In Chinese Medicine, we often think about how environmental influences impact our internal environment. There are six main pathogenic factors we think of in Chinese Medicine that can negatively impact the body in a variety of ways:
Cold
Heat
Wind
Dampness
Dryness
Summerheat
Summerheat-Damp
In the case of CODVID-19, there are a couple pathogenic factors at play, but the primary pathogen is dampness. Since this winter had significantly more rain than previous years, it created a wet, soggy environment for this pathogen to thrive in. We believe that coronavirus is a damp pathogen for a number of reasons:
Tongue: For those who are infected with COVID-19, their tongue color has been red or dark red, with a tongue coating that was often thick and either white or yellow and greasy. This is indicative of damp-heat within the body.
Slow-moving characteristics of the virus: The incubation period can be up to 14 days, which is much longer than normal. In addition, the low-grade fever can last a long time. Dampness is sticky and cloying, so the body becomes more and more overcome by this virus, and mild to moderate symptoms can linger for a while, before the body either fights the pathogen or becomes overwhelmed by it.
People who are more severely impacted by the virus have dampness already present: The people who have more severe symptoms tend to be overweight, smokers, or have preexisting conditions. Excess weight and smoking create a damp, turbid environment in the body. People who eat food items that are rich, sweet, and greasy, and who work too much and rest too little, have a lifestyle that promotes the development of internal damp-heat conditions, or at the very least has an internal condition that can quickly generate dampness and stagnant heat once the virus has been contracted.
Coronavirus has the most significant impact on the respiratory system. The initial symptoms include aversion to cold with fever, leading to a fever with a dry cough. This indicates that damp toxins are depressing the ability of the lungs to circulate smoothly.
As the disease progresses, the pathogen moves deeper into the body. The symptoms of this include dryness of the mouth and throat, a red or dark red tongue tip, with a tongue coating that is both greasy and cracked open. In this instance, damp toxins stagnate, leading to increased friction. This friction creates smoldering heat inside the body, which burns up the fluids. The sticky, cloying nature of the dampness disallows the heat to move through the body quickly. In addition, the sticky dampness can create stifling sensations in the chest and choppy breathing because the lungs are being bogged down by this heavy, immobile pathogen.
The third stage of the disease (and the most severe) occurs when dampness, toxicity, and heat enter more deeply into the body. This can cause a life-threatening situation where there is internal blockage and external dissipation. It needs to be said that not everyone will enter this stage. There is a lot of mass hysteria because a lot of people seem to be passing away — But, a lot of people are recovering!
During the recovery stage, the body is incredibly depleted from battling this pathogen. Overall energy is depleted, and the lungs are dried out. This may create a situation where there may be a chronic dry cough (possibly specked with blood), fatigue, and possibly constipation or decreased appetite.
If you’ve suffered from coronavirus or something similar… please reach out! We do not need another chronic illness, and your body will likely need support in order to heal completely!