Patient's question:
Please ask the experts: I have a friend who is already 35 years old this year. About seven years ago, after her first pregnancy, she had an abortion at the hospital because the fetus was found to be abnormal. After the abortion, she requested to be discharged home about two days later. At that time, the wind outside was very strong, and she walked home alone. She stayed outside for about an hour and a half, and after that, there were no abnormal symptoms. However, after she actually gave birth to her child, she felt that her whole body was afraid of cold. Even in the summer, she had to wear long clothes and long pants, couldn't use the electric fan, and her skin couldn't tolerate the wind outside. The moment she felt the wind, she would feel an icy cold all over her body, as if her eyes were about to be blown away by the wind. Until now, it has been like this.Doctor's answer:
Postpartum wind-cold in traditional Chinese medicine. Reference: Traditional Chinese medicine holds that "yang deficiency leads to external cold." When the body's yang qi is weak, blood and qi are insufficient, and the defensive yang qi is not firm, it cannot warm the muscles to resist external cold pathogens, leading to a fear of cold. The reasons include: some women have a congenital constitution. Qing Dynasty physicians noted in the book Essentials of Medical Principles that "those prone to wind diseases have a naturally weak exterior qi; those prone to cold diseases have inherently weak yang qi; those prone to heat diseases have inherently deficient yin qi..." This indicates that female yang qi is generally weak, making them prone to fear of cold, aversion to cold, or susceptibility to cold pathogens. Another group is affected by severe or prolonged illnesses, such as chronic excessive menstruation, ectopic pregnancy with blood loss, or gastrointestinal diseases leading to spleen and stomach weakness and insufficient qi and blood production. Since traditional Chinese medicine considers qi and blood mutually supportive—qi leads blood, and blood nourishes qi—blood loss inevitably weakens qi. As qi belongs to yang, qi deficiency can also cause fear of cold, often accompanied by pale complexion, shortness of breath, fatigue, and reluctance to speak. Whether congenital or acquired, the root cause is yang deficiency, which should be addressed promptly through supplementation or treatment, especially for girls during their developmental years. Cold hands and feet and frequent colds are common in winter. Timely treatment can improve their constitution.How can one transform a yang deficiency constitution and eliminate the feeling of cold? Li Kunyin suggests that mild cases can be managed through dietary therapy. For example, if symptoms such as clear leukorrhea, frequent clear urination, nocturia, and lower back cold pain accompany fear of cold and limb coldness, medication treatment is necessary. After the start of winter, it is the best time for nourishment. Li Kunyin introduces the following dietary formulas:
Stewed Chicken with Deer Horn (Experience formula from the renowned TCM gynecologist Professor Luo Yuankai)
Deer Horn: 2 grams
Goji Berries