Itching is the most common symptom of skin diseases, and about 90% of skin diseases are accompanied by itching. Mr. Ma Sanli also once said a cross talk: one person itched sharply, sought the secret recipe, opened the heavy package, but only found two words - scratch! A common symptom of skin disease patients is itching.
So, why does the skin itch? Itchy skin is a lack of yang energy in the body.
The answer is given in the "Theory of Sores and Sores, Pain, Itching and Numbness" in the first volume of "Surgical Qixuan": if the skin near the cover is burned, it is sore, if it is close to the fire, it is painful, and if it is far away, it is itchy...... The pain is real, the itchy is empty, not the void of cold, but the meaning of fiery and slight. The distance between people and fire is used to explain the cause of pain and itching: pain is because it is close to fire; It's itchy because it's far from the fire. "Fire" is firepower, which can be extended to yang energy. To put it bluntly, itchy skin is caused by the lack of human body fire (yang energy), and yang energy cannot reach the body surface.
In ancient characters, "sheep" and "yang" are interconnected. In traditional Chinese medicine, yang is closely related to human life. Those who gain yang live, and those who lose yang die. What does Yang mean when he is sick? Yang Qi is sick and blocked. Therefore, I understand that itching, in fact, is a critical state of "pain and health".
Under what circumstances does the human body itch? When the wound grows, the person will itch, indicating that the qi and blood are hindered to a certain extent when the wound is passed, and it is not smooth. When the human body changes from a warm current to an infinite number of warm currents, it will feel itchy. There are also people who often itch their backs, so some people invented the tool of tickling. So what's going on with this itch? In fact, it is the yang energy of the human body that pushes the dampness of the body outward. In the process of topping, because the meridians of the human body are not very smooth, therefore, there will be a certain resistance, so it will itch.
For itchy skin, many people love to use hormones, in fact, that can not solve the fundamental problem, but is harmful to the human body. In fact, the human body is very interesting, when you are faced with itching, people's favorite thing to do is to scratch, and this process of scratching is actually the process of dredging the meridians. It's just that it's in the epidermis. And the deeper and better way is to scrape and let the deeper cold and dampness come out. If it used to hurt and now it becomes itchy, in fact, it means that your body is changing for the better. On the contrary, if it turns out to be itchy and then becomes painful, it means that it has changed to a bad direction.
People with skin diseases have experienced that, in general, it is more itchy at night than during the day. This is because Yang Qi is latent at night, and the skin is extremely lacking in the support of Yang Qi, and the excess dampness and heat in the body cannot be discharged, and the itching will be aggravated. When the skin is itchy, everyone will instinctively scratch, which is also related to yang energy. Because in the process of scratching, the skin is stimulated, the qi and blood are promoted, and the yang energy can be distributed on the surface of the body in large quantities, and all the itch-causing wet toxins are taken out of the body, and the itching is temporarily relieved.
The work of itching has both fiction and reality, so supplementing deficiency and laxative reality is also the basic principle of curing itching. The specific application should be combined with the etiology, location and nature of the itch, and the legislation should be legislated according to the evidence, and the treatment should be followed by the evidence.
Itching is a sensation of scratching when the skin or mucous membranes are irritated. It can be an independent disease syndrome in the clinical syndrome, but it is more likely to be seen as a symptom in the occurrence and development of a variety of diseases. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a very rich discussion on this, but it is relatively messy, and it is sorted out in conjunction with the literature.
"The Yellow Emperor's Neijing" believes that the formation of itching is mostly related to "fire" and "void". For example, "Su Wen · Zhi Zhen Da Da Treatise" said that "all pains and itching sores belong to the heart" (because the fire is in the heart, some doctors in later generations even changed this article, such as "Su Wen Xuanji Original Disease Formula" says "all pains and itchy sores belong to the heart fire", and "Su Wen Straight Explanation" says "all pains and itchy sores belong to fire" and so on). Another example is "The Theory of True Evil in the Soul · Thorn Festival": "People are also ...... in the false and evil If it is cold, the true qi will go, and if it goes, it will be empty, and if it is empty, it will be cold between the skin, and its qi will be outward, the intestines will be opened, and the hair will be shaken, and the qi will be itchy when it travels, and it will be paralyzed if it is left but not gone. "Treatise on Typhoid Fever" discusses itching, which is mainly attributed to the absence of sweating, such as "because it cannot sweat a little, the body will itch" (Article 23), "Yang Ming disease, Fado sweating, anti-no sweating, and its body is like an insect in the skin, this is a long-term deficiency" (Article 196), "The pulse floats and is late, the face is hot and red and the battle is tired, when the sweat comes out and is relieved in six or seven days, and the anti-fever person is late, and the late is no yang, and the body must be itchy" (pulse identification method first); There are also other sayings: "The pulse is floating and big, floating is the wind deficiency, the big is the strong qi, and the wind and qi are fighting, it will become an addiction rash, and the body is itchy." The itch is called ventilating the wind, and it is a scab for a long time", and it is believed that this itch "is strong and depressed, and the wind evil leaks out to the skin" (Pingmai method 2).
