Have you experienced any of the following?
- Falling asleep while watching television
- Frequently waking up overnight
- Constant pain or numbness in your lower extremities
- Dry or itchy skin
If you suffer from several of these symptoms, you may need anti-aging treatment! Chinese medicine attributes these common issues to blood deficiency. On the other hand, if a person shows a fresh and shining face and is full of energy, he or she must be full of blood.
Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine are two major branches of Eastern medical tradition. In the past, people did not understand the concept of hormones; the way these early practitioners explained and helped to alleviate signs of aging was to treat blood deficiency. And it works!
Symptoms of blood deficiency include:
- The color: Face, mouth, and nails are pale and dull; skin is dry and wrinkled
- Physically: Inflexible, pain or numbness in limbs, limited motion
- Nervous system: Dizziness, forgetfulness, insomnia, nightmares
Blood deficiency does not mean the same thing as anemia. In fact, these are two different concepts. Anemia patients automatically have a blood deficiency, but blood deficiency patients do not necessarily have to be anemic. For instance, elders with blood deficiencies may show symptoms such as skin itchiness, sleep issues, and numbness in the legs, but their blood test will not have results saying that they are anemic. A young or middle-aged female with blood deficiency conditions may have low menstrual flow and even amenorrhea (period stopped), but her hemoglobin testing may be normal.
In various groups of people, the elders and women are more prone to be blood deficient. The beauty of a woman is inseparable from the nourishment of blood as well. Therefore, prescriptions of blood tonic herbs are always helpful for anti-aging. It should be noted that while replenishing blood, one should also pay attention to replenishing pi. Traditional Chinese medicine dictates, “Qi is the commander of blood, and blood is the foundation of qi.” The production and movement of blood are driven by qi, and the transportation and dispersion of qi are carried by the blood.
The following are symptoms of blood deficiency related to aging:
A healthy person is basically full of energy before the age of 50.
- At 50 years old: Liver-Qi begins to decline, so the eyes begin to dim.
- At 60: Heart-Qi begins to decline. The person may start to get tired and lose interest in many things.
- At 70: Spleen-Qi declines, skin becomes wrinkled.
- At 80: Lung-Qi fails, the brain loses the support of oxygen, so it is easy to make errors in speech.
- At 90: Kidney-Qi failure, organ meridian energy empty.
- At 100: Five internal organs are vacant, body and spirit are declining.
How to treat blood deficiency
Using Chinese herbal medicine, making tea with the following four herbs can help:
- Dang Gui: Angelica sines is Radix
- Tonifies the blood and regulates the menses for blood deficiency patterns
- Invigorates and harmonizes the blood for stopping pain due to blood stasis
- Huang Qi: Astragali Radix
- Tonifies the blood and Qi
- Tonifies the spleen and raises the Yang energy
- Augments the protective Qi and stabilizes the exterior – especially the lungs, which can help with frequent flu
- Promotes circulation to help limb numbness
- Ji Xue Teng: Spatholobi Caulis
- Promotes the movement of and tonifies the blood for blood deficiency patterns, such as dysmenorrhea (irregular menstruation or pain)
- Invigorates the meridians for numbness of the extremities and lower back
- Ye Jiao Teng: Polygoni multiflori Caulis
- Nourishes the heart and blood and calms the spirit for the patterns of blood deficiency with insomnia
- Nourishes the blood and unblocks the meridians, treating numbness and painful obstruction
- Alleviates itching
- Ye Jiao Teng is the vine of the Chinese herb He shou wu, which is famous for strengthening the kidney energy, soothing emotional distress, treating insomnia, and improving sleep patterns
- Opens the small branches of meridians
These four herbs put together to make tea are the perfect combination for treating blood deficiency, especially aging issues like numbness of limbs, insomnia, and dry skin. This tea is good for blood deficiency at any age as well.
To make the tea:
- Open the tea bag and rinse the herbs carefully.
- Put them into a pot filled with cold water.
- Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.
- Filter the tea out, throw the herbs away, and keep the tea in your refrigerator.
This is a dosage for five days. Drink 1 cup of tea daily.