Acupunturist says I have dampness??!
Question:
Acupunturist says I have dampness??
What does this mean? She looked at my tongue, and after 1 treatment said I had improved, the red bumps were gone but I still had a lot of dampness. I said that I had not been drinking a lot of water, and she said, "wetness is not the same as dampness". I should have asked more about it but I just let it go at that. Does anyone know what this means?
Answers: "Dampness" is a diagnostic term in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Dampness can have related symptoms of a feeling of lethargy and heaviness in the body, bloating, gas, soft stool or diarrhea, could have mental fogginess, abdominal distention, and little desire to drink. This will be apparent to your practitioner through evaluation of questioning, tongue (thick, scalloped sides, and wet or with thick slimy coat) and pulse diagnosis (slippery). Well your acupunturist has a condition of wind because she is blowing a lot of hot air. Hmm...what I learned (a while ago) if you can have dampness from too much water in your system. I can't remember the difference between wetness and dampness. The theory is that you have 5 elements in your body and when you aren't in balance, ailments happen. The thing about dampness (or wetness) is that some organs are meant to stay dry. When you have too much water in your system, you flood those organs and they will not function at a proper level. My acupressure teacher, who was an acupuncturist, said not to force yourself to drink those 8 glasses of water a day. It's too much for some people. Especially if you're not especially active (i.e. those who have a desk job). I hope that makes sense.