The pros and cons of Chinese medicine bathing

Traditional Chinese medicine is a great treasure of my country's 5,000-year history of civilization and is the essence of the ancient philosophers' summary over many years. my country is now vigorously developing traditional Chinese medicine. On the one hand, this is because the development of traditional Chinese medicine has entered a bottleneck period. On the other hand, modern medicine has proven that traditional Chinese medicine does have a therapeutic effect on diseases. For example, Tu Youyou, who won the Nobel Prize a few years ago, learned about artemisinin from ancient Chinese literature. Bathing with Chinese medicine is very good for the human body.

In the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine, it is said, "For those who are ill due to the invasion of external evil, soak the body in hot water to make them sweat, and let the evil out through sweat." In the Book of Rites, it is said, "Bath for head sores and bathe for body diseases." Wu Shangxian, a famous external medicine master in the Qing Dynasty, subdivided medicated baths into washing, bathing, soaking, pouring, spraying, etc. in his Theory of External Medicine. He believed that medicated baths could be used for diseases of internal medicine, external medicine, gynecology, pediatrics, and ENT.

Chinese medicine bath is a hydrotherapy method that uses Chinese herbs decocted into a decoction based on TCM syndrome differentiation, and then diluted for bathing. It is a type of external treatment in TCM. Chinese medicine bath is simple to operate, cheap and painless. As long as the right medicine is selected under the guidance of a doctor and used in the correct way, it is relatively safe and reliable. It can avoid the toxic and side effects caused by other routes of administration and facilitate patients to implement self-medication.

Steps of Chinese medicine bath

1. Soak these Chinese medicinal materials in 5000CC of water for 20 minutes.

2. After soaking, turn on the fire again and boil the herbs and 5000CC of water for 30 minutes.

3. Drain off all the residue of the Chinese medicinal materials, leaving the hot medicinal soup, which is the good thing we want to use for bathing.

4. After pouring the precious medicinal soup into the bathtub, two very important things should be put in, that is, the beaten ginger mother and a bottle of rice wine. Because these two things will promote blood circulation and help you absorb these Chinese medicinal materials.

5. Finally, it’s time for you to enjoy your slimming bath in the bathtub. Remember to soak for at least 30 minutes.

10 benefits of Chinese medicine bathing

1. Sweat and detoxify.

2. Promote maternal recovery and prevent gynecological diseases.

3. Moisturizes the skin, relieves itching, and prevents and treats skin diseases.

4. Improve cardiac output and improve heart function.

5. Improve whole body microcirculation.

6. Promote gastrointestinal motility, strengthen the spleen and aid digestion.

7. Eliminate fatigue and relieve muscle and joint pain.

8. Easy to fall asleep and have a good sleep.

9. Enhance the function of endocrine system and immunity.

10. Enhance nerve regulation ability.

6 things to note when taking a bath with Chinese medicine

1. For Chinese medicine bath, you must ask a Chinese medicine practitioner to prescribe the right medicine according to your condition and prepare the medicine soup according to the doctor's instructions. Do not blindly choose the medicine on your own.

2. You must shower before bathing to keep the medicine pool clean. After bathing, you should immediately rinse with warm water, dry your skin, and put on clothes in time. Generally speaking, hot water baths (39℃～45℃) are suitable for rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatic myalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, various sequelae of bone injuries, obesity and psoriasis, etc.; the bath temperature for nervous overexcitement, insomnia, general pain, indigestion, etc. should be equal to or slightly lower than body temperature; 25℃～33℃ is suitable for acute sprains and contusions. When taking a medicinal bath, the room temperature should not be lower than 20℃. When taking a local medicinal bath, you should pay attention to keeping your whole body warm. In summer, you should avoid wind to prevent colds.

3. When bathing for the first time, the water level should be below the heart. After about 3 to 5 minutes for the body to adapt, slowly soak to the shoulder level; the bathing time should not be too long, especially a full-body hot water bath. Due to excessive sweating, a large amount of body fluid is lost; the skin blood vessels fully dilate, and the amount of blood on the body surface increases, causing ischemia in the head and dizziness or syncope. If fainting occurs, the patient should be helped out of the bathtub in time and laid flat on the bed in the lounge. At the same time, the patient should be given some boiled water or sugar water to replenish body fluids and energy. Or wash your feet with cold water to constrict the blood vessels in the lower limbs and ensure adequate blood supply to the head.

4. Patients with severe heart failure, severe pulmonary insufficiency, myocardial infarction, coronary heart disease, aortic aneurysm, arteriosclerosis, hypertension, those with bleeding tendency, as well as the elderly and children should be cautious when taking medicinal baths with water temperature above 39°C. Instead, they should bathe with medicinal liquid close to body temperature and be accompanied by family members or medical staff, and the bathing time should not be too long. It is not advisable to take medicated baths during pregnancy or menstruation, especially tub baths or sitz baths.

5. It is easy to faint when soaking the whole body in a hot medicinal bath, so you should get up slowly from the bathtub after the bath; if you experience mild chest tightness, dry mouth and other discomfort during the medicinal bath, you can drink water or beverages appropriately; if you feel serious discomfort, stop the medicinal bath immediately.

6. It is not advisable to take a full body medicinal bath within half an hour before or after meals. Taking a medicinal bath before meals can easily cause collapse due to an empty stomach and intestines and excessive sweating during the bath. Taking a medicinal bath immediately after a meal can cause a decrease in blood flow to the gastrointestinal tract or internal organs, with the blood tending to flow to the body surface, which is not conducive to digestion and can cause gastrointestinal discomfort and even nausea and vomiting. It is not advisable to take a full body hot water bath before going to bed to avoid affecting sleep after excitement.