drinking ginseng in alcohol ok?

[wuqigong]

I've been having back pain with stress from to much movement or mental stress for some years now. And now I practice taiji I'm more aware of blocked energy when I have this.

I told this tai chi man about this. He practices for over 10 years and knows some stuff about herbs aswell.

And he told me to stop tricking and training for a month, practice taiji daily and then every day drink a cup of ginseng.

With ginseng I mean the alcohol the ginseng was held in for 10-12 years.

Is this really to trust? The man can be weird sometimes but with this stuff he should be serious. I know ginseng can be dangerous and I'm 18 next month so still a bit young for it.

It could help my back and if that's all good I'll be much more flexible and free in movement. On the other hand that stuff is lethal. What's the choice to make?

[wuqigong]

No-one knows anything about ginseng??:confused:

[couch]

No-one knows anything about ginseng??:confused:


Three Questions:
1. You're instructed to drink the alchohol that the ginseng was in?

2. What kind of Ginseng? Korean/Chinese/American?

3. How long was the ginseng in the alcohol?

Plus, tell me more about your back pain:

Is it from a previous injury, just started creaping up out of no-where, does it radiate anywhere?

Thanks,
Kenton Sefcik
TCM Student

[wuqigong]

1.Yes, the man told me it would give alot of energy and it would erase my back tension.

2. I have no idea, I live in the netherlands. I probably can get chinese or american.

3. It was being kept in for 10-12 years.

My back pain started a few years ago. It's never for a long time, but it's always a little bit tensed. I once fell and teared a small muscle. It's just above where I usually have the pain. The pain is from to much tension, so I guess from blocked energy. I have it with stress or when I overtrain.

So the problem is that if there's a slight bit of to much emotion held up or if a landing is absorbed a little bit wrong, the energy blocks and my back tensions. That causes pain.

[Repulsive Monkey]

I think it was very poor advice this man gave you for a couple of reasons.
If your injuries are from accidents then the back pain could be due to qi and/or blood stagnation and the heat of Ginseng and the added heat from alcohol could exaccerbate the Qi stagnation and make it worse.

If the back pain is due to qi/blood deficiency then the ginseng could help with tonifying qi but the blood (if blood deficient) could dry up the fluids again through too much heat.

Stress is a give away and my minf tells me if its related then there is Liver qi stagnation possibly too, and you do not want to add heat to Liver qi stasis as it generates too much heat itself, and added heat will not ease the problem but probably highten symptoms and maybe produce more.

If this man advised you to do all this and didn't even check your pulses and do a tongue diagnosis on you then you ought to ignore his advice and see a trained Doctor of chinese medicine.

Ginseng in alcohol intensifies it heat aspect. If the body doesn't need heating up then don't.
It sounds like your body needs clearing if anything of qi stagnation first.

[QuaiJohnCain]

If you are even one day under 30, do not take ginseng, period.

The classic "take ginseng and practice tai chi" answer is one only espouted by ingnorant charlatans.

[couch]

1.Yes, the man told me it would give alot of energy and it would erase my back tension.

2. I have no idea, I live in the netherlands. I probably can get chinese or american.

3. It was being kept in for 10-12 years.

My back pain started a few years ago. It's never for a long time, but it's always a little bit tensed. I once fell and teared a small muscle. It's just above where I usually have the pain. The pain is from to much tension, so I guess from blocked energy. I have it with stress or when I overtrain.

So the problem is that if there's a slight bit of to much emotion held up or if a landing is absorbed a little bit wrong, the energy blocks and my back tensions. That causes pain.

Where specifically is the pain and does it radiate/ache/etc?

Most injuries cause what us TCM people call Blood Stagnation.

Depending on your answer from above, and even though I'm a student of TCM, I don't always believe in the "drink this feel better" mumbo jumbo. Especially for injury pain.

One of the classic, great ways to break up Blood Stagnation is massage/movement. But like you mentioned, overtraining (overdoing it) can lead to more pain: so what is good for you is UP TO YOU.

Please fire back at me as to where the pain is and maybe we call all put our heads together as to where you want to stretch.