"The Origin and Syndrome of Diseases" contains the evidence of "wind itching", which says: "It is the body that is weak and affected by the wind, and the wind enters the intestines, fights with the blood and qi, and travels between the skin." The evil qi is slight, and it cannot be impacted as pain, so it is itchy. "Danxi Heart Method" believes: "All itching is empty, and blood is not honored in the tendons, so it is itchy." "Su Wen Xuanji Original Disease Formula" has a unique view on itching, saying: "People who are close to fire, the heat is slightly itchy, the heat is even painful, and the nearby is burning and sores, all of which are used for fire." Those who itch are also beautiful, so the fire is prosperous in summer, and all things are beautiful. Burn it with fire, stain it with soup, and itch it worse, and make it hot. Therefore, if the itch is gone, the heat will slow down the skin, dredge the intestines, and the yang energy will be discharged, and the heat will be dissipated. The summer heat itches the skin, and those who don't go away with cold water, the cold can converge, the intestines are closed, the yang energy is stagnant, and it cannot be dispersed. "Typhoid Fever" concluded: "Internal injuries and itchy bodies, both real and false; The external feeling is itchy, and it is because the sweat does not come out. Therefore, the sun disease has an itchy body, and the yang disease has a body like an insect, all of which are due to the appearance of evil and no way out, so the body is itchy but the reason why it is not thorough to sit and sweat. If the husband has a cold wind, his body will be painful; If there is wind and heat on the surface, the body is itchy. In short, if the yang evil is depressed on the surface of the skin and cannot sweat, the skin will be itchy. ”
Regarding pox itching, "Empirical Hemp" believes: "Those who have blood fever, poisonous hair, and wind hair...... The heat poisons the skin, the qi is depressed, and the blood is tormented. The gas is not insufficient, and the flame is burned; Blood is not self-heating, and burning is urgent. The parade skin and flesh, the reason why the itch is also made. "Yizong Jinjian" cloud: "If the pox prescription comes out and the body is itchy, this evil qi is about to come out, the intestines are tight, and its fire overflows, so it itches from time to time." ”
Regarding itching in various surgical diseases, the "Outline of Ulcer Medicine" clouds: "Itchy external ulcers, the most common ones, skin diseases are the only ones, such as scabies, swimming wind, wet injection, yellow water sores, blood wind sores, etc. The most authored, and the cause of it, is nothing more than wind and dampness and heat. Wind and good deeds, into the skin, then go away four notes, so the body is always itchy and scratchy, obscene like insects and lice parade on the surface of the skin. Only the wind wins is dry, although the blood is overflowing, and the break is reaped...... Dampness generates heat, contains heat and insects, its itching is particularly intense, and soaking in all directions, yellow water flows frequently, it is most easy to corrode and rot, and it is more infectious, this dampness is a disease. All the wind, sores, yellow water pus and sores, and itch and rot, the more rotten and the more itchy. This itch belongs to the damp heat, and it is also one of them. The "Complete Book of Surgical Syndromes and Treatments" says: "Although itching is wind, it also has its own causes." Those who itch at the beginning of the wind, the wind and heat fight together, and the scratching is even painful; After the ulceration, the itchy ones are pus, and the protrusions are also bubbling; Will be itchy, because of the initial muscle stagnation, qi and blood blockage, so far the qi and blood gradually and to help raise new meat, itchy nymphs are also. It is like itchy skin, dry and windy, scabies prolongs, and it is lewd and infested. There are different certificates, and there are slight differences in treatment, so don't treat them as one or the same. "Yizong Jinjian" has a "carbuncle and itching song" cloud: "At the beginning, the itching is due to wind and heat, and after the ulceration, the pus or the wind will be raised, and the itchy nymphs will be filled with qi and blood." Another song that describes "blood wind sores": "Blood wind sores are born all over the body, millet itching, fat and water, the liver, lungs and spleen are rheumatic and hot, and they are depressed and itchy for a long time. "The Complete Collection of Ulcer Medicine" also says: "All the evidence of injury is itchy all over the body, or scratched like scabies, this blood does not camp in the tendons, and it is treated as a blood deficiency." ”
