Many people like to see Chinese medicine, and in fact our motherland medicine has advantages in the prevention and treatment of many diseases. So what does psoriasis look like in TCM and when can we see a TCM doctor?
First of all, let’s take a look at the current evidence types of psoriasis in Chinese medicine, which are roughly divided into six basic evidence types, such as blood-heat evidence, blood-stasis evidence, blood-dryness evidence, heat-poison incandescence evidence, dampness-heat-confined evidence, and wind-damp paralysis evidence, which correspond to different types of psoriasis.
The first type: blood-heat evidence
This type is equivalent to the progressive stage of common psoriasis, which is characterized by the continuous appearance of new lesions, bright red in color, mostly in the form of droplets, covered with silvery white scales, with many scales and easy to fall off.
It may be accompanied by symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection such as sore throat, and is often accompanied by systemic symptoms such as irritability, dry mouth, sore throat, constipation and urination. The tongue is red or vivid, the tongue coating is white or yellow, and the pulse is smooth or counted.
The second type: blood dryness
This type corresponds to the receding stage of common psoriasis, the lesions are ring-shaped or fading at the edges, the scales fall off easily, the skin color is light red or dark red, the condition is stable, and there are no new lesions.
It may be accompanied by dry mouth and dry throat, and low menstrual flow in women. The tongue is light red, with thin white coating or less coating, and thin or slow pulse.
The third category: blood stasis evidence
It is mostly seen in those who have been suffering from psoriasis for a long time and is equivalent to the stationary phase of common psoriasis.
The course of the disease is long, recurrent, and does not heal over the years. The skin lesions are purple-dull patches or pigmentation, with thick scales, some of which are oyster shell-like, or accompanied by unfavorable joint movement. There are petechiae on the tongue, thin coating, and thin and astringent pulse.
The fourth category, heat and toxicity incandescence evidence
It is mostly seen in erythrodermic psoriasis, with flushed skin around the body, a large amount of furfur-like flaking, and entire palm and plantar keratinous peeling, which may be accompanied by systemic symptoms such as enlarged superficial lymph nodes and different degrees of fever.
It is also accompanied by joint pain and swelling. It is often accompanied by fever, irritability, constipation and urination. The tongue is red, the coating is yellow, and the pulse is stringy.
The fifth category: Damp-Heat Aggregation
Most often seen in pustular psoriasis, the lesions are widespread all over the body, with dense pinhead or rice-grain-sized pustules on the damage, or the pustules fuse to form a pus lake; the pustules subside and there are atypical psoriasis scales on the surface.
It is accompanied by constipation, short red urine, red tongue, yellow greasy coating or grooves, and slippery pulse.
Sixth category, wind-damp paralysis evidence
Mostly seen in arthritic psoriasis, the skin color of the rash base is lighter, the scales are white and thicker, and the itching is light. It is accompanied by swollen and painful joints, reduced to joint deformity and activity disorders, aggravated by cold and alleviated by heat, with a light mouth and no thirst. The tongue is light, the coating is white, and the pulse is smooth.
When do psoriasis patients need to undergo TCM diagnosis?
Many people are not sure when it is more advantageous to consult TCM.
In fact, the theory of “diagnosis and treatment” in Chinese medicine has unique advantages for the treatment of psoriasis.
The study of TCM evidence of psoriasis can provide a more objective typing basis and evidence-based guidance for TCM treatment of psoriasis, so TCM diagnosis can be carried out when Western medical treatment has a greater adverse effect on patients and is not tolerated.
For research related to TCM evidence of psoriasis, epidemiology combined with evidence-based medicine can be used more often, and statistical methods can be used to count a large range of sample data, and comprehensive analysis can be conducted on the distribution characteristics of the evidence patterns and the laboratory indicators related to them, so that the correlation patterns of TCM evidence of psoriasis can be explored in depth from different perspectives, and the diagnostic criteria can be optimized to improve the efficiency of diagnosis and treatment.
References
[1]Liu Yuchao,Bai Yanping,Wang Lei. Progress of research on the Chinese medical evidence of psoriasis [J]. Journal of Guizhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine,2021,43(05):90-94.
[2] Mao W, Huang Q, Lv B, eds. Single disease diagnosis and treatment standard for Chinese medicine (combined traditional Chinese and Western medicine) in Zhejiang Province. 2nd edition [M]. Hangzhou:Zhejiang Science and Technology Press,2018(04):254.