Raynauds Syndrome

October 30, 2009

So I have raynauds syndrome in my ring finger of my left hand for about a year

now. I get it when I am in cold weather, feel cold, or hold something cold. And

I get sharp shooting pain throughout the finger and its mostly in the tip of the

finger. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with it and it wont go

away for 5-10 minutes. I have been going to acupuncture once a week for

migraines, but i tell them i have raynauds so i asssume they are treating the

raynauds as well. But I have gone for 4 treatments so far and I have no success

yet. Is there any suggestions, or any herbal treatments, anything I can do to

help this ? this is very difficult to deal with and quite embarassing at times.

Thank you.

October 30, 2009

On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 12:41 AM, Ashley <ashley111287 wrote:

>

> So I have raynauds syndrome in my ring finger of my left hand for about a

> year now. I get it when I am in cold weather, feel cold, or hold something

> cold.

>

Well, first let's at least point out that when your hands are exposed to

cold, they often get cold. Just want to point out the obvious. Not all ring

finger coldness is Raynaud's. However, if you are also sensitive to cold, as

in you don't like cold, you wear warmer clothes than others in the room,

then you're probably cold inside (or heat / yang deficiency).

> And I get sharp shooting pain throughout the finger and its mostly in the

> tip of the finger. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with it

> and it wont go away for 5-10 minutes.

>

Sounds like a nerve issue to me. Or blood stagnation (aka " your arm went to

sleep " ).

> I have been going to acupuncture once a week for migraines, but i tell

> them i have raynauds so i asssume they are treating the raynauds as well.

>

I have no idea what your acupuncturist is doing. Migraines generally arise

in the Liver/Gallbladder channel. The ring finger is associated with the

Triple Burner which is a branch of the Gallbladder channel that goes down

the arm. So, there may be a connection there.

But I have gone for 4 treatments so far and I have no success yet.

>

It is difficult to make any prognosis over an email forum. Everybody has a

different amount of time to resolve problems.

> Is there any suggestions, or any herbal treatments, anything I can do to

> help this ?

>

We can look at two key formulas for " frigid extremities " . They include:

Frigid Extremities Powder (si ni san). This is for cold hands due to qi

stagnation which would resonate nicely with your migraine issue.

Frigid Extremities Decoction (si ni tang). This is for a yang deficiency.

This is not resonant with your migraines, but it is for those who feel cold

too easily. If you get some of this, and the problem is actually qi

stagnation, it could be aggravated by taking this formula.

-al.

--

, DAOM

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

http://twitter.com/algancao

October 31, 2009

okay, well i have always been a person to get cold easily, but this pain in my

finger has just started a year ago. I do wear warmer clothes, and gloves in the

cold. And for example, last night, i went to bed with warm sweatpants and a

sweatshirt, and was underneath my sheets and a heavy comforter, and i woke up in

the middle of the night with the unbearable pain in my finger for about 5-10

minutes. I put my hands under hot water often to warm them up, and if i feel the

pain i scrunch up my fingers to get the blood circulating and that sometimes

help a bit.

So if this is a nerve issue or blood stagnation, how am i supposed to be

diagnosed? Do I go to my primary care doctor, accupuncturist ? How are they to

tell exactly? Are there any tests to tell ? Because I self diagnosed myself

basically through research online. I told my chiropractor and he said it could

be raynauds, and adjusted my neck a different way and said it could help, but it

didnt. I go to an acupuncture student clinic for my treatments, and I told them

I have raynauds in the finger, but they didnt like look into it or confirm it.

I honestly cannot live with this for the rest of my life. I live in new jersey

so its cold about 3/4 of the year.. So that would mean I would have to move to

somewhere warmer if this lasted my whole life.

So cold hands have something to do with migraines ?

Ashley

________________________________

Al Stone <al

Chinese Traditional Medicine

Fri, October 30, 2009 12:10:29 PM

Re: [Chinese Traditional Medicine] Raynauds Syndrome

On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 12:41 AM, Ashley <ashley111287@ ..com> wrote:

>

> So I have raynauds syndrome in my ring finger of my left hand for about a

> year now. I get it when I am in cold weather, feel cold, or hold something

> cold.

>

Well, first let's at least point out that when your hands are exposed to

cold, they often get cold.. Just want to point out the obvious. Not all ring

finger coldness is Raynaud's. However, if you are also sensitive to cold, as

in you don't like cold, you wear warmer clothes than others in the room,

then you're probably cold inside (or heat / yang deficiency).

