Arthritis
Arthritis is an inflammatory condition that includes pain, redness, heat, and swelling of the joints. Arthritis mostly affects joints, but also eyes, heart, or skin, can also be affected.
Common types of arthritis include osteoarthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, gout, rheumatoid arthritis and Lyme arthritis. Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis and more common in older people. It is a degenerative joint disease, in which the tissues in the joint break down over time. It can present as joint pain with movement, and stiffness after inactivity. Hands, knees, hips, neck, and lower back are commonly affected by osteoarthritis. It develops gradually overtime and varies from mild to severe causing pain, swelling, loss of joint mobility and even bone spurs or small bone growths.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune condition in which the immune system attacks the healthy joints. It can affect wrists, hands, elbows, shoulders, feet, spine, knees, and jaw, and it often occurs in a symmetrical pattern where the same joint is affected on both sides of the body. Rheumatoid arthritis can cause other medical conditions involving the heart, lungs, blood, nerves, eyes, and skin. Lyme arthritis is when Lyme disease bacteria enter the joints and causes inflammation and pain.
From a Chinese medicine lens, arthritis falls into a category of Bi syndrome or “painful obstruction,” caused by internal wind, heat, cold, dampness and unbalanced emotions. A Chinese medicine provider diagnoses arthritis according to the symptoms. A pain that is fixed in location, stabbing, stiff and worse in cold weather is seen as cold bi. An inflammatory pain, that is burning, itching, crampy, feels hot or area appears red and is worse at night is considered hot bi syndrome. A pain that is dull, heavy ache, stiff, immobile, and malformed joints is damp-phlegm bi.
If the pain is affected by cold weather, humidity, damp forming foods (dairy, processed foods, sugar and greasy foods), feels better with warmth, has pain that moves around or comes and goes, and joints or limbs feel heavy it is called wind-cold-damp Bi. Knowing triggers, mostly dietary triggers, can help one manage their arthritis condition. With this type of arthritis, its best to avoid dairy products, sauerkraut, grapefruit, potatoes, pork, red meats, caffeine, alcohol and sugars.
For wind-cold-damp bi use herbs such as ginger (powdered is hotter than fresh). Add ½ tsp of dry ginger and three slices of fresh ginger to a cup of green tea. You can also add five tablespoons of powdered ginger to a bath in the evening. A spicy tea with cinnamon and turmeric is particularly good for stiff shoulders. A commonly used Chinese herb to build and move blood is called Dang Gui (Radix Angelicae Sinensis) and can be added to soups or stews to increase blood production and circulation. A soup for joint pain may include 1 cup of pearl barley, ½ tsp cinnamon, 1 pinch of salt, and 1 piece of Dang Gui. If there is water retention, add 10 juniper berries. For aversion to cold and weakness, add fenugreek or ginger.
For wind-damp-heat bi one should avoid hot spices, honey, fried foods, excess nuts, pork, red meat, dairy and alcohol. For wind-damp-heat bi with hot and swollen joints one can prepare a tea in 1 gallon of water with 30g of honeysuckle, 30g of dandelion, 30g of Chinese violet, 15g of wild chrysanthemum flour, 9g of Tian Kui Zi (radix semiaquilegiae), 12g of achyranthes root, 24g of plantain herb, and 24g of fu ling (poria). You can boil the same herbs twice for 45 minutes each time and store the tea in the refrigerator. Drink several cups per day. Anti-inflammatory herbs should be used with caution during pregnancy.
In addition, warm water with a slice of raw ginger, 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar or fresh lemon juice is a good cleanser that can help reduce inflammation and can be used after a rich meal or first thing in the morning.
References:
https://www.niams.nih.gov/health-topics/arthritis
Hadadi, L. (1998). Asian Health Secrets: The Complete Guide to Asian Herbal Medicine. Three Rivers Press.