ARTHRITIS
WHAT MAKES IT WORSE?
| Nerve pain or wind bi (shifting pain, neuritis, neuralgia) | Stimulants; exhaustion; drying, hot, or irritating foods; aggravation; worry; anger |
| Hot bi (inflammatory arthrits) | Acidic foods; hot spices; alcohol; hot emotions (rage, jealousy) |
| Cold bi (rheumatism) | Exposure to inclement weather: cold foods; iced drinks; anti-inflammatory drugs |
| Damp bi | Humidity; phlegm-producing, low-nutrition diet; weakness; depression; hormone imbalance |
| Rheumatic arthritis | Infection wind-cold-damp and hot-damp |
| Rheumatoid arthritis | Wind-cold-damp, malnutrition, weakness |
| Osteoarthritis | Malnutrition; exhaustion; chemotherapy; hormone imbalance; immune-threatening illness |
WHAT MAKES IT BETTER?
| TYPE | EXAMPLE | TYPE OF HERB | EXAMPLE |
| Nerve pain wind | neuralgia | Nervines, herb combinations for local relief | Valerian |
| Inflammatory arthritis (chill stage) (hot stage) | Early rheumatoid cold-hot-wind-damp | Drying/warming nervine, increase circulation, antiphlegm | Myrrh |
| Knees, pain, and stiffness | | demulcent | Yucca capsules |
| Knees, lower-body joint pain, swelling | hot-cold-wind-damp | | AH&HRGuan Jie Yan Wan |
| Osteoporosis | | Nutritive tonics, anti-inflammatory herbs | Antler 8, Restorative Tablets, Eucommia 19 |