> And I get sharp shooting pain throughout the finger and its mostly in the

> tip of the finger. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with it

> and it wont go away for 5-10 minutes.

>

Sounds like a nerve issue to me. Or blood stagnation (aka " your arm went to

sleep " ).

> I have been going to acupuncture once a week for migraines, but i tell

> them i have raynauds so i asssume they are treating the raynauds as well.

>

I have no idea what your acupuncturist is doing. Migraines generally arise

in the Liver/Gallbladder channel. The ring finger is associated with the

Triple Burner which is a branch of the Gallbladder channel that goes down

the arm. So, there may be a connection there.

But I have gone for 4 treatments so far and I have no success yet.

>

It is difficult to make any prognosis over an email forum. Everybody has a

different amount of time to resolve problems.

> Is there any suggestions, or any herbal treatments, anything I can do to

> help this ?

>

We can look at two key formulas for " frigid extremities " . They include:

Frigid Extremities Powder (si ni san). This is for cold hands due to qi

stagnation which would resonate nicely with your migraine issue.

Frigid Extremities Decoction (si ni tang). This is for a yang deficiency.

This is not resonant with your migraines, but it is for those who feel cold

too easily. If you get some of this, and the problem is actually qi

stagnation, it could be aggravated by taking this formula.

-al.

--

, DAOM

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

http://twitter. com/algancao

October 31, 2009

On Sat, Oct 31, 2009 at 1:15 PM, Ashley Hendricks <ashley111287wrote:

>

> okay, well i have always been a person to get cold easily, but this pain in

> my finger has just started a year ago. I do wear warmer clothes, and gloves

> in the cold. And for example, last night, i went to bed with warm sweatpants

> and a sweatshirt, and was underneath my sheets and a heavy comforter,

>

It is perhaps cold in your room, too. The question isn't if you wear warmer

clothes during this time of the year, but if you wear more clothes than

other people of your general size and age. That's the test, after all, it is

getting cold out there in New Jersey.

> and i woke up in the middle of the night with the unbearable pain in my

> finger for about 5-10 minutes. I put my hands under hot water often to warm

> them up, and if i feel the pain i scrunch up my fingers to get the blood

> circulating and that sometimes help a bit.

>

Unbearable pain says cold. If warming them up helps, that too says cold. Qi

stagnation might help from the movement, though.

> So if this is a nerve issue or blood stagnation, how am i supposed to be

> diagnosed? Do I go to my primary care doctor, accupuncturist ? How are they

> to tell exactly? Are there any tests to tell ?

>

A physician would be able to do the necessary tests to make a diagnosis that

includes the " nervous system " . I used that term because it is easily

understood. Also, the comment about the pain shooting up and down the arm

sounded neurological to me, but nerves and qi flow are kind of barking up

the same tree in many cases.

However, since we're on a Chinese Traditional Medicine list, we can focus on the qi and

blood flow, and yin and yang, etc. An acupuncturist should be able to

explain what's going on with your finger.

> Because I self diagnosed myself basically through research online. I told

> my chiropractor and he said it could be raynauds, and adjusted my neck a

> different way and said it could help, but it didnt. I go to an acupuncture

> student clinic for my treatments, and I told them I have raynauds in the

> finger, but they didnt like look into it or confirm it.

>

Yeah, I don't take self-diagnosis too seriously either. But you should at

least tell them about your self-observed symptoms. In particular, the

following:

- hurts at night

- intense pain

- dipping in warm water helps

- moving the fist/hand helps

These are useful observations for a treatment with acupuncture and/or herbs.

" Rayanud's " is not.

I honestly cannot live with this for the rest of my life. I live in new

> jersey so its cold about 3/4 of the year.. So that would mean I would have

> to move to somewhere warmer if this lasted my whole life.

>

There are a few places for rent near me in lovely Santa Monica. Nice day

today too. Chilly, but dry, clear, and really fresh air quality out there.

It is a day made for biking down to Venice where Halloween is not terribly

noticeable compared to how people normally dress down there, but I digress.

> So cold hands have something to do with migraines ?

>

Kind of. Migraine's are one-sided headaches with possible visual

" scintilations " . One-sided says there's something stagnating in the

" Gallbladder channel " . Also, the location of the headaches generally follow

the trajectory of the GB channel zig-zagging on the side of the head.

The visual disturbances says " Liver " because the Liver " opens to the eyes " .

So, visual weirdnesses are considered a Liver problem.

Liver and Gallbladder are kind of like married in Chinese medicine. What

affects one, often affects the other.

