ASTERS & GOLD

Playing with Plants: Topical Herbal Medicine 

 

I like writing because it makes me practice explaining things. People will often ask why I am doing something when I massage a certain way, or are curious about cupping and how it works. With herbs, there are a alot of decisions and I need to be able to explain to people why I decided to use a certain combinations of herbs in oils, hot compress, or other topical applications. So as a practice I remember and write out the reasoning behind treatments taught by my teachers so far. I also read many books and research online. 

 

I've been getting more interested in topical uses of whole herbs and various extracts using oil, water, or alcohol. Working as a bodyworker I feel as though I have a unique opportunity to use herbal preparations topically on people with a wide variety of pains, constitutions, and compensations. As a budding herbalist it seems like a good way to gain experience with how different people respond to different combinations. With topical applications the likelihood of a significant adverse effect to the client is lower than stronger internal use, so I am finding this to be an approachable method of intertwining herbal wisdom and bodywork. 

 

I make an infusion with just one herb, then use some of the infused oil to make combinations in salves or with other oils. This way I can build up a backstock of single ingredient ‘simples’ and mix them in a variety of combinations to treat people's distinct states of health.
 

Generally bodyworks use all sorts of different kinds of oils, infused or not infused. Oftentimes we stick to just a couple different oils or infused oils because they have a generally pain reducing or relaxing component. Everyone has different preferences. Practitioners who do swedish/spa massage use a significant amount of oil, and appear to prefer hypoallergenic or less fragrant oils to reduce the likelihood of a poor reaction in a wide variety of clients, but certainly uses herbs in a variety of other ways. 

 

 However I then realized that oil itself can exacerbate peoples issues, so I needed to be able to use other mediums for extraction such as water and alcohol. An alcohol extraction used topically is known as a liniment. Both water and alcohol have their own peculiar qualities that can suit people whose skin doesn't tolerate oil well. 

 

Primarily I see myself as a student of chinese medicine, and that is the perspective of my original bodywork training, but currently I am in a 3 year program of clinical herbalism though the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism, which has more of an emphasis on the ‘western’ herbal tradition, anatomy/physiology and pharmacology. Growing up in the United States I definitely have a propensity towards scientific, structural perspective, but from experiencing soul or mystical states, I accept the esoteric, spiritual traditions of our story. 

 

Even just within the Chinese perspective there are a large variety of interrelated, yet often, contradictory models to assess the patient. Different theories or models can be useful at different times and for different patients. A brief overview of some of the possibilities. 

 

Eight principles - broad and useful, four main categories, with a binary possible state. 

Internal/External, Hot/Cold, Excess/Deficiency, Yin/Yang

 

Five Elements - a philosophical view of nature that pervades much of ancient Chinese thinking. The five elements or five phases, can be thought of as five fundamental movements of substance and energy that have a specific relationship to one another. These relationships are expressed as cycles for example “the generative cycle” “destructive cycle” or  “controlling cycle”  

 

Zang fu or Yin/Yang organ pairs Using various signs (such as state of the pulse in certain positions, state of the tongue, symptoms, state of the abdomen) the specific organ and type of dysfunction can be identified. 

 

Wang Bing 4 levels 

A model identifying four levels of function and potential for disease. Especially used for infection disease, comes out of the ‘school of warm pathogens’ founded by Weng Bing, a relatively more modern system. The four levels are  Wei qi, Qi, Blood and Nutritive levels. 

 

Shang Hun Lun 

Sometimes referred to as the “School of Cold pathogens” the Shang Hun Lun is one of the more ancient and fundamental texts. Organ/meridian pairs make a physiological unit, with Six stages or depths. 

 

Tai yang - Bladder/Small intestine

Shao yang - Gallbladder/san jiao 

Yang ming - Stomach/Large intestine

 

Tai yin - Spleen/Lungs

Shaoyin - Heart/Kidneys

Jueyin - Liver/Pericardium

 

So right there we have five distinct systems to try to understand the nature of the malignancy people experience. Of course there is plenty of overlap and many changes throughout history along with assimilation of older ideas into new concepts. But if you are visiting a chinese medicine practitioner, they probably relies heavily on some combination of the above ideas in order to reach a  

 

 Methods to obtain information include palpation, observation, and oral intake. All of these different methods can result in observation which may fit into one paradigm the best. Often certain types of practitioners tend to rely on some methods more than others. For instance bodyworkers and acupuncturists are more likely to use palpatory assessments than herbalists. 

 

However sometimes you just have to treat the symptoms. You just know that certain herbs or just rubbing someone can make them feel better. This in of itself is valuable and can be helpful in lifting ourselves out of the weeds of trying to ascertain the nuances of an individual's internal state. 

 

There is a conception that traditional eastern medicines are “mystical” and less analytical. The underlying philosophies are more amenable to multiple opposing ideas existing together, which contradicts with how we understand knowledge in the west, however Chinese medicine is still systematic, analytical, and treatments are based on observations and structural models of the body's functions, just like modern biomedicine. 

 

 The above mainly represents an analytical approach to treating and individual.  However I personally believe in intuition and attunement, so I also strongly value letting the patient's body draw me into an area of distress. This process for me has been partly informed by the osteopathic approach to treatment, which strongly involves the use of ‘listening’, meaning letting your sense of touch, your hand be drawn to the area of tension. In other words, finding “just the right spot”.

 

Using herbs topically I strive to use herbs that work with the underlying patterns expressed by the individual and their main complaints. By having a relationship with the plants I am basically just trying to introduce them to “their people”. 

 

Herbs are increasingly analyzed by modern scientific methods which focuses on chemical constituents. Specific organic chemicals and minerals found in plants are seen as responsible for a plant's particular actions on the body. Western herbalism shares some terminology with orthodox medicine to describe these actions. Some common ones are diuretics, anti depressant, antispasmodic, anodyne ect ect

 

A similar process is likely going on in the Chinese herbal-scientific community, with chemicals being related to specific actions a herb is known to do. In Chinese herbalism these actions could include, clear toxic heat, resolve phlegm, tone the qi, ect. 

 

The strategies with using herbs topically does not fundamentally shift the basic process of perceiving or ‘diagnosing’. For instance on rashes with heat signs I most probably will stay away from warming herbs such a Ginger 

 

 

Stay tuned for a more detailed materia medica!