it is due to liver depression and qi stagnation. For fatigue caused by liver depression and qi stagnation, you can choose rose, jasmine, and albizzia flowers to drink in water. The flowers themselves have a fragrant smell, which can make your mood relaxed, soothing and nourishing.

People who drink alcohol, eat meat, and have fatty liver, that is, people with damp-heat in the liver and gallbladder, should choose medicinal tea that clears damp-heat. For example, tea made with patchouli, artemisia capillaris, barley, tangerine peel, and charred hawthorn can clear turbidity, promote dampness, and clear damp-heat.

Medicinal tea is relatively mild, its effect is relatively weak, and it has no major side effects. If used according to the symptoms, it can have a certain therapeutic effect.

3. Can acupuncture and cupping help relieve fatigue?

The core of fatigue is the obstruction of Qi movement during its operation, especially physical fatigue, which is very uncomfortable and makes the body very tense. Acupuncture and cupping directly stimulate the meridians, Qi and blood in the fascia layer and under the skin, which can make Qi and blood flow smoothly and mobilize Yang.

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When using acupuncture and cupping to relieve fatigue, which meridians are mainly selected?

The meridians on the back, such as the bladder meridian, have many acupoints of the internal organs on them, which can directly adjust the qi and blood of the internal organs. There is also the Governor Vessel, which is where the Yang Qi stretches upwards;

Acupuncture points on the shoulders and neck, such as Jianzhen point and Fengchi point;

Acupuncture points on the head, such as Baihui and Sishencong;

Acupuncture points in the heart and chest, such as the Tanzhong point, are where the vital energy gathers. Stimulating the Tanzhong point is very helpful for the expansion of the heart and chest energy.

Further down are the Qihai point and Guanyuan point, which are strengthening points.

The main acupoints selected are on the back, top of the head and front, which can clear blood stasis and replenish deficiency, so as to improve the overall functional state of the body.

Cupping and acupuncture can relieve physical fatigue and have an immediate effect.

If the condition is relatively mild, do it every other day and it will be relieved in a week; if the condition is more serious, it will take one to two months.

4. Can medicinal baths help relieve fatigue?

Medicinal bath is an external treatment method. If you feel tired, you can take a medicinal bath at night when you have time. It is especially good for relieving fatigue.

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Medicinal baths can relieve fatigue. Firstly, the water pressure creates both buoyancy and pressure, which is very effective in massaging the body. It is gentle, considerate, and comprehensive. Secondly, the water temperature and thermal effect can open up the body's entire circulation. In addition, the skin absorbs the drugs through the skin, which adjusts and replenishes the internal organs, qi and blood.

I recommend two medicinal bath recipes:

For body tension and body pain, stretching the tendons and unblocking the meridians is the main method to promote the flow of qi. You can choose astragalus, spatholobi, radix pedunculi, angelica, millettia reticulata, papaya, clematis, etc., which can stretch the tendons and resist body fatigue.

If you have poor sleep, severe brain fatigue, and are very upset, you can choose a medicinal bath recipe that calms the nerves and promotes sleep, and soak before going to bed. You can choose Gastrodia elata, Acanthopanax senticosus, Ziziphus jujuba seeds, Albizzia julibrissin, Polygonum multiflorum, etc. After soaking, your body and mind will be more relaxed.