Cold hands and feet can be secondary to qi stagnation, that's a Liver issue

too. Notice that I'm capitlizing the word " Liver " . This has NOTHING to do

with " detoxing the liver " . Okay? This is more a neurological issue.

Headaches=nerves, right?

Nerves also dilate the blood vessels in order to allow blood to flow

through. Or to put this back into CM terms, the qi commands the blood. When

the qi is stagnated, the blood movement is compromised. That shows up the

most dramatically in two places.

1. frigid hands and feet

2. painful menstrual flow, or irregular periods

So, Liver qi stagnation causes cold limbs, or painful periods. Qi stagnation

can also cause headaches. They all derive from the Liver.

Be sure to talk to your student acupuncturists about this. They may not know

what to do. Just make sure that they bring this up with their supervisor

too.

Also, they may be ignoring this issue if you've got 18 other items that

you're requesting.

-al.

--

, DAOM

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

http://twitter.com/algancao

November 2, 2009

Try some rosemary essential oil. Warms and invigorates circulation.

Raynaud's is a Western diagnosis, thus is beyond the scope of practice of

acupuncture and TCM.

We can only make TCM diagnoses.

-

" Ashley Hendricks " <ashley111287

Saturday, October 31, 2009 12:15 PM

Re: [Chinese Traditional Medicine] Raynauds Syndrome

okay, well i have always been a person to get cold easily, but this pain in

my finger has just started a year ago. I do wear warmer clothes, and gloves

in the cold. And for example, last night, i went to bed with warm sweatpants

and a sweatshirt, and was underneath my sheets and a heavy comforter, and i

woke up in the middle of the night with the unbearable pain in my finger for

about 5-10 minutes. I put my hands under hot water often to warm them up,

and if i feel the pain i scrunch up my fingers to get the blood circulating

and that sometimes help a bit.

So if this is a nerve issue or blood stagnation, how am i supposed to be

diagnosed? Do I go to my primary care doctor, accupuncturist ? How are they

to tell exactly? Are there any tests to tell ? Because I self diagnosed

myself basically through research online. I told my chiropractor and he said

it could be raynauds, and adjusted my neck a different way and said it could

help, but it didnt. I go to an acupuncture student clinic for my treatments,

and I told them I have raynauds in the finger, but they didnt like look into

it or confirm it.

I honestly cannot live with this for the rest of my life. I live in new

jersey so its cold about 3/4 of the year.. So that would mean I would have

to move to somewhere warmer if this lasted my whole life.

So cold hands have something to do with migraines ?

Ashley

________________________________

Al Stone <al

Chinese Traditional Medicine

Fri, October 30, 2009 12:10:29 PM

Re: [Chinese Traditional Medicine] Raynauds Syndrome

On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 12:41 AM, Ashley <ashley111287@ ..com> wrote:

>

> So I have raynauds syndrome in my ring finger of my left hand for about a

> year now. I get it when I am in cold weather, feel cold, or hold something

> cold.

>

Well, first let's at least point out that when your hands are exposed to

cold, they often get cold.. Just want to point out the obvious. Not all ring

finger coldness is Raynaud's. However, if you are also sensitive to cold, as

in you don't like cold, you wear warmer clothes than others in the room,

then you're probably cold inside (or heat / yang deficiency).

> And I get sharp shooting pain throughout the finger and its mostly in the

> tip of the finger. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with it

> and it wont go away for 5-10 minutes.

>

Sounds like a nerve issue to me. Or blood stagnation (aka " your arm went to

sleep " ).

> I have been going to acupuncture once a week for migraines, but i tell

> them i have raynauds so i asssume they are treating the raynauds as well.

>

I have no idea what your acupuncturist is doing. Migraines generally arise

in the Liver/Gallbladder channel. The ring finger is associated with the

Triple Burner which is a branch of the Gallbladder channel that goes down

the arm. So, there may be a connection there.

But I have gone for 4 treatments so far and I have no success yet.

>

It is difficult to make any prognosis over an email forum. Everybody has a

different amount of time to resolve problems.

> Is there any suggestions, or any herbal treatments, anything I can do to

> help this ?

>

We can look at two key formulas for " frigid extremities " . They include:

Frigid Extremities Powder (si ni san). This is for cold hands due to qi

stagnation which would resonate nicely with your migraine issue.

Frigid Extremities Decoction (si ni tang). This is for a yang deficiency.

This is not resonant with your migraines, but it is for those who feel cold

too easily. If you get some of this, and the problem is actually qi

stagnation, it could be aggravated by taking this formula.

-al.

