Backpain, healing with Chinese medicine and gemstones

 

Sighing, Chi lays her head on her paws and stares bored into space. We're not going to the woods to play anytime soon; she doesn't like that, and she's letting me know. I have back pain, lumbago (the Western diagnosis), and I can't walk, sit, or stand without bizarre pain.

Chi tells me nonverbally that I shouldn't have been so stupid. Indian summer, the transition between summer and autumn, the time when the sun shines and yet the cold is already in the air. I haven't been paying attention, and the cold has settled into my back and is going nowhere, just like me and Chi.

I explain to Chi that I'm human, and although I'm capable of processing tons of information, more so than she is, I can't seem to retrieve the right information in time to put on warmer clothes during the Indian summer and thus keep the chill out. Chi tries to understand me, but I can tell she's not really interested.

Chi is much smarter than me; she's already started developing a winter coat, so she doesn't suffer from the cold in the air. Smart Chi.

Back pain, lumbago, a back injury, a displaced sacroiliac joint—name it, it feels practically the same, and movement is limited. I'm sleeping upright on the couch tonight, or at least I hope I'll sleep, because the pain is terrible and keeps shifting, so I can't figure out which position will be pain-free. So, no position at all.

Chi and I are on vacation in Limburg, and we've brought a car full of supplies with us, but not my usual first aid kit, which consists of Bach remedies, Tarot cards, and a good diagnostic book. So I have to make do with what I have.

Although I enjoy writing about Chi, I will now focus on the treatment of my back pain, hoping to inspire others to look beyond conventional Western medicine.

Diagnosis

Lower back pain due to external cold. The pain is shifting, so it's a Qi problem and not a bone problem or trauma from an accident. The cold feels hard and hinders movement; the pain is stabbing and shifts. The cold is so deep that I can barely feel it on my skin, but my tongue reveals a distinct coldness in my lower back.

Treatment

I'm on vacation and don't have a treatment table, fire cups, needles, magnets, or a hot water bottle with me. Nor do I have Tarot cards to explore the emotional component of this problem. And my best stone medicine book is at home.

What can I do, I wonder? Chi looks deeply at me and tells me to trust my intuition.

To bring the cold into motion, I do Qigong. I also sit on a ball instead of a chair to help my lower back become more mobile. I wrap myself in blankets and make sure I don't get cold.

The benefit is a 10% reduction in pain.

I make a ginger compress and apply it to the painful areas, again 10% less pain.

I massage my lower back, legs, and anything that hurts with Tuina, now 20% less pain.

And then I apply moxa to the liver and gallbladder meridians, 10% less pain.

And lastly, and also the strongest pain reliever, the stones.

The lower back is the area of the kidneys, black is the color of the kidneys, and cold energetically belongs to the kidneys as an "attacker" from outside. I have three black stones (see photo) with me and place them on my lower back. I ask the stones to draw the cold out of my system and restore balance. The result is fantastic, 40% less pain.

The stones I'm using are snowflake obsidian (the bracelet), black jade (the smooth stone), and black feldspar. These stones are working for me right now because their energetic charge and chemical composition perfectly match the question I have for them. Working with stones isn't standard medicine; attunement is important. So these stones might work exactly the same for you as they do for me, but other stones might work better for you.

For the last 10%, I repeat the entire treatment again: tuina, moxa, stones, Qigong, and ginger.

I used to spend a week in bed when I had this problem, and I was given strong painkillers and muscle relaxants. Now I'm free of it in three days. Just wait a little longer, Chi. Tomorrow we're going for another long walk together.