Spasms due to high humidity

Comment by Chad J. Dupuis, L.Ac.

As you checked the multiple sclerosis box, does your wife have MS? If so, certainly hot/humid conditions often worsen MS symptoms. Some even to the point where people literally have to move to a more moderate cooler climates. Unfortunately the bitter cold can also cause problems.

From a Chinese perspective muscle spasms are usually related to what we call wind, dampness and/or blood deficiency patterns. Wind can be the result of internal heat (not body temperature per se, but a deeper meaning in TCM). Basically everyone has some sort of internal imbalance - significant or minor. When the outside environment (in this case damp-heat) matches the internal environment (possibly damp-heat as well, or wind-heat) people may see an increase in their symptoms. Certainly hot/humid weather contributes to muscle fatigue and spasms in many people this time of year - even those without MS or other neurological problems.

While somewhat technical if you read over the TCM/Acupuncture Treatment page for Multiple Sclerosis you can see some of the related signs and symptoms of the patterns that lead to MS. At least some of the treatment points there would be appropriate for acupressure to help calm down the spasms.

Comment by Archived User

Hi Chad,

Thanks for the reply. Yes, my wife does have MS however we would like to try an alternative protocol rather than usual meds.
From the MS reference page you provided, in terms of stage II can the points mentioned be effectively used with acupressure alone? Or must we find a acupuncturist for these?

Cheers,

Pinda
PS We are based in Warwickshire in the UK.

Comment by Chad J. Dupuis, L.Ac.

It is always going to be best to work directly with an acupuncturist if at all possible. One of the greatest strengths of Chinese Medicine is to treat each person as an individual rather than treating their specific condition - in other words it is a very flexible and adaptable medicine. Only practitioners, however, know how to best use the incredible range of possible treatment points and methods. If you do get a chance to see someone they will often recommend appropriate home treatments including useful acupressure points which may change over time as your wife improves. There is quite a lot of benefit from acupuncture with regards to MS symptoms. You may also want to read the Tong Ren Therapy for MS page which contains the points that we use, many of these particularly those listed as the "Sky Window" points (on the neck) are important and can be used with acupressure/massage as well as other methods. For a more complete description of why we focus our attention in these areas you could also read my article, "(MS Treatment) Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency and the Sky Window Theory in TCM".

Comment by Archived User

There are two kinds of humidity, one is cold humidity, the other is humidity heat, they can follow the wind get into the skin holes to inside the muscle. human body&#39s temperature is controlled by central nerve system in brain, when cold wind into the skin, human body will higher body temperature, when heat wind into the skin, human body will lower body temperature by sweating, these are automatic active. But it is control by a limited of body control abitity, if the wind is too cold or too heat or too long time to stimulate human body and make body inside envirment too humidity, the muscle will get spasm.

Comment by Archived User

Thank you for the explanation.
My wife hardly ever sweats so she obviously has problems regulating heat. Can problems with the thyroid also cause temperature regulation issues and can acupuncture help with this?

Comment by Chad J. Dupuis, L.Ac.

Yes, acupuncture is essentially unlimited in what it can help with. Some people may combine it with Chinese herbal medicine and your traditional western treatments in more chronic/severe cases, but either way when properly applied it can help anyone with nearly any condition. As opposed to western medicine one of the principle differences between Chinese medicine and the west is that the medicine is not symptom based. In other words we do not chase after each individual symptom when treating a person. Instead Chinese Medicine focuses on an overall pattern and when this is chosen and treated correctly any number of symptoms (some the person has perhaps even yet to experience) will resolve.