【Health Preservation in the 24 Solar Terms】Great Heat is here, beware of "heat" and "humidity"

The "Collection of Explanations of the 72 Seasonal Changes" says: "The Great Heat is in the middle of June. Heat means heat, and there are two types of heat: small at the beginning of the month and large in the middle. The heat is still large now." Its climate characteristics are: "The Big Heat is when the Big Dipper points to Bing. The weather at this time is much hotter than the Small Heat, so it is called the Big Heat."

The Great Heat solar term is around the middle of the three hottest days of the year, when the temperature is the highest and crops grow the fastest. At the same time, many areas are also prone to meteorological disasters such as drought, flood, and windstorm. Ancient books say that "the greatest is the extreme of heat." The degree of heat increases from small to large, and after the Great Heat comes the Beginning of Autumn, which just conforms to the law that everything turns to its opposite when it reaches its extreme. This shows how hot the Great Heat is.

1. The Great Heat brings both humidity and heat.

"Heat" is a common disease that can easily lead to heat stroke due to excessive sweat exudation in high temperature and high humidity, which prevents the body from replenishing water in time. Therefore, during the Great Heat season, the most important thing is to prepare for heatstroke. Avoid working for long periods of time in high temperatures. When going out to work, carry sunshade equipment with you to avoid the scorching sun. If you don't bring sunshade equipment, you can walk along the tree-lined path as protection. At the same time, you should drink enough water to make yourself feel comfortable physically and mentally.

During the Great Heat season, although the heat is unbearable, you should not ignore your physical condition and seek coolness. Such behavior can easily cause invasion of cold air, resulting in symptoms such as heat cold, joint pain, facial paralysis, and diarrhea.

According to Chinese medicine, summer dampness is heavy and sticky, and it is difficult to cure. Furthermore, the cold air from the air conditioner activates the body's cold-resistance function, pores are blocked, sweat cannot be discharged from the body, and dampness accumulates in the body. In addition, people who like to eat cold food directly damage the body's yang energy, leading to dysfunction of the gasification function, and cannot gasify the cold and dampness in the body. All of the above reasons can cause the dampness to cause the lower body to feel heavy, and the stool is not formed and it takes a long time to defecate. When keeping healthy during the Great Heat, you must remember to remove dampness and avoid the heat. People who do these two things well will not be in bad health. So how can we massage and maintain ourselves?

2. Let’s do the “Three Steps to Remove Dampness and Strengthen the Spleen” together:

Lift your hands to the sky to regulate the triple energizer:

① Stand naturally, with your feet flat and shoulder-width apart, your arms hanging naturally, your palms pressed against your legs, your chest and abdomen pulled in, your waist and spine relaxed. Keep your head straight and look straight, close your mouth and teeth, calm your mind and regulate your breathing, sinking your Qi into your Dantian.

② Slowly raise both hands from the sides of the body to the top of the head, cross the fingers, turn the palms upward, as if lifting something, and at the same time stand on tiptoe.

③ Turn your hands so your palms are facing downwards, and slowly press them along the front of your body to your lower abdomen, letting your heels fall down to return to the original position.

Repeat 10 times.

2. Pinch Tianshu and Daheng: Place the middle fingers of both hands facing the navel, and use the base of your palms and the other four fingers to pinch the fat layer under the Tianshu and Daheng points. Squeeze hard. When you feel unbearable pain, hold on for 5 to 10 seconds. Relax for 3 seconds and then repeat the pinching. Do this for three minutes each time, and do it once before and after each meal.

Press the Yinlingquan and Chengshan points, lift one leg and place it on the other leg, press for 3-5 minutes each time, 3-5 times a day, and stop pressing until you feel soreness and swelling.

Yinlingquan is located on the inner side of the calf, in the depression between the lower inner edge of the tibia and the inner edge of the tibia.

Chengshan point is located in the middle of the back of the calf. Stand on tiptoe with slight force and find the end of the raised muscle on the back of the calf.

Author: Liu Yang, attending physician of the Massage and Physical Therapy Department of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine Oriental Hospital