Last month we talked about the important roles that Kidney Yin and Kidney Yang play in maintaining your health, and the essential herbal formulas that tonify these important processes.
We would now like to introduce the importance of what happens to your body when the Kidney Yin & Kidney Yang become deficient, based on Traditional Chinese Medicine, and what formulas can help resolve such issues. These formulas can help to restore the Kidney Organ System, as well as the other affected organ systems, back to health and vibrancy.
KIDNEY YIN FUNCTIONS & DISHARMONIES
Let's bring back a quote from last month's newsletter: "Yin, as we will use the term here, can literally reflect your bodily fluid balance." In Traditional Chinese Medicine, it is extremely important that your organs, much like your skin and eyes, are hydrated and moist. Without proper hydration, based on healthy organ function, your organs can literally become dry, irritated and can eventually generate heat, which then continues the dehydration and irritation cycle affecting other parts of your body [i.e., dry eyes or skin].
After in-depth consultations with many of our clients, we have determined them to have Kidney Yin Deficiency that can appear to be moderate to severe. Many times they make the proclamation to "Drink more water!"The idea of drinking more water does not apply here as this is a pump, not lack of fluids, problem. In Traditional Chinese Medicine the term of "deficiency in fluids" does not necessarily mean that consuming more fluids would rectify the problem.
If your body is not processing fluids correctly, then it does not matter how much water you consume. For example, if a car is not running efficiently it may mean that it needs a tune-up based on the internal workings' of its engine. Filling up the tank will likely have no bearing on its gas mileage.
In life, there are a few ways to that you can tonify Yin within your body. Chinese Herbal Formulas being among the most effective means to do so. A famous herbal combination, Liu Wei Di Huang Wan or Six Flavor Teapill, is used for this very purpose. It is also a base formula in many other famous Kidney Formula Combinations.
The Eight Flavor Rehmannia formula, also known as Zhi Bai Di Huang Wan, is the Six Flavor formula with the addition of two cold and fluid generating herbs: Huang Bai and Zhi Mu. The addition of these herbs changes the formula dramatically, giving it a much greater ability to neutralize any heat generated from a Yin Deficiency.
Abundant Yin Teapills, known traditionally as Da Bu Yin Wan is an even colder formula, designed to clear extreme heat created from a Yin Deficiency. The Abundant Yin formula is especially beneficial to take for problems such as: extreme insomnia, anxiety, red and irritated skin, inflamed joint stiffness and dryness, extreme thirst that never goes away and much more. To learn more about this pattern, please click here: Kidney Yin Deficiency with Deficiency Fire
THE YIN HOUSE OF CARDS
Also, we learned in the last newsletter that every organ has a Yin or fluid source that is essential to its proper function. Organ Systems such as the Liver or Heart require that the Kidney Yin is strong and stable for their proper, healthy function.
If the reserve of the Kidney Yin or Internal Fluids decreases and becomes deficient, consequently the Yin of Liver, Heart, Lungs and Spleen can all suffer, not able to complete their moistening, clearing, metabolic and transformational functions. The Yin, especially of the Kidneys, helps to keep your body temperature regulated. It helps to moisten all aspects of your body and also take part in the responsibility of cleaning your blood.
Often what happens when the Yin is depleted is that your body overheats internally, presenting with disharmonies such as dryness, heat (literally), redness, irritation and will quicken the aging process. When any organ overheats, it will have a very specific group of disharmonies directly related to its specific responsibilities, which will then create a distinct pattern that can be treated with classic or custom Herbal Formula combinations (which may be in teapill or raw herbal formula form).
We would like to feature a very unique of pattern based on what may happen when Kidney Yin Deficiency occurs:
Liver Yin & Blood Deficiency due to Kidney Yin Deficiency, Causing Liver Heat, Liver Yang Rising & Kidney Deficiency Fire
When the Kidney Organ System becomes deficient, this will often affect the Liver Yin. The Liver receives support from the Kidney Yin and when the Kidney Yin becomes weak it affects the Liver much like how a sinking foundation of a home may also affect the walls and ceiling to collapse, which of course causes a plethora of problems. If this problem is not quickly resolved, over time the Liver can become quite deficient, causing the Liver Blood to also weaken, which then adds another layer to the problem.
To help define this complex pattern, let's go over how a person may directly experience this pattern in terms of specific indications. Keep in mind, disharmonies based on Kidney Yin Deficiency may be experienced in many ways, but the overall pattern can be identified by a skilled practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine through specific key symptoms.
When the Liver Yin & Blood are weakened, the Liver Yang (which assists in holding up your organs & distributing fluids to your Lung Organ System) ascends, further out of its boundaries and completely out of control. This is because there is no Yin to anchor or root the Yang. This is a classic example of how Yin and Yang balance each other. This will often present with disharmonies such as headaches, blurred vision, red eyes, perhaps dizziness and visual floaters may also be present. Biomedical diseases such as: migraines, conjunctions and Rosacea could apply here.
A great remedy for this pattern is Ming Mu Di Huang Wan. This formula is also based on the famous Six Flavor Formula. This combination of six herbs is known for its amazing effect for tonifying the Yin of the Kidney Organ System. It can also clear deficient heat (heat caused by this specific depletion) as well as support the digestion and clean the blood. There are also six more herbs, added to the base six flavor formula, that also tonify the blood, support the Liver and clear Liver Wind & Heat. The secondary six herbs also have a special affinity for the eyes, helping to remove any blockages as well as supporting eye strength.
Another great attribute about Chinese Herbal Formulas is that as well as being designed for correcting specific patterns, they also function to support your whole, overall system. In reference to the formula mentioned above, Ming Mu Di Huang Wan, it will also nourish the skin and hair, promote hearing, decrease excessive thirst, brighten the eyes, increase energy and promote deep and healthy sleep.
One reason why Chinese Herbal Medicine is such a great tool to choose in resolving health imbalances is because of its ability to understand the many different layers that may exist within each person's unique manifestation of problems. An example of multiple layers would be Kidney Yin Deficiency co-existing with digestion problems and/or respiratory problems. As you can see, the complexity of over-lapping patterns can get quite complicated to understand, and moreover to treat. This is when consulting with an experienced and knowledgeable Traditional Chinese Medicine Herbalist becomes invaluable. They can create a custom herbal formula treatment strategy just for you.
The process of creating a custom herbal formula, depending on the severity and complexity of the problems, is a very intensive process for a Chinese Medicine Herbalist. The unique Traditional Chinese Medicine view of all of your Organ Systems and how they interact must be understood on a deep and multi-dimensional level. Proper time must be taken for the Chinese Herbalist to assess where your Organ Systems are at in relation to balance and harmony. From there, a custom treatment regimen can be completed. To learn more about our consultations, please click here.
