Take good care of your back in spring so you don’t suffer all year round

There is an old saying: "The back is the palace of the chest". In "Suwen·Jinkui Zhenlunyu", there is not only the saying "disease is in the lungs, and the meridians are in the shoulders and back", but also in "Lingshu·Benzang Pian", there is a record that "thick shoulders and backs have strong lungs, while thin shoulders and backs have fragile lungs". In addition, many treatment methods of traditional Chinese medicine, such as massage, cupping, scraping, pinching the spine, and moxibustion on the Governor Vessel, are performed on the back.

Spring is the season when Yang energy rises. The back is the largest channel for the circulation of Yang energy in the human body. As long as you take good care of your back, you can generate energy for the body and keep you "free from suffering" all year round.

Unblocking the back is beneficial to the flow of qi

Zhao Runyang, deputy director of the Department of Pulmonary Diseases at Henan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said that the back is yang and the abdomen is yin. The back of the human body is basically distributed with the body's yang meridians, and the spine is the location of the Governor Vessel, which controls the body's yang energy. The Governor Vessel is connected to the six yang meridians and is called the "sea of ​​yang meridians," which governs the body's yang.

The Du meridian is located in the center of the spine, with the Urinary Bladder Meridians of Foot-Taiyang on both sides. The acupoints related to the five internal organs of the human body (such as the acupoints of the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys) are all on the back. Regular stimulation and dredging of the back is beneficial to the circulation of qi and blood, and can relax muscles and promote blood circulation, invigorate yang energy, strengthen the heart and kidneys, thereby nourishing organs throughout the body and enhancing human vitality.

There are many important acupuncture points on the back for curing diseases and maintaining health. Take Dazhui acupoint as an example. Moxibustion and cupping at this point can treat cold symptoms such as wind-cold, wind-heat, and yang deficiency. It can also invigorate the body's yang energy and prevent the invasion of cold evil. For people who work with their heads down for a long time, regular massage of this point can effectively relieve the discomfort symptoms such as stiffness and stiffness of the neck muscles caused by neck muscle soreness, and can also relieve insufficient blood supply to the brain.

Cupping and scraping on the main back acupoints can promote blood circulation and dredge the meridians. For children, pinching the spine can promote the circulation of qi and blood, dredge the meridians, stabilize the spirit, and harmonize the internal organs. In clinical practice, this method is also often used to treat symptoms such as loss of appetite, indigestion, diarrhea, insomnia, malnutrition, colds, fever, etc. It can also be used to regulate children with enuresis and weak spleen and stomach.

So, how should we take care of our backs in daily life? Zhao Runyang introduced some precautions: the coldness and warmth of the back are closely related to the functions of the internal organs. When wearing clothes, we should pay attention to keeping warm and add or subtract clothes at any time; keeping out of the wind and sunbathing can warm the back and promote yang, and strengthen the physical fitness; beating the back can relax the meridians and activate blood circulation, invigorate the yang, strengthen the heart and benefit the kidneys. When beating yourself, you should hold a hollow fist, and the speed should be moderate and the force should be even; rubbing the back while taking a bath can prevent and treat colds, back pain, chest tightness, and abdominal distension, but the force should not be too strong to avoid rubbing the skin; hitting the back can enhance yang, regulate the internal organs, make the whole body's qi and blood flow smoothly, and improve the condition of physical weakness, but you should pay attention to using moderate force; the heat and medicinal power of moxa fire can be used to warm and stimulate the back, and regulate the yin and yang balance of the internal organs through meridian conduction.

Four daily back care methods to deal with minor symptoms

Some symptoms that occur in daily life can also be treated through back care.

You can use ginger juice to rub your back when you have a cough. Children tend to cough in early spring, which worries many parents. Lv Peiwan, deputy chief physician of the Department of Prevention and Treatment of Diseases at Henan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said that it is easy to identify a cough caused by wind and cold. The typical symptoms are clear runny nose, clear and thin sputum, thin white sputum, and white tongue coating. You can use ginger juice to rub your back at this time. The specific method is to squeeze ginger juice and mix it with warm water in a ratio of 1:1, and rub the skin around the upper back of the child.

