Tremor Syndrome in Chinese Medicine

Su Ziyang gently grasped the man's wrist and lightly pressed three fingers to take his pulse.

Because this person is quite thin, their pulse is quite noticeable and can be felt without much effort.

The pulse was generally strong and forceful. Su Ziyang examined it carefully for a while and found that the pulse was still quite stable and did not seem to indicate any illness.

If we insist on diagnosing based on this pulse diagnosis, then it might indicate some internal heat.

Do you have the recipe for the soup you ate before? Could I see it?

Su Ziyang sat back down, his brows furrowed as he pondered.

This family was probably suffering from a long-term illness and had sought medical treatment everywhere. They had brought all the necessary medical records, but Su Ziyang hadn't asked to see them, so they hadn't taken them out.

Speaking of which, I have to marvel at modern high technology; everything can be stored in a single mobile phone.

Su Ziyang held his phone, looking at the various test results, instructions for Chinese and Western medicines, and treatment plans stored inside for a long time.

Let's set aside Western medicine and drugs for now and focus on traditional Chinese medicine.

This disease falls under the treatment scope of internal medicine in traditional Chinese medicine and is called tremor syndrome.

This is quite complex, involving many specialized academic terms in Traditional Chinese Medicine. I'll just briefly mention it here. Within this more orthodox academic school, it is generally divided into the following types:

The first one is called "internal movement of wind and yang," which means that there is wind evil in the body. This wind evil is not the kind of wind that is like the wind blowing outside and you get cold.

It's like there's wind blowing inside your body, causing your meridians to sway wildly, and then you start to tremble. That's the idea.

In this situation, the tremors are quite pronounced and usually cannot be controlled. The tremors worsen when the person is nervous.

Other symptoms may include irritability, bitter taste in the mouth, dry throat, dizziness, tinnitus, flushed face, and drooling.

Or it may be accompanied by numbness in the limbs, a heavy and slow voice, dark urine, and dry stools.

Typically, such patients have a red tongue with a yellow coating, and their pulse is wiry.

The second situation falls under the category of "phlegm-heat stirring up wind".

The phlegm is a thick, persistent phlegm, and the heat is the heat from internal heat. This means the situation is more complex than the previous one; in fact, how complex?

Besides the wind swirling around inside your body, there's also phlegm and heat burning you, making this situation quite severe.

Symptoms may include uncontrollable head shaking, numbness and tremors in the limbs, and in more severe cases, the hands may become unable to hold objects, followed by dizziness and vertigo.

Because of excessive phlegm, symptoms such as chest tightness, bitter taste in the mouth, sticky mouth, and even expectoration of phlegm may occur.

At this time, the tongue will appear swollen with teeth marks, and because of heat, it should be red with a yellow, greasy coating. The pulse should be wiry, slippery, and rapid.

Because of excessive phlegm, the pulse is slippery.

The presence of a warm pulse indicates a rapid pulse.

Then, we will introduce the third situation, namely, "deficiency of Qi and blood".

This is easy to understand, because I've noticed that everyone keeps saying I need to replenish my Qi and blood. I'm severely deficient in both.

Since the person is severely deficient in qi and blood, this is the correct explanation. This situation usually occurs.

The head shakes and the limbs tremble, but since it's due to a deficiency of qi and blood, the trembling is definitely not as severe as the two conditions mentioned earlier.

At the same time, due to deficiency of qi and blood, the complexion will turn pale and the expression will become indifferent.

Other symptoms may include fatigue, slow speech, shortness of breath upon exertion, palpitations, forgetfulness, dizziness, and loss of appetite.

The tongue appearance is also characterized by a large, swollen tongue body, a pale red tongue body, and a thin white tongue coating.

Because of deficiency of Qi and blood, the pulse will be deep, weak, or thready and feeble.

The fourth condition is also a deficiency syndrome, called "Yin deficiency with wind stirring".

Yin deficiency and wind stirring up; I've talked about the issue of yin deficiency and yang deficiency before.

Yin and Yang are mutually restrictive. When Yin is deficient, Yang loses its restraint, and this balance is broken.

Yin and Yang not only restrain each other, but also nourish each other. When Yin is deficient, Yin cannot generate Yang, and Yang cannot generate Yin, so both Yin and Yang will inevitably weaken significantly.

At this point, symptoms such as "shaking head and trembling limbs, unsteady holding of objects, hurried gait, muscle tension, and muscle twitching" will appear.

