-IBIS-1.5.0-
tx
cutaneous system
skin cancer
psychospiritual approaches
metaphors and correlations
see also:
cancer patients: personality characteristics
cancer correlations: psychoneuroimmunology
Skin problems represent anxiety, fear, being threatened; old, buried stuff. (Hay, 1984, p. 183)
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; produces the Marrow which generates the spinal cord, "fills up" the brain, and possibly manifests through the immune system; relates particularly to chronic conditions because it carries the constitutional endowment from the parents; and displays the effects of overwork, aging, chronic degenerative processes, 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.
» Intense or prolonged fear depletes the Kidney. Often chronic anxiety may induce Xu (Deficiency) and then Fire within the Kidney. (Maciocia, p. 250) Overwork, sexual dissipation, 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); 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 Xue Xu (Blood Deficiency) predisposes to Xue Yu (Blood Stasis) and Xue (Blood) Heat.
» Tumors and other masses are considered a form of Xue Yu (Blood Stasis) and thus ultimately are derived from Qi Stagnation. Liver Qi Stagnation reflects and accentuates emotional constraint as the Liver's function of facilitating smooth flow in the body is constricted. Stagnation is associated with frustration, irritability, tension, and feeling stuck. With time this pattern tends to produce a gloomy emotional state of constant resentment, repressed anger or depression, along with tightness in the chest, frequent sighing, abdominal tension or distension, and/or a feeling of a lump in the throat with difficulty in swallowing. (Maciocia, p. 216) Xue Yu (Blood Stasis) often begins with Qi Stagnation.
Lung ~ Fei governs the Qi; regulates the rhythm of respiration, the pulse, and all bodily processes; is the home of the Po (Corporeal Soul); it relates to strength and sustainability; extends through the skin; and controls the pores.
» Healthy expressions are righteousness and courage.
» Weakness, dysfunction, and illness are associated with excessive grief, sadness, worry, and depression. Worry depletes the Lung Qi.
therapies
imagery:
related materia medica listings: imagery for immune enhancement
psychotherapy:
Whatever happens to the skin corresponds to an inner process. The diverse functions of the skin (protection, contact, expression, excretion, respiration, temperature regulation, sexuality, etc.) are associated with a common theme that alternates between the two poles of separation and contact. Something is bursting through our limits, or trying to armor an inner sensitivity. Questions to ask in the event of skin problems:
» What is it that is getting under my skin? What is trying to burst through barriers?
» How easy/difficult is it to make contact with other people? Do I desire intimacy?
» Have I condemned myself to solitary confinement? What is useful about this?
(Dethlefsen, p. 162, 170)
process paradigm: (experientially oriented)
What is the symptom preventing me from doing? What is the symptom making me do? (see process interview: cutaneous system, process interview: immune system)
related materia medica listings:
the shadow and physical symptoms
converting a symptom to a signal
skin correlations and metaphors
cancer patients: personality characteristics
cancer correlations: psychoneuroimmunology
cancer treatments: immune enhancement
(includes behavioral, theotherapy, meditation, hypnotherapy)
imagery: precautions
imagery: principles: receptive or programmed?
imagery: techniques
affirmations: guidelines and precautions
theotherapy
hypnotherapy
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.