Also, look for an Active Release Technique practicioner in your area, or someone who does deep tissue massage. Don't just give it one or two tries, but stick with it for 8 times over 8 or so weeks. Take some time off and see how you feel.

Also, I do recommend a Chinese Herbal patch: Yunnan Baiyao Gao(plaster).
Such as here: http://sinicave.com/pd_yunnan.cfm

It's like Tiger Balm, except in a patch and contains San Qi. Very good for Blood problems. Place the patch on the affected area when you have bad bouts. But don't forget to stretch(coming later) and get some massage/manual treatments.

Again, get the plaster, as the pills are for your entire body and I don't know your full health history.

Best,
Kenton Sefcik

[wuqigong]

Thankz!

As for the plaster, I'll take a look or ask my fysio. He can loosen it, I've been there before. My pain is in my lower back. I can't exactly tell where. But the tension is movable. I tried some running today and the tension went partial to my legs. They got so tense I could hardly stretch them.

I know the pain will be over soon, it's getting less by the day, but the real problem is it always comes back. May it be in a month, a year or 3 years it always comes back. I gotta find out why I get that tension and then fight the problem at the start. Just don't have any idea where it comes from. It could be from mental stress, but I'm the most relaxt person ever so that's also weird. Maybe from physical stress, but I always stretch enough and keep myself souple. So it's really hard to find out.

[couch]

Thankz!

As for the plaster, I'll take a look or ask my fysio. He can loosen it, I've been there before. My pain is in my lower back. I can't exactly tell where. But the tension is movable. I tried some running today and the tension went partial to my legs. They got so tense I could hardly stretch them.

I know the pain will be over soon, it's getting less by the day, but the real problem is it always comes back. May it be in a month, a year or 3 years it always comes back. I gotta find out why I get that tension and then fight the problem at the start. Just don't have any idea where it comes from. It could be from mental stress, but I'm the most relaxt person ever so that's also weird. Maybe from physical stress, but I always stretch enough and keep myself souple. So it's really hard to find out.

For the plaster, you might have to go to a Chinatown or Acupuncture clinic that carries herbs.

When I'm practising my Chinese Medicine on a patient, I really love to combine my knowledge of Eastern, Western and martial arts knowledge. I truly believe (from personal experience as well) that our (lower) back pain is due to many factors that must be changed over a course of time:

1. Poor Posture (during sitting/standing)
2. Poor Lifting Procedures
2. Tight Hamstrings and Gluteus Medius muscles
3. Poor Maintenance (not enough back work, too much ab work)

If I could recommend a book, if you are interested:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1583870067/qid%3D1138902267/026-3993714-1720420

Keep in touch, check your PM's,
Kenton Sefcik

[wuqigong]

Yeah it could be from a wrong stance or something like that. But then I wonder, why is the tension only from time to time and it just pops in from one to another day. How come I see alot of other people walk wrong or jump wrong and why don't they have any troubles? And why did my tension go into my legs when I went out running. I do think it's something energetically..

[couch]

Yeah it could be from a wrong stance or something like that. But then I wonder, why is the tension only from time to time and it just pops in from one to another day. How come I see alot of other people walk wrong or jump wrong and why don't they have any troubles? And why did my tension go into my legs when I went out running. I do think it's something energetically..

I sent you some stuff, but for the sake of anyone following this conversation:

I know that you want to go to this "energy" route in thinking, but I truly believe that the reason that the tension went to your legs is simply because of improper balancing of the muscles and the need for your hamstrings and gluteus medius to be stretched on a daily basis.

Now, stretching isn't the be-all/end-all. It's fine and dandy if you stretch every day, but if you are lifting/sitting/standing improperly, all the stretching in the world won't help your discs in your back from not being squished!

About why other people don't have these problems: give them 20-30 more years of improper everything. Also, everyone is built differently and we each have congenital weaknesses. This theory is also present in Chinese Medicine.

Why do two people have Spleen Qi Deficiency and one person gets a load of phlegm and gets depressed, while the other has a prolapse of the rectum?

Congenital weakness.