It may also be accompanied by symptoms of Yin deficiency such as soreness and weakness in the lower back and knees, insomnia, irritability, dizziness, tinnitus, red tongue with a thin white or reddish-brown coating, and a thready and rapid pulse.

The fifth type is "deficiency of Yang Qi", which is somewhat the opposite of Yin deficiency and wind-related symptoms.

The saying goes that yin deficiency generates heat, while yang deficiency generates cold.

When the Yang energy is deficient, the body will naturally feel cold and experience a series of cold or chill-related symptoms. Therefore, the following symptoms will appear.

"Head shaking and limb tremors, muscle spasms, aversion to cold and cold limbs, numbness in the extremities, palpitations and reluctance to speak, shortness of breath upon exertion, spontaneous sweating, clear and copious urination or incontinence, loose stools, pale tongue, thin white tongue coating, and a deep, thready, and weak pulse."

Therefore, in terms of treatment principles, the first step is to clearly identify the root cause and the symptoms, as well as the underlying deficiency or excess.

In the early stages, the symptoms are mainly due to excess, and the treatment focuses on clearing heat, resolving phlegm, and calming wind. In cases with a longer course of illness, elderly and weak patients, and prominent underlying deficiency, the treatment should focus on nourishing the liver and kidneys, replenishing qi and blood, and regulating Yin and Yang, while also calming wind and unblocking the meridians.

In the early stages, the symptoms are mainly due to excess, and the treatment focuses on clearing heat, resolving phlegm, and calming wind. In cases with a longer course of illness, elderly and weak patients, and prominent underlying deficiency, the treatment should focus on nourishing the liver and kidneys, replenishing qi and blood, and regulating Yin and Yang, while also using wind-calming and meridian-clearing formulas and supplementing with acupuncture.

Internal treatment methods naturally involve the issue of herbal decoctions.

In the first case of internal wind-heat syndrome, the main medications used are those that calm the liver and extinguish wind.

Prescription: Modified Tianma Gouteng Decoction combined with Calm the Liver and Extinguish Wind Decoction.

Medicinal ingredients: Gastrodia elata, Uncaria rhynchophylla, Haliotis diversicolor, Hematite, raw dragon bone, raw oyster shell, Rehmannia glutinosa, Paeonia lactiflora, Scrophularia ningpoensis, Asparagus cochinchinensis, tortoise shell, Achyranthes bidentata, Eucommia ulmoides, Melia toosendan, etc.

In the second case, in the case of phlegm-heat-wind syndrome, in addition to calming the liver and extinguishing wind, it is also necessary to eliminate phlegm and clear heat.

Prescription: Modified Daotan Decoction combined with Lingjiao Gouteng Decoction.

Medicinal herbs: Pinellia ternata, Arisaema cum Bile, Bambusa textilis, Fritillaria cirrhosa, Scutellaria baicalensis, Antelope horn (substitute), Morus alba leaf, Uncaria rhynchophylla, Chrysanthemum morifolium, Rehmannia glutinosa, Paeonia lactiflora, Poria cocos, etc.

The third case is qi and blood deficiency syndrome, which is relatively simple; just replenish qi and blood.

Prescription: Ginseng Nourishing Decoction.

Medicinal herbs: Rehmannia glutinosa, Angelica sinensis, Paeonia lactiflora, Panax ginseng, Atractylodes macrocephala, Astragalus membranaceus, Poria cocos, Cinnamomum cassia, Schisandra chinensis, Polygala tenuifolia, Gastrodia elata, Uncaria rhynchophylla, etc.

The fourth type of Yin deficiency with wind syndrome primarily involves tonifying Yin.

Prescription: Modified Da Ding Feng Zhu.

Medicinal ingredients: tortoise shell, turtle shell, raw oyster shell, uncaria, egg yolk, donkey-hide gelatin, wolfberry, deer antler gelatin, prepared rehmannia root, white peony root, etc.

The fifth syndrome of Yang deficiency is mainly treated by warming and tonifying Yang.

Prescription: Modified Rehmannia Decoction.

Medicinal herbs: Aconitum carmichaelii, Cinnamomum cassia, Morinda officinalis, Cornus officinalis, Rehmannia glutinosa, Codonopsis pilosula, Atractylodes macrocephala, Poria cocos, Paeonia lactiflora, etc.