Regarding eye itching, the "General Record of Shengji" points out: "If the liver meridian is weak and the wind is evil, the eyes are itchy; When the heart is hot and the blood is overflowing, the eyes are red. "Yinhai Subtlety" believes that "those who suffer from wind and itching" believe that "this is due to liver deficiency, combined with animal wind and heat, and the gallbladder is filled into the eyes by wind poison, so it is itchy by wind." "Yizong Jinjian" has a "Itchy Eye Song" cloud: "Itchy eyes are all due to liver and gallbladder wind, itchy eyelids and black and white eyes." "The Eyes of the Great Success" said: "What is the origin of itchy disease, for fire, for wind, for blood...... There is an itch of wind and evil; There is an itch of fire; There is evil annealing and scratching, the qi and blood are moving, and the veins are smooth and itchy; There is a sick eye, and it is itchy for a long time, and if it is itchy, it will be seriously ill. In short, after treatment, it is itchy, and the disease will go quickly. ”
Regarding the itchy head, "Surgical Authenticity" said: "The oil wind is the blood deficiency and cannot nourish the skin with the qi, so the hair roots are empty, falling off into patches, the skin is bright, and the itching is like an insect. "Medical Sect Jinjian" Zeyun: "This evidence...... The common name ghost shaves his head, opens by the pores, and the evil wind attacks people by taking advantage of the void, so that the wind is full of dry blood, and he cannot raise his hair. ”
Regarding the itchy throat, the "Medical Doctor" said: "Burning gold and dry lobes of the lungs is itchy, itchy coughing, itching cough, this does not need to have phlegm, hence the name dry cough." Gan Zuwang, a famous Chinese medicine otolaryngology scientist, once said, "The main symptom of all chronic pharyngitis is dryness of the pharynx." Therefore, it is dry, because the liquid does not nourish the throat, and the throat is not wet, dry and dry, dry and windy, and the wind is itchy, and the itch causes this disease."
Regarding yin itching, the "Jing Yue Quanshu · Women's Rules" believes: "If a woman itches, there must be a yin worm." It is slightly itchy, even painful, or drenched with pus, mostly caused by dampness and heat. "The Secretary of the Fetus and Childbirth" cloud: "Those who itch in the yin gate are the spleen and stomach imbalance after childbirth, the qi and blood are not in harmony, the sect qi sinks, the dampness and heat are pressing, and the yin is thus wormed." Those who itch it are insects that eat the pussy. "The Complete Collection of Ulcer Medicine" believes: "The itching of a woman's pussy is caused by the infusion of rheumatism in the liver and spleen, and also by the stagnation of liver fire." ”
Regarding anal itching, the "Treatise on the Origin and Syndrome of Diseases" contains the "valley itching" certificate, which believes that "if the stomach is weak and the intestines are weak, the pinworms will invade the valley tract, and the heavy ones will eat the anus, and the light ones will itch." ”
From the above, it can be seen that the causes of itching are varied, but they are mainly due to wind, dampness, heat, and insects on the skin and muscle surface, causing disharmony between skin and flesh; Or due to the deficiency of yin and blood, dryness and wind, and loss of skin nourishment.
As a symptom, itching varies in degree and in location. If there is itching all over the body, it can often move from one place to another; Localized itching can be seen in the eyes, ears, throat, pubic itch, sores and so on.
The primary diseases involved in itching are very wide, almost all over the clinical department, and are now divided into six types: cutaneous pruritus, systemic pruritus, neuropathic pruritus, psychogenic or psychological pruritus, mixed pruritus, and pruritus of unknown origin. However, skin diseases are the most common, among which viral or bacterial infectious skin diseases, allergic skin diseases, erythematoscalous skin diseases, vasculitis and panniculitis, skin appendage diseases, pigmented skin diseases and so on are particularly common.
If there is only pruritus and no primary skin lesions, pruritus can be diagnosed. Itch is also a precursor to many diseases, especially endogenous itch, which has important predictive value. Yang Li's "Disease Prediction in Traditional Chinese Medicine" has a detailed discussion in the section "Itch Omen". For example, in patients with liver yang wind, itching on the scalp is often one of the precursors of stroke; Patients with blood deficiency and liver depression also often have itching, which can be seen in some patients with depression syndrome or women with menopausal secretion disorders; In some patients with biliary cirrhosis and thirst, itchy skin is often one of their precursors. Some data show that many malignant tumors have early skin itching, especially gastrointestinal cancer and reproductive system cancer. Generalized pruritus has the highest predictive value for leukemia, breast cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, and germline tumors. Local skin itching such as anus and genitals is mainly predicted for rectal cancer and genital malignancy. In addition, between itching and malignant tumors, there is a pattern that the itching disappears once the cancer is removed, and the itching reappears when the cancer recurs.