--

, DAOM

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

http://twitter. com/algancao

November 5, 2009

So I went for my acupuncture session for my migraines on monday, and i asked

about the raynauds syndrome and i told them i self diagnosed myself. They said

that raynauds is typically all the fingers and they turn numb and white or blue.

I only have itï¿½in one finger and that finger only. We have decided that I am

going to my neurologist, tomorrow actually and they are going toï¿½do a test on

the finger,ï¿½I forget what its called but it will determine if i have nerve

damage in the finger. I just wonder that if I do, what my optionsï¿½are.

Iï¿½do wear heavier clothes at times, but sometimes not. But even so, I can be

bundled up head to toe and in hat gloves and scarf and still have the pain in

the finger. Also, over the summer, when I went to the beach, and I would be in

the ocean, I would feel the same exact pain, so even though it was 90 something

degrees, whenï¿½I was in the water i felt the pain. So I dontï¿½knowï¿½if that

means anything. I am constantly cold,ï¿½unlessï¿½ï¿½I am moving around, doing

thing around the house, exercising, etc then I will heat up. I do not like the

cold I like the heat. The acupuncturists say that I have cold skin, hands and

feet. So they put the foil blanket over me during my treatment. But they didnt

emphasize onï¿½what the pain in my finger was,ï¿½they said go to the doctor and

get the testing done.

How I would love to live in California or somewhere warmer. I believe I will one

day. I am only 21, soï¿½I have time. Actually, since I have just graduated with

a bachelors of chemistry, and not knowing where to take it besides pharmacy, but

that is ruled out as I know that is NOT what I want to do with the rest of my

life, I have been very interested in the oriental medicine and acupuncture, and

since going for my treatments I have been inspired to lead this asï¿½my

careerï¿½path. I have applied to 3ï¿½ schools for the spring, but do not know

whichï¿½one I will attendï¿½yet.

Also, I have been diagnosed with " globus " which means that basicallyï¿½ï¿½I feel

constantly this ball of something in my throat,ï¿½like a ball of gas that needs

to be burped up, and i try andsometimes only a little comes up, and that makes

it feel worse and I feel it pushes the ball of gas downward making i worse. I

have gotten an endoscopy, barium swallow,ï¿½thyroidï¿½ultrasound, and they are

all fine. But the onethingï¿½is, in my blood work my antibodies show that I may

develop a hypothyroid in the future, so I dont know if that has anything to do

with it. So I was wondering if there was anytthing that can assist with this. I

take a medicine for acid reflux, but it has not helpedwithï¿½the feeling in my

throat.ï¿½I know there is a chinese equivalent to globus,ï¿½does anyone know the

name ?

ï¿½Ashley

November 5, 2009

On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 7:00 PM, Ashley Hendricks <ashley111287wrote:

>

> I forget what its called but it will determine if i have nerve damage in

> the finger. I just wonder that if I do, what my optionsï¿½are.

>

Let's see what your neurologist says and of course, you'll want to ask him

or her that question first.

> Also, I have been diagnosed with " globus " which means that basically I feel

> constantly this ball of something in my throat, like a ball of gas that

> needs to be burped up, and i try and sometimes only a little comes up, and

> that makes it feel worse and I feel it pushes the ball of gas downward

> making i worse.

>

You're talking about plum pit qi or plum pit syndrome. Western medicine

calls this " globus hystericus " which is the feeling of something stuck in

your throat, like a plum pit or a slab of meat.

This is treated with an herbal medicine called Ban Xia Hou Po Tang (Pinnelia

and Magnolia Decoction).

*HOWEVER*, what you just described is not plum pit, it is called " running

piglet " . Plum pit is not the sensation of qi or gas rising up from the

stomach to the chest. Very different. Ben Tun Wan (Running Piglet Pill)

might be a good formula for you. Check out how it talks about things, sounds

a lot like you.

For running piglet disorder due to cold in the lower burner which affects

the Liver and leads the rebellious qi. The primary manifestations include

periumbilical palpitations followed by an upsurge of qi from the abdomen to

the sternum as the patient becomes unnerved. Accompanying symptoms include

cold limbs and body, a white greasy coating, and a wiry, tight pulse.

Something to think about. Perhaps you can bring this to your acupuncturist's

attention too.

-al.

ï¿½Ashley

>

--

, DAOM

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

http://twitter.com/algancao

November 5, 2009

Chinese Traditional Medicine , Ashley Hendricks <ashley111287

wrote:

> Iï¿½do wear heavier clothes at times, but sometimes not. But even so, I can be