Phlegm and rhuem

Is there a difference in transforming phlegm and breaking it down ?

Not really, there is technically a range though - you have mild dampness to phlegm stagnation, a range of interactions - phlegm-heat, phlegm-cold, etc. But generally you transform the dampness/phlegm to regain proper qi circulation.

What we learn in school is …

Damp is Like water that is standing still and becomes slimey.
As it stands still long enough, it becomes thicker and turns into fleghm.

Tot treat it, you have to “break it down/transformate it” and make it move!!

But correct me if im wrong

When you heat something, it becomes dryer. It works also that way for damp. When it becomes dryer, it becomes more solid ->pleghm. Because of that, you must be careful with moxa in damp area’s. Warmth can move, but also dry what turns it into fleghm (worse). Damp can also cause heat itself, like compost/green garbage. So it makes an circle. Where is an obstruction (this can be because of damp/plegm), blood and qi stagnate. So I think its more the other way around. Qi andere blood can’t go where there is an obstruction of damp/pleghm.

But also here, correct me if Im wrong. I’m for now Just a student😉.

Are you a student? Because I learned a lot of the basis of this stuff in the basic tcm year…The year you have tot follow in the Netherlands even before starting studiing acupuncture, tuina, herbs and so on.

There is a comon saying in Chinese that say’s : “To know and know that you know, not to know and know that you don’t know, that is to know.

Learning acupuncture/TCM never stops!

I’m a student for almost 3 years now (almost certified acupuncturist, nut that is the time the real learning starts😉)and every time you seem to “get it”, you learn something new a level deeper…for me that’s also the beauty in it! Wu xing is at first just memorising …after a while it will fall info place. Zang fu, you cannot memorise, it is too much. But thats defenetly nog where to start…

For your info: We did learn the first year basic diffrences between heat, deficiency heat, cold, defficiency cold, stagnation signs and so on. Then use the big symptoms of zang fu Like: palpitations: heart or pericard (accompanied with strange feeling on chest)in combinations with them tot find zang fu patterns. In the 3rd year of learning we did go deeper…

)and every time you seem to “get it”, you learn something new a level deeper…for me that’s also the beauty in it!

Oh, I love this particular sentence. Last year I was babbling on this forum, how I knew TCM wasn’t a weekend seminar, but more like a lotusflower, that slowly opens more and more dimensions, meaning the learning never ends. Your sentence says that in a much easier to understand way.

I really enjoy Chad and the other’s blogs. Things are easier to understand there. Tell me does damp heat from meat or food for example become heat ? Then move onto blockages of chi or blood via becoming phlegm or so.