Back Pain, Du Zhong and Xu Duan

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Back pain is an extremely common musculoskeletal condition, affecting close to 10 percent of people globally. There are dozens of potential causes behind back pain, ranging from simple ligament or tendon strains, to fibromyalgia, osteoporosis and spinal deformities.

For many people experiencing intermittent back pain, the condition can be limiting and reduce quality of life. There are treatment options, but it can be difficult to identify which treatment to use with a patient, given the number of potential causes. Chinese medicine offers an effective alternative, though, in the form of beneficial botanicals like Du Zhong and Xu Duan.

How western and Chinese medicine explain back pain

In western medicine, the goal is to isolate the cause of back pain – which could be a muscle, a ligament or a disc. It’s common for physicians to find no clear cause at all, even after imaging the patient.

Chinese medicine practitioners take a different approach to understanding back pain. In Chinese medicine, disease conditions can arise from weakness in an organ, and this connection may not be obvious. Over centuries of study, though, practitioners have identified the complex, interconnected nature of the body. And in the case of back pain, a common problem is weakness in the kidneys.

The kidneys govern lower body and lower extremity health in Chinese medicine, so if there are deficiencies in the kidneys, this can manifest as back pain. If a kidney problem is expected, there are additional health markers that practitioners can use to assess the kidneys. This includes the color of urine, how often the patient urinates and body temperature.

Using Du Zhong and Xu Duan to Treat Back Pain

Houston practitioners frequently rely on herbal formulations to treat back pain, and a popular combination is Du Zhong (Eucommia plant) and Xu Duan (Teasel plant). These herbs both target the kidneys, but they influence them on different levels. Du Zhong restores the kidney Qi while Xu Duan enters the kidney channel and promotes movement in the blood. In effect, the kidneys’ essential energy is restored while circulation is improved through the organ. If kidney deficiencies are behind back pain, this herbal combination can address the underlying cause.