According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, dampness causes a feeling of having the head wrapped. When damp-heat is not cleared, the large tendons become shortened and the small ones become lax and elongated. Shortening leads to stiffness, while laxity and elongation lead to flaccidity. Caused by qi, it leads to swelling, and when the four extremities mutually replace each other, the yang qi becomes exhausted. Paying attention to 5 details in the morning can help you self-test for dampness in the body. For example, observing your stool during a bowel movement, or feeling nauseous while brushing your teeth, are all details that can help you self-test for dampness in the body.
Self-test for internal dampness one: How you feel upon waking
If you feel especially tired every morning when you wake up, your head is dizzy, you can't muster up any energy, or you feel like you're wearing a damp shirt, feeling uncomfortable all over, and are too lazy to move... then you can be certain that you have dampness in your body.
Self-test for internal dampness two: Look at your stool during a bowel movement
After your morning bowel movement, you can observe your stool. Is it sticky to the toilet bowl, and does it take a full tank of water to flush it clean? If it's inconvenient to observe the toilet bowl, you can also observe the toilet paper. Normally, one or two sheets should be enough. If you need three or five sheets and still can't get it clean after repeated wiping, it also indicates that you have dampness in your body.
In addition, the color and shape of the stool can also help determine if there is dampness in the body. A normal stool is golden yellow and banana-shaped, but nowadays few people have such a healthy stool. When there is dampness in the body, the stool is bluish-green, loose and unformed, and there is always a feeling of not being able to empty it completely. Over time, the toxins from accumulated fecal matter in the body will lead to all sorts of illnesses.
Self-test for internal dampness three: Look at your tongue while washing up
"The tongue is the sprout of the heart and also the external manifestation of the spleen." The tongue can sensitively reflect our body's condition. Before brushing our teeth, we might as well take a few seconds to look at our tongue in the mirror.
A healthy tongue is pale red and moist, with a thin, white, and clean coating on the surface. It is neither too dry nor too moist, and neither slippery nor dry. If your tongue does not meet these indicators, it means your body's functions are already compromised. If the tongue coating is thick and white, and looks slippery and moist, it indicates the presence of cold in the body. If the tongue coating is rough or very thick, yellow and greasy, it indicates damp-heat in the body. If the tongue body is red and without coating, it indicates that the heat in the body has reached a certain degree and has damaged the yin.
Self-test for internal dampness four: Nausea while brushing teeth
Check if you feel nauseous in the morning when you brush your teeth. Some people vomit or feel nauseous as soon as they start brushing, and there's always a lingering, unclean feeling in their throat. Even if they spit up phlegm, it is also a sign of dampness in the body.
Self-test for internal dampness five: Sore and heavy calf muscles
Upon waking in the morning, check if your calf muscles feel sore and heavy. When the calf muscles feel sore and heavy, it is also a typical sign of dampness in the body.
Traditional Chinese Medicine reminder: Now that we know how to self-test for internal dampness, how do we remove it? Experts point out that you can remove dampness from the body by pressing and massaging the Chengshan point.