Kidney Yang & Kidney Yin Deficiency

April 24, 2005

Whenever a person is Kidney Yang Deficient, the person is almost

certain to also be Kidney Yin Deficient but to a lesser degree.

Whenever a person is Kidney Yin Deficient, s/he is also almost

certain to be Kidney Yang Deficient though to a lesser degree. This

is why Kidney Yang tonic formulas include at least one Kidney Yin

tonic herb and vice versa.

The Kidneys supply the Yang and the Yin to to rest of the body.

Somtimes the Kidney Yang Deficiency may be so extreme as to almost

totally mask the symptoms of Kidney Yin Deficient. Sometimes the

Kidney Yin Deficiency is so severe as to almost totally mask the

symptoms of Kidney Yang Deficiency. (Though what frequently happens

is if left untreated long enough, a person who is primarily Yin

Deficient will become primarily Yang Deficient.)

Yang warms, activates, and dries. Yin cools, calms, and moistens.

Yang can affect Yin, and vice versa. Yang is damaged by cold; yin is

damaged by heat. This post is about one of the ways Yang Deficiency

can play into Yin Deficiency.

People who are Kidney Yang Deficient don't have enough Yang to

properly warm the body. As a result, they stay cold a lot and have

trouble warming up. One of the possible symptoms of Kidney Yang

Deficieny is that the person is sleepy a lot. The lowering of the

body temperature and the feeling sleepy occur together.

Consequently, when the person goes to bed, s/he may really pile on

the covers and even use heating pads. As the person sleeps, body

temperature rises. Sometime during the night (or the nap during the

day), the person starts to sweat. This sweating may or may not be

due to the Yin Deficiency (one of the symptoms of Yin Deficiency is

night sweats) but to the excessive amount of cover. The now

excessive heat that builds up can further damage Yin. (Not to

mention the sweating can further deplete the body of minerals like

magnesium. In someone who is not deficient or borderline deficient

in minerals like Mg, sweating is not going to make them deficient.

It's different for a person who already is deficient or who is

borderline deficient.)

What usually happens is the person throws off the cover in the

middle of the night. The person may not even be aware of doing this

as the person is half asleep while doing it. Now the stage is set

for the person getting too cold. This can further damage Yang. It's

a vicious cycle.

Early in treatment for Kidney Yang Deficiency, it's probably best

that the person continue to load up on the covers. It's important

that the person get the sleep s/he needs, and the person is going to

have trouble falling asleep if s/he's shivering from being too cold.

It's also further exhausting to the Yang. Later on in treatment,

after the Kidney Yang Deficiency has been corrected somewhat, one

can speak to the person about being careful about how much cover

s/he piles on. Just enough to be able to fall asleep, not enough to

feel warm. Only the person can determine what this is, and it's

going to change from day to day.

One thing you may hear from people whose Kidney Yang Deficiency is

much more severe than their Kidney Yin Deficiency is that when they

wake up hot during the middle of the night, a sip of room

temperature water immediately cools them down, and they go right

back to sleep. It's a good idea for some people who are Kidney

Deficient to keep a glass of water by the bed.

The stiffness and pain that people who are Kidney Yang or Kidney Yin

Deficient wake up with in the moring may be due to cold and/or Mg

deficiency. Both cold and Mg deficiency can cause muscles to

contract excessively. When the Kidney Yang Deficient person throws

off the cover during the middle of the night when s/he finally

becomes too hot, eventually the person is going to get too cold. The

muscles contract from the cold and stay contracted. The person wakes

up stiff, in pain, and tired from the excessive contracting. When a

person who already is deficient or borderline deficient in Mg sweats

out too much Mg, muscles lack enough Mg to properly relax. (Note:

Too much Mg like too little can be fatal. This is NOT a case of if

a little is good, more is better.)

BTW, people who are Yin Deficient often will have trouble

meditating - especially if they didn't learn how back when they

weren't Yin Deficient. Remember, one of the things Yin does is to

calm and relax. Yin may need to be tonified before they can get the

benefits of meditation. (Note: Yin Deficiency is not the only reason

why a person may have trouble meditating. It's one of the things to

consider and rule in or rule out when a person has trouble

meditating.)

April 24, 2005

Thank you...this helps me understand my cycle with the blankets at night. I am

essence, blood and chi deficient. One of the things that helps some of my

symptoms is a steaming hot ginger bath for 30 minutes followed by a cold towel

wrap with a wool blanket and other blankets over that for an hour or more. This

takes away abdomen pain and gives me more energy. I believe it is because of

blood stagnation?? Dunno, but it helps.

Michelle

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victoria_dragon

Chinese Traditional Medicine

Sunday, April 24, 2005 7:22 AM

[Chinese Traditional Medicine] Kidney Yang & Kidney Yin Deficiency