The acupoints on the back such as Feishu, Dazhui and Fengmen can nourish the lung qi and dispel wind and cold. Ginger can warm the lungs and transform fluid (thin fluid is fluid, thick fluid is phlegm, and children mostly have fluid). Therefore, rubbing the back with ginger juice can warm the lung qi and dispel wind and cold. If the skin on the back is red and the child is crying, wipe it clean with warm water in time.

The frequency of back rubbing depends on the reaction of the child's back skin, at least once every three days. If it is good after one rubbing, there is no need to rub it again. It should be noted that the child's back should be cleaned with warm water after each rubbing. For safety reasons, this method can be used for children over one year old.

Scraping the back can cure spring sleepiness. As the saying goes, "Spring sleepiness, autumn fatigue, summer naps", many people feel dizzy and listless in spring, and some also have abdominal distension, loss of appetite or loose stools. Cai Shaoping from the Acupuncture Department of Foshan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Guangdong Province suggested that you may wish to use a scraping board to scrape your back at this time.

Because the Du meridian controls the body's yang energy, the bladder meridian contains many acupoints such as the lung point, heart point, spleen point, liver point, and kidney point that can regulate the body's internal organs. It is an important barrier for the body to resist external evil, and it also controls the body's largest detoxification channel. Therefore, scraping the acupoints on the back can not only detoxify, but also invigorate the body's yang energy and enhance the body's immunity.

Before scraping, apply a layer of moisturizer on the back skin surface, scrape the Governor Vessel located on the midline of the back first, and then scrape the Bladder Vessels on both sides 1.5 inches away from the Governor Vessel. When scraping, the scraper should be tilted about 45 degrees to the skin, and scrape from top to bottom with gentle and moderate force until the rash appears. Be careful not to pursue the rash effect too much. If the rash does not appear, it is likely that the patient's own Qi and blood are insufficient and the rash cannot be eliminated. After scraping, you can add a cup of warm water to promote the discharge of metabolic waste. Remember not to take a bath within 3 hours.

To protect your heart, you can massage the back of your neck frequently. Liu Ming, chief physician of the Acupuncture Department of Zhengzhou Third People's Hospital, suggested that people with poor heart conditions should stay indoors when the wind is strong and the temperature is dropping. Because if the human body is exposed to cold wind from behind for a long time, it may cause colds, headaches, dizziness, nasal congestion, or even heart disease and other diseases.

There are three acupoints on the back of the neck: Fengfu (on the Du meridian on the posterior midline, when sitting upright, the head should be slightly tilted forward, one inch above the posterior hairline), Fengchi (approximately at the midpoint of the line connecting the back of the ear and the Fengfu acupoint), and Fengmen (on the back, 1.5 inches lateral to the spinous process of the second thoracic vertebra). Regularly massaging, rubbing and warming these three acupoints can prevent cold neck and reduce the occurrence of diseases.

It is recommended to use three methods to protect these acupoints, namely, frequently rubbing and massaging the back of the neck, wearing a scarf to keep warm, or putting fried rice bran on the vest to absorb the cold air in the body, improve microcirculation, and dredge the meridians.

Fatigue can be relieved by flushing the back with hot water. Guo Jun, director of the Department of Andrology at Xiyuan Hospital of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, said that for working people, they often feel particularly tired due to nervous tension, and they can use hot water to flush the back when taking a bath to relieve fatigue.

Because the solar bladder meridians on both sides of the spine have a "liver-gallbladder" relationship with the internal organs, flushing the back with hot water can speed up blood circulation, unclog blood vessels, and nourish the organs of the whole body.

After rinsing, you can also use a hot towel to wipe the neck and thoracic spine, which can also relieve local tension and spasm of muscles and soft tissues and relieve insomnia symptoms. Before wiping, soak the towel in warm water, wring it out slightly, and wipe the midline of the back (i.e. the spine and both sides of the spine), focusing on wiping the cervical and thoracic spine. Rub repeatedly from top to bottom for about 5 minutes, using a degree of force that feels comfortable, until the local area turns red.