What is the difference between dampness and rheumatism?

In daily life, dampness and rheumatism are two common diseases. However, there are certain differences between dampness and rheumatism. Dampness is a disease inside the human spleen, which can easily lead to gastrointestinal diseases or constipation, while rheumatism is a phenomenon of joint pain caused by external wind and cold entering the body. The two diseases are different.

The difference between dampness and rheumatism

Dampness is a term used in traditional Chinese medicine, while rheumatism is a term used in Western medicine. Heavy dampness and phlegm-dampness blocking the body are symptoms caused by internal evil factors, while rheumatism is joint pain caused by external wind and cold evil.

Clinical manifestations of rheumatism

1. Most rheumatic diseases have joint lesions and symptoms, which can be as high as 70-80%. About 50% only have pain, while severe cases have comprehensive inflammatory manifestations such as redness, swelling, heat, pain and impaired function; most of the time, multiple joints are affected. The size of the joints affected varies depending on the type of disease.

2. Heterogeneity, that is, the same disease has different subtypes. Due to different genetic backgrounds, causes and mechanisms, the types, symptoms, severity and treatment responses of clinical manifestations are also different.

3. Rheumatic diseases are mostly multi-system diseases. The pathologies of many diseases overlap and the symptoms are similar. MCTD is a typical example of this.

4. Various antibodies and immune complexes (CIC) appear in the serum and can be deposited in tissues (skin, synovium) or organs (kidney, liver) to cause disease.

5. Raynaud's phenomenon often occurs in this type of disease, such as SLE and MCTD.

Manifestations of moisture

1. Often feel sleepy, dizzy, and heavy.

2. The stool is watery, the toilet is not easy to flush, and there is a feeling of incomplete defecation.

3. There are teeth marks on the edge of the tongue and the tongue coating is thick.

4. Hair and face tend to become oily.

5. Eyelids and limbs are prone to swelling.

6. The skin is prone to eczema.

7. Poor appetite and easy bloating after eating.

8. The body is fat and the belly is protruding.

If there is too much moisture in the body, it may also cause the following diseases:

1. Invasion of the neck and shoulders: It can easily cause us to feel "neck and shoulder soreness, heaviness, tightness" and so on. It is also easy to grow fat bags behind the neck (due to poor microcirculation in the neck and shoulders and fat accumulation), frozen shoulder, tennis elbow, cervical spondylosis, dizziness, headache, tinnitus, insomnia and dreaminess.

2. Invasion of the chest: It can easily cause breast swelling and pain, breast hyperplasia, thoracic bone hyperplasia, thoracic scoliosis, thoracic facet joint dislocation, intercostal neuralgia, costochondritis, etc.

3. Invasion of the navel and abdomen: Dampness can easily accumulate in the pelvic cavity, especially in women, causing gynecological diseases such as uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, pelvic inflammatory disease, endometriosis, etc.

4. Invasion of the waist: lumbar muscle strain, lumbar disc herniation, lumbar spinal stenosis, lumbar three transverse process syndrome, lumbar bone hyperplasia, sciatica and other diseases.