Chapel Hill Chiropractor: Advice on Metal Channel Imbalance
When you visit the Acupuncture clinic of Dr. Lisa Oskardmay in Chapel Hill, NC, you may receive a diagnosis of metal channel imbalance. What does this mean? It may seem strange at first to think about your health in terms of balance and asymmetry of the natural world, but it makes sense in Chinese medicine which is a logical and orderly health system that has helped millions of people over the millennium achieve better health. Each channel or meridian in the body corresponds to certain health aspects and natural phenomenon we see every day, and each has an element or natural association related to either metal, water, wood, fire, and earth. Patterns help us to understand the source of disease and health problems; treatment aims to resolve distortions of the natural order.
Metal is the season of autumn, of the start of decline, and colors are grayness and white color. Organs associated with this element are the lungs, the skin and large intestine which are our vital organs of detoxification, boundary, and release. Grief and sadness are emotions of metal, and connected smells are rotten or putrid, and the flavor is pungent or spicy. Dryness is a power of metal. The time of day associated with the metal channel is early morning.
Additionally, body areas more likely to be irritated on any level with metal element imbalance are the ulnar (thumb) side of the hands to the anterior shoulders and across the face to the opposite side of the nose. Back spine regions include the midthoracic area (T34) and low back (L5). The metal channel is only one to cross the body. The sense of smell connects with metal element issues, and the nose and sinuses reflect health and disease.
Associations such as those described above for the metal element are helpful to understand the causes and repercussions of problems one may experience. Seemingly disparate and disjointed symptoms can be more readily explained through the lens of Chinese medicine. For instance, a person grieving over a severe loss may develop dry eczema, especially on the arms and shoulders or asthma with symptoms worsening in the early morning hours. They may have back pain between the shoulder blades or low back with constipation. A person may have an extreme craving of or dislike the flavors and smells of metal- spicy, putrid and rotten. He/she may experience irritation of the thumb and anterior shoulder a lot especially in the autumn season. A person with metal channel imbalance may have trouble grieving and letting go of issues.
These associations are not concrete, and all of them need not be present for the patient to have a metal imbalance. Nonetheless, with disruption of the metal channels, it’s nice to know about the patterns seen in Chinese medicine. Many people choose to come in for a `metal channel tune-up` at the start of the fall season to ward off problems. Visit us at Acupuncture and Chiropractic in Chapel Hill to see how acupuncture can help you.