-IBIS-1.5.0-
tx
eyes/ears/nose/throat
tinnitus
psychospiritual approaches

metaphors and correlations

• Refusal to listen; not hearing the inner voice; stubbornness. (Hay, 1984, p. 186)
• Our capacity for hearing is a bodily expression of how obedient and submissive we are. Those who are hard of hearing are people who will not listen, they simply fail to hear what they do not want to hear. It shows a certain egocentricity and lack of submissiveness. (Dethlefsen, p. 153)

Chinese psychophysiology:
Kidney ~ Shen stores Jing (Essence) and governs birth, growth, reproduction, development, and aging; houses the Zhi (Will); expresses ambition and focus; provides the "Fire of Life" through its Yang functions; provides the nourishing and stabilizing qualities of Yin and Water that balance the Yang and the Fiery qualities; relates particularly to chronic conditions because it carries the constitutional endowment from the parents; manifests through the ears; and displays the effects of sexual dissipation (especially excessive ejaculation), overwork, aging, chronic debilitation, and extreme stress.
»
Healthy expressions are gentleness, groundedness, and endurance.
» Kidney Xu (Deficiency) signs include indecisiveness; confused speech; dreams of trees submerged under water; cold feet and legs; abundant sweating (Seem, p. 28); fearfulness; apathy; chronic fatigue; discouragement; scatteredness; lack of will; negativity; impatience; difficult inhalation; low sex drive; lumbago; sciatica; and musculoskeletal irritation and inflammation, especially when worse from touch. As always, chronic Yin Xu (Deficiency) predisposes to Empty Heat and/or acute inflammation.
» Intense or prolonged fear depletes the Kidney. Often chronic anxiety may induce Xu (Deficiency) and then Fire within the Kidney. (Maciocia, p. 250) Overwork, parenting, simple aging, and a sedentary or excessively indulgent lifestyle all contribute significantly to Kidney Xu (Deficiency).

Liver ~ Gan is the home of the Hun (Ethereal Soul); it relates to decisiveness, control, and the principle of emergence; stores and cleanses the Xue (Blood); maintains smooth flow of Qi and Xue (Blood); expresses itself in the nervous system; and reflects emotional harmony and movement.
» Healthy expressions are kindness, spontaneity, and ease of movement.
» Liver Xu (Deficiency) signs include impotence; frigidity; pain in thighs, pelvic region, and throat; ready tendency to "the blahs" (Seem, p. 28); timidity; depression; irritability; vertigo; pruritus; dry eyes, skin, and/or tendons; asthma; aching at the waist; hernia; and difficulty raising head up and down. Liver Yin Xu (Deficiency) predisposes to the Shi (Excess) conditions of Liver Wind, Liver Yang Rising, and Liver Fire Blazing.
» Liver Shi (Excess) signs include discontent; anger; pain in lumbar region and genitals (Seem, p. 28); muscular tension; excessive sex drive; insomnia; moodiness; excitability; genital diseases; red, tearing eyes; compulsive energy; and bitter taste in the mouth. Chronically suppressed anger can implode and give rise to Fire in the Liver and Gall Bladder with symptoms of tinnitus, irritability, bitter taste, headaches, etc., and a tendency to "invade" the Stomach, Spleen, and Intestines.
» Liver Wind derives from Liver Yin Xu (Deficiency) and/or Liver Xue Xu (Blood Deficiency) and their subsequent inability to embrace the Yang, and can manifest as joint stiffness, dizziness, tremor, paralysis, convulsions, rashes, itching, and neurological problems. Wind can also be internalized after exposure to inclement, especially windy, weather and any concomitant influences of Damp, Cold, and/or Heat.

Small Intestine ~ Xiao Chang receives and transforms food by separating the Clear (Pure) from the Turbid (Impure), with the Clear becoming bodily fluids and the Turbid becoming urine - this function also operates on the emotional, mental, and spiritual levels.
» Healthy expressions are love, joy, and the ability to discriminate; and, as the Princely Fire, warmth, vitality, and excitement.
» The Small Intestine is affected by sadness which grips a person and destroys the mental clarity and capacity of sound judgment for which this organ is responsible. (Maciocia, p. 273) Weakness, dysfunction, and illness are associated with cruelty, hate, indiscretion, and impatience.
» Small Intestine Deficiency signs include bluish lips with white border, emaciation, profuse sweating (Seem, p. 29); swellings of nodules; hemicrania; tinnitus; pain around the ear; pain depressing the abdomen.
» Mental signs of Small Intestine channel disorders include poor mental assimilation, a feeling of mental deficiency due to inability to assimilate ideas, and insecurity. (Seem, p. 27)


therapies

affirmation:
• I trust my Higher Self. I listen with love to my inner voice. I am a center for good. I release all that is unlike the action of love. (Hay, 1984, p. 186)

psychotherapy:
• In the cases of hearing or ear problems, it may be useful to ask:
» Why am I not prepared to lend other people an ear? What am I refusing to hear?
» Are the poles of self-centeredness and submissiveness balanced within me?
(Dethlefsen, p. 154)

process paradigm: (experientially oriented)
• What is the symptom preventing me from doing? What is the symptom making me do? (see process interview: eyes/ears/nose/throat system)

related materia medica listings:
the shadow and physical symptoms
converting a symptom to a signal
affirmations: guidelines and precautions
process paradigm


footnotes

Reprinted from The Foundations of Chinese Medicine, Maciocia, Giovanni, 1989, by permission of the publisher Churchill Livingstone, a division of Elsevier Limited.