Hope what I sent you help. For everyone else interested in back pain, here's a good article:
http://www.drbookspan.com/BackPainArticle.html

Best,
Kenton

[hellhound]

My back pain started a few years ago. It's never for a long time, but it's always a little bit tensed. I once fell and teared a small muscle. It's just above where I usually have the pain. The pain is from to much tension, so I guess from blocked energy. I have it with stress or when I overtrain.

So the problem is that if there's a slight bit of to much emotion held up or if a landing is absorbed a little bit wrong, the energy blocks and my back tensions. That causes pain.

Tell your doctor you would like to see a physiatrist (pain doctor) as your symptoms are a good sign of chronic myofascial pain (CMP). The myofascia is the lining of the muscles and can get knots in it. Those knots cause your muscles to tense up due to overwork, cold, bright light, etc... I have it and a vertabrae disc pushing into my spine. I waited too long to get it fixed and I cannot use conservative therapy and am now kept on high doses of Morphine. Hopefully you don't have it at all. However if you do then the sooner the better. Regards!

[wuqigong]

Thnkz alot couch!

I did some of the excercises and they're very similair to what the physio told me to do. Not the same, but they stretch the same muscle or tension the same area. I'll notice my way of standing, etc for the next weeks and see what happens.

Oh and hellhound, I think a physiatrist is another word for physio, since I just litteraly translated physio from fysio in dutch. So yeah I've been there;) He opened up some room in my spine so I was more loose. To bad it's tight again today. Just gotta wait nd see what happens.

[couch]

Thnkz alot couch!

I did some of the excercises and they're very similair to what the physio told me to do. Not the same, but they stretch the same muscle or tension the same area. I'll notice my way of standing, etc for the next weeks and see what happens.

Oh and hellhound, I think a physiatrist is another word for physio, since I just litteraly translated physio from fysio in dutch. So yeah I've been there;) He opened up some room in my spine so I was more loose. To bad it's tight again today. Just gotta wait nd see what happens.

Remember...it's not going to go away overnight. Stretches EVERY day and every 2nd day do all the exercises. Update me in a week or so.

:),
Kenton

[David Jamieson]

at 18 years old, you do NOT need ginseng for energy.

see a real doctor and blow off the bad advice from the other guy.

your pain is likely due to tissue not healing properly or some other set of circumstances surrounding injuries you may have had.

time, nature and patience are the three great physicians, but it couldn't hurt to see a physio therapist to help with the progress in healing.

[18elders]

My brother has had lower back pain for years. He has been to lots of different docs, chiro's etc. for treatment. He still had the pain.
His wife found a specialist and he went to him. Everyone was always looking at his lower back where the pain was. It turns out that where the spine goes into the skull(forgot the medical term), it was not in correctly but the muscles compensated for it thus causing the pain in the lower back.
They put it back in place, his lower back muscles loosened up and it doesn't hurt anymore.

Because of it being out of wack(doc estimated over 30 years) he has damage to his upper spine from it.

Go get your whole spine checked out.

[couch]

at 18 years old, you do NOT need ginseng for energy.

see a real doctor and blow off the bad advice from the other guy.

your pain is likely due to tissue not healing properly or some other set of circumstances surrounding injuries you may have had.

time, nature and patience are the three great physicians, but it couldn't hurt to see a physio therapist to help with the progress in healing.

Am I that other guy?

[wuqigong]

So I've been stretching daily and stuff for about a week now. But still got some back pain. More in the morning then in the evening, but still there yeah. Never had it for this long I think. Gonna see the physio therapist tomorrow again. Tell him about the excercises and all.. I guess it just takes time..

[wuqigong]

So it's 2 to 3 weeks later. Still got back pain. I do think it's something mentally and energetically. I stretch every day, but I also stress every day. Sometimes when I wake up I feel nothing till I get stressed. So it's probably a combination of both. Stress makes the tension and the tension gets there because that's the weakest spot. Gotta find out how to lose this. Gotta work this out. Maybe do some accupuncture. Because I also found out I'm thinking to much about everything and nothing. Gotta get my energy out of my head more down into my body..

Who knows how I can prevent stress getting from my mind into my body so fast?

And who knows how I can get my energy down and keep it there? I think to much.