Giving the lumbar spine some TLC today. There can be many underlying physical reasons for lumbar back pain; disc injuries, facet joint dysfunction, radiculopathy, hypomobility ect However in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) back issues have a link with the ‘water element’ and its 2 corresponding channels’s; urinary bladder and kidneys. In Western physiology the kidneys are responsible for the filtration and purification within the body. In TCM however, they are our reservoir of our vital source in other words they are our reserve of Ki. With the consistent demands of family life and work life there is often no time for the kidneys to restore and there is a continual depletion of kidney reserves. This is the prime cause of lumbar back pain according to TCM philosophy. There are also psychosocial issues related to imbalances in the water element. One example is fear. Fear is part of the survival instinct, in TCM fear causes a release of our source ki from the kidneys. You can think of this in western physiology as the adrenalin rush you get when you’re in that ‘fight or flight’ (sympathetic nervous system) response. Sometimes our response to stress is to drive ourselves even harder, which draws further from our energy reserves. Have you ever had back pain and could relate to these TCM connections? #lumbarbackpain #waterelement #kidneymeridian #kidneychannel #traditionalchinesemedicine #tcm #trust
