According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) theory, dryness is the primary qi of autumn, but it is now winter, and many people still experience significant dryness in the lips, nose, and throat. Sometimes this can be relieved by drinking water and applying lip balm, but at other times, even after drinking a lot of water, the dryness not only fails to improve but worsens. Why is this?
In TCM, the pathogenic dryness is divided into internal and external. External dryness refers to dryness caused by climate and the environment, while internal dryness is less apparent. In the past, internal dryness was often due to old age, a weak body, or a deficiency of yin and blood. Nowadays, however, many young people enjoy spicy and stimulating foods, which damages lung yin and even injures the lung collaterals. Therefore, the resulting lip dryness cannot be solved simply by drinking more water.
Over-emphasizing warmth: It is fine to add layers of clothing to prevent colds, but in many malls or offices where the indoor temperature is as high as 24-25 degrees Celsius in winter, this is not appropriate. Besides the large temperature difference when entering and exiting easily inducing colds, such a dry and hot environment also tends to deplete the body's yin fluids.
Over-hydration: It is necessary to replenish an appropriate amount of water in time to prevent lip dryness, but drinking a large amount of water at once not only fails to solve the dryness problem but can easily cause an imbalance of water and electrolytes in the body, and even lead to water intoxication.
In fact, avoiding winter lip dryness is not difficult. It can be achieved by paying more attention to daily details. For example, maintain indoor humidity by using a humidifier or placing a wet towel on the radiator. Secondly, replenish the body with an appropriate amount of water in a timely manner. If convenient, you can boil water with pear skin, orange peel, water chestnuts, white radish, lily bulb, or Ophiopogon japonicus to nourish yin and moisten dryness. Alternatively, simply steeping Ophiopogon japonicus in water as a tea can also have a good effect. Finally, eating more fruits and vegetables to supplement vitamins is the fundamental way to maintain health and beauty.