Regarding the identification of itchy evidence, "Lingshu · the End" has the saying that "the sick are yin" and "the itchy is yang". "Difficult Scripture · Forty-Eight Difficulties" says: "Those who diagnose the false reality, the itchy one is false, and the painful one is real." "Specifically, to distinguish between the inside and outside of the virtual and the real. Divided by virtual and real, the virtual ones are mostly due to yin deficiency and blood dryness, and they are lost in moisture; In fact, it can be due to wind, cold, fire, dampness, dryness, or insects, or stasis, etc., but it is especially closely related to wind, and even has the saying that "no wind does not itch", and often combined with diseases, such as wind dryness, damp heat, dry heat, etc. It is divided into internal and external, and the external one is related to the six prostitutions; The inner ones are mostly related to the internal environment, such as dampness and heat, depression and fire, yin and blood deficiency, etc. However, there are many internal and external causes, and many allergic diseases are. The above and lower points are divided into those who itch on the top are mostly due to wind heat or dryness, and those that occur on the bottom are mostly due to damp heat and insect poison. The formation mechanism is quite similar to that of pain, that is, the real one is due to incomprehension, and the virtual one is due to dishonorability. As for the carbuncle ulceration, the swelling and pain gradually subsided, and the skin and flesh were slightly itchy, which was a good sign that the poison and evil gradually dissipated, the qi and blood gradually filled, and the new meat was nourished, and the mouth was about to be closed.
The work of itching has both fiction and reality, so supplementing deficiency and laxative reality is also the basic principle of curing itching. The specific application should be combined with the etiology, location and nature of the itch, and the legislation should be legislated according to the evidence, and the treatment should be followed by the evidence.
For those who itch due to wind, it is advisable to dispel wind and relieve itching, and commonly use Hangzhou chrysanthemum, parsnip, nepeta, Xanthus, etc. Among them, those who are biased towards the cold, add ephedra, cinnamon branches, Qianghuo, Angelica dahurica, fine pungent and Xinyi, clematis, etc.; Those who prefer heat, gardanpi, burdock, duckweed, forsythia, mint, mung bean coating, cicada molt, etc.
For those who itch due to dampness, it is advisable to remove dampness and relieve itching, and commonly use Huoxiang, Peilan, Coix seed, Atractylodes, Dihuzi, etc. Those with both dampness and heat are selected Sophora sophora, talc, Yinchen, white fresh skin, Rhizome, Desmodium, Pigweed, Poria cocos, etc.; Those who are both cold and wet are selected from Rhizome, Lulutong, Haitong Bark, etc.
For those who itch due to fire (heat), it is advisable to clear heat and relieve itching, and commonly use gypsum, Zhimu, cold water stone, scutellaria, skullcap, coptis, gentian, forsythia, etc. For those who are hot and poisonous, you can add gardenia, wild chrysanthemum, dandelion, honeysuckle, ground lily, etc.
For those who itch due to dryness, it is advisable to moisten dryness and relieve itching, commonly used Polygonum multiflori, Tiandong, Mai Dong, yam, Shayuanzi, wolfberry, rehmannia root, acacia bark, white peony, earth bone bark, nightshade, etc.
For those who itch because of insects, it is advisable to kill insects and relieve itching, and those who take it internally often use Junzi, betel nut, thunder pills, quince, pumpkin seeds, etc., and those who use it externally can choose Cnidium monnieri, realgar, hibiscus bark, light powder, alum, sulfur, aloe vera, etc.
For those who itch due to stasis, it is advisable to dissolve stasis and relieve itching. For those who are stasis and heat, you can use raw land, puhuang, danpi, peach kernel, thistle, madder, elm, salvia, red peony, tulip, motherwort; For those who are stasis and cold, you can use Panax notoginseng, angelica, frankincense, Zeeland, Chuanxiong, soapthorn, Wang Buliuxing, Liu Jinu, Sumu, blood exhaustion, etc.
For those who itch due to deficiency, those with yin deficiency can use dendrobium, asparagus, wheat winter, sand ginseng, chicken yellow, dry rehmannia and so on; Those with yang deficiency can use purple quartz, aconite, cinnamon, psoralen, mountain wood, agarwood, morinda day, epimedium weed, fairy grass, etc.; People with qi deficiency can use astragalus, ginseng, yam, atractylodes, cordyceps, etc.; Those with blood deficiency can use rehmannia root, ejiao, mulberry, Polygonum multiflori, etc.
In "Surgical Authenticity", there is a treatment of rubella, eczema itching and wind-dissipating powder (angelica, shengdi, fengfeng, cicada, zhimu, sophora, flax, nepeta, atractylodes, burdock, gypsum, licorice, wood), the function of dispelling wind and dehumidification, clearing heat and nourishing blood, embodies the idea of "relieving itching must first clear the wind" and "treating the wind first to cure the blood, and the blood and wind will self-extinguish", and take into account the virtual and real, both internal and external, so it is favored by doctors.