Wind

Wind is the predominant qi of spring but may also occur in any of the four seasons. Wind may easily invade the body after sweating, or whilst sleeping.

Wind is the primary exogenous pathogenic factor in causing disease, since cold, damp, dryness and heat all depend on wind to invade the body, it is stated in the forty - second chapter of Plain Questions ' . " Wind is the leading causative factor of many diseases. "

Pathogenic wind can not only combine with the other five exogenous factors, but also with phlegm to form wind phlegm. Facial paralysis, for example, is mostly seen as a consequence of the obstruction of wind phlegm in the meridians.

Wind is a yang pathogenic factor and is characterized by " upward and outward dispersion. " It can therefore easily invade the upper part of the body. i.e. the head and face ; and the exterior portion of the body, leading to impairment of the opening and closing of the pores. Clinical manifestations are headache, nasal obstruction, itching or pain in the throat, facial puffiness, and aversion to wind and sweating.

Wind in nature blows in gusts and is characterized by rapid changes. Migratory symptoms, rapid changes and abrupt onset of disease, therefore, mark disorders caused by pathogenic wind. The migratory joint pain of wandering hi, for example, which is caused by pathogenic wind, is known as wind. Urticaria caused by pathogenic wind is characterized by itching of the skin and wheals that appear and disappear from place to place.

Constant movement characterizes wind. Moving pathogenic wind in the body can cause dizziness, vertigo, tinnitus, convulsions and opisthotonus. Examples are tetanus and deviation of the mouth and eyes with spasm of the facial muscles.