Cause
- living in damp environment
- sitting on cold or damp surfaces
- suspicion and jealousy
“Dampness in the Urinary Bladder” is most commonly caused by living in damp environment. Excessive exposure to damp weather will eventually lead to internal accumulation of dampness(1).
Susceptible to "internal dampness" are the Spleen, the Large Intestine, the Gall Bladder, and the Urinary Bladder. From all of the above the Urinary Bladder is the most susceptible to external damp environment. Living in damp places or sitting on cold or damp surfaces leads to the accumulation of damp-cold or damp-heat in the Urinary Bladder.
Damp-cold is mostly caused by excessive exposure to climatic dampness combined with cold(1).
Damp-heat is caused by excessive exposure to climatic dampness combined with heat(1)(2)(3). Another cause for the accumulation of damp-heat in the Urinary Bladder is repressed feelings of suspicion and jealousy(1).
If you want to learn more about the kidney and its functions from the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine you can read the material "The Urinary Bladder in Traditional Chinese Medicine" in the Physiology chapter.
Symptoms
- lack of energy
- sensation of heaviness
- cloudy head
- cloudy urine
- difficult, frequent, urgent, burning urination
- dark-yellow urine or turbid pale urine
- sand in the urine
“Internal dampness” very much resembles external climatic dampness. With both internal and external dampness there is lack of energy, sensation of heaviness, cloudy head.
In both damp-heat and damp-cold the urination is cloudy and difficult (stopping in mid-stream), frequent, and urgent(1).
In the cases of damp-heat the urination is dark yellow(1)(3) and there may be burning sensation when urinating(1)(2)(3). As the heat condenses the damp, "turning it into sand", there may be sand/stones in the urine(1)(2)(3).
Treatment
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Food therapy is the most economical and non-toxic biochemical approach to health and disease. Food is something we continuously use to sustain our lives. Learning what foods are healing (and what disruptive) for each condition has the potential to convert every meal into a form of therapy.
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(1) Maciocia, Giovanni (1989). The Foundations of Chinese Medicine. Edinburgh: Harcourt Publishers Limited
(2) Yang Weiyi, Meng Fanyi, Jiang Yuanan(2002). Diagnostics of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Beijing: Beijing University of Chinese Medicine and Pharmacology
(3) Deng Liangye, Gan Yijun, He Shuhui, Ji Xiaoping, Li Yang, Wang Rufen, Wang Wenjing, Wang Xuetai, Xu Hengze, Xue Xuiling, Yuan Jiuling (1987). Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion. China: Foreign Languages Press
(4) Pitchford, Paul (2002). Healing with Whole Foods. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books
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