It is the right time to treat rheumatism “I have rheumatism for many years, and my bones hurt too much in the air-conditioned room in summer, now it is popular to ‘treat winter diseases in summer’, can rheumatism be treated as well? And what are the advantages?” The Department of Rheumatology and Immunology of Zhejiang Xinhua Hospital (the second hospital affiliated to Zhejiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine) is a key discipline of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” of the Chinese Medicine Clinical Foundation. Five” Chinese medicine rheumatology key specialist construction unit, this year, “winter disease summer treatment” began to book, many rheumatology patients to ask. Dr. Wang Xinchang, deputy director of the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, said that summer is a good time to treat rheumatic diseases. In fact, in the provincial Xinhua Hospital, there are many rheumatism patients who come to the hospital every year on the third day of the year to treat rheumatism through the “winter and summer treatment”. Wang Xinchang said, all kinds of rheumatism arthritis Chinese medicine collectively known as “paralysis”, mainly due to physical weakness, wind, cold, moisture, evil take advantage of the weakness and enter, flowing in the meridians, joints, muscles, qi and blood run poorly. Because rheumatism mostly occurs in the cold season, so in general people’s concept, investment in medical treatment also tends to focus on the winter, once the summer condition is slowed down to stop using drugs, which will easily lead to rheumatism treatment is not complete, the condition constantly repeated and aggravated. As a result, the onset of the disease in the winter brings pain to the patient, while also indirectly increasing the cost of treatment. “For people suffering from chronic diseases such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, treatment should also be adhered to in summer. In winter, when the disease worsens or recurs, treatment is mostly based on pain relief to treat the symptoms, which is not able to eliminate the root cause of the disease. In summer, as there are fewer climatic factors affecting their onset, the symptoms are usually milder and the activity of the disease is low, which can improve the overall efficacy in the long term if the medication is regulated in time during the summer.” Wang Xinchang said. Using the art of war as an analogy, the “winter disease summer treatment” is like “the enemy retreats, I advance”. Winter illnesses seldom strike in the summer or their symptoms diminish, and at this time, drugs are taken internally and applied externally to enhance the vital energy and drive away the evil that has accumulated in the body. The “winter disease summer treatment” is to take advantage of the time and place (nature’s Yang Qi is strong in the summer) and the people (the body’s Yang Qi is also strong, evil is latent in the body, no attack), to encourage the body’s Yang Qi to eradicate cold and damp and other Yin evil that is easy to stay. At the same time, the body’s metabolism is strong in summer, the communication with nature is active, the acupuncture points and peripheral capillaries are the most “open”, external drugs through the acupuncture points, epidermis this “shortcut” easier to enter the body, can play a half-hearted effect. “Summer not only to timely treatment of rheumatism, but also to do a good job of prevention.” Wang Xinchang suggested that in the air-conditioned room, the room temperature is best maintained at about 28 ℃, and also need to pay special attention to body warmth, be sure to avoid the air conditioning wind page directly against the blowing wind, you can also kit clothes to avoid skin exposed, sleep covered bed thin quilt, especially for people who already have rheumatism, even if only open the fan, do not blow directly against the body. In addition, should also eat less cold fruits and melons, diet to light, can often eat barley, lentils, adzuki beans, etc. to help strengthen the spleen to damp. Comprehensive treatment of rheumatism The “summer treatment of winter diseases” of Provincial Xinhua Hospital is not a mere plastering, but a systematic treatment, including Chinese herbal medicine, summer herbal tea, Chinese fumigation, etc. According to the individual differences of each patient with rheumatism, the diagnosis and treatment, and prescribe different prescriptions for Chinese herbal medicine and summer herbal tea. The selection of poultice drugs such as hosin, white mustard seed, gansui, wuzhang snake and other Chinese herbs with efficacy of dispelling rheumatism and activating the meridians are mixed with ginger juice to make medicinal cakes, which are administered through acupuncture meridians or locally, and can play the dual role of drugs and acupuncture points at the same time. The three volts in summer is the time when the body’s meridians and blood are in full swing, so rheumatism patients, especially those with arthritis, can achieve the best results with the oral administration of drugs or the application of drugs. The main indications are rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, osteoarthritis, cervical and lumbar degenerative lesions. Generally, adults can apply the patch for 4-6 hours each time, and children can apply it for 2-3 hours each time, for a total of 8 times a course. Chinese herbal medicine and summer herbal tea for 3 months is a course of treatment.