Dit Da Jow And The Three Stages Of Trauma
There are three distinct stages of traumatic injury, which are expressed by a limited number of clinical manifestations. The three primary manifestations of the early stages of trauma are heat, swelling, and pain. Using a neutral property Dit Da Jow is very important in the treatment of a trauma injury.
A neutral property Dit Da Jow is a formula where the combination of herbs whose properties when combined are neither hot, cold or warm but a blend of all three properties and when averaged out are neutral.
Authentic Dit Da Jow
Western medicine, since the time of the great Roman physician, Galen, has specified five signs, but the differences, from our point of view, is negligible. The five signs discussed by Western medicine are: pain, swelling, redness, heat, and loss of function. Oriental medicine combines heat and redness into one sign, since both a sensation of warmth and the visible sign of redness are classified as heat.
The “loss of function” sign is seen by Oriental medicine as a mechanical consequence of significant Qi blockage and blood stasis, thus, both East and West are in basic agreement about the signs of early stage injury. If acute injury develops into a chronic issue, other signs can come into play, such as numbness/tingling, localized weakness, aggravation by external evils such as cold, and latency.
The Stages of Trauma
The First Stage of Trauma is the most distinct and is marked by the three chief manifestations of pain, heat, and swelling. Blood stasis and toxin are beginning to form. All traumatic injury involves the first stage of trauma, which can last anywhere from a few hours up to two weeks, depending on the type and severity of injury.
Heat usually manifests as localized redness, but in the absence of redness, heat might also be experienced by the patient as the sensation of heat at the site of the injury, or the area may hot to the touch. In minor injuries, the heat may not be detectable, but it is always present. The treatment strategy is to clear heat and resolve toxin, dispel stasis, and relieve pain. The formulas used to treat stage one trauma are the coldest formulas of the three stages; they emphasize eliminating heat-toxin while helping the body move out damaged tissue.
The Second Stage of Trauma is in phase when the initial inflammation first subsides. What remains is blood stasis combined with congestion of Qi and fluids in the local area. This congestion causes stiffness and pain.
The damaged tissue weakens the defense against the invasion of external pathogens such as wind and damp. Swelling may remain a factor, especially if treatment during the first stage was neglected, insufficient, or if the damage was severe. The treatment strategy for the second stage of trauma is similar to the first stage, but clearing heat becomes secondary to moving blood and dispelling stasis. Herbs are added to dispel wind and damp so that these pathogenic factors do not become lodged in the area, leading to chronic bi syndrome.
The Third Stage of Trauma is traditionally marked by the need to rebuild tissue and dispel exogenous pathogens that may have transformed into wind-cold-damp bi syndrome. There is often residual blood stasis that contributes to the lingering pain. As a result, there is inevitable overlap between the second and third stage of trauma formulas. Both should move blood, dispel stasis, and relieve pain, but in the second stage, heat may still be a minor factor, and the formulas are cooling or neutral. Lingering heat in the injured area should be cleared before employing a warm-property formula, so using the proper Dit Da Jow is critical during the first three stages.
The main focus of first stage trauma treatment in both bio-medicine and Oriental medicine can be summarized as an attempt to reduce or eliminate secondary injury so that healing can begin. Secondary injury is any further damage to the tissue peripheral to the locus of injury that occurs as a result of improper movement by the patient, or aggravation from the inflammatory response itself. The former can be reduced through stabilization, but the latter must be controlled through topical applications of ice, Dit Da Jow, or both, one can also combine the appropriate internal formula like Chinkoo to speed up the healing process.
The patho-physiology of secondary injury is chiefly related to the swelling factor. Swelling creates pressure; pressure decreases blood flow to the injured area by compressing blood vessels to the point where they can no longer transport enough oxygen to the injured area, so the healthy peripheral tissue begins to suffocate from lack of oxygen, thereby causing secondary necrosis. Swelling also restricts fluid flow between cells; more fluid will attempt to enter tissue surrounding the injury, causing these cells to burst and die. Whereas, icing limits swelling by its ability to contract, Chinese herbs are very effective at controlling secondary injury by invigorating blood flow, accelerating the removal of toxin, and promoting vessel repair.
Our Authentic Dit Da Jow which originated from the historic Shaolin Temple over 500 years ago employs the proper balanced blend of herbs to create a powerful neutral property liniment needed to heal a traumatic injury quickly.
Applying Authentic Dit Da Jow immediately after an injury starts the healing process enabling you to get thru the second and third stages of trauma rapidly. After the swelling is gone and all heat is cleared from the injury one can use a warm to hot property liniment without any side effects. Some sports trainers and martial arts schools have on hand San Huang San and Di Guo Leng Die Da Yao liniment, these are strictly cold property formulas for first stage healing. San Huang San is nicknamed herbal ice since it is used as a poultice on an injury. Di Guo Leng Die Da Yao is the Imperial cold liniment used on first stage injuries. Both of the above mentioned formulas are only to be used at the time of an injury and generally not more than 48 hours afterward. After 48 jours one should use a neutral to slightly warm liniment.
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Pain relief with Dit Da Jow