I had a patient a few years ago, he suffered from severe headaches and migraines, felt nauseous and vomited. He had no strength and looked grey. He would only get better after one or two days of quiet lying and relaxing in bed accompanied by taking a strong pain killer. Every time the sickness attacked him, he felt down and unwell also from frequent pain killer consumption. When he came to me, I asked, “Do you live on the ground floor or on a higher level?” He answered: “I’m living on the seventh floor. There are ocean views on three sides from the apartment.” I continued asking: “Do you open windows a lot?” He answered: “Yes, always. I enjoy the draft.” I responded, “Ah! Now the reason has been found. The draft is much stronger at high places, you would have headache if you exposed yourself to draft too much.” He replied, “Does that mean I should feel a headache every day if I opened my windows every day, how come I don’t? “ I told him, “when you feel energized your body has the ability to exclude wind, heat and cold from your body. However, when you feel tired, stressed or deficient, your body would not have this ability. And when all those things accumulate to a certain level, you would have headaches or migraines. The reason is that the wind has been staying in your head, so that spasm happens with your vascular and nerves, thus it ends up as a headache or even a migraine. If you only open the window on one side of your apartment, the movement of air is so much softer, with the air coming from one direction only”. The patient felt much better and had less headaches after he followed my advice and taking acupuncture treatments.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) believes that too much draft or wind is a major factor leading to many diseases, it is the leading evil Qi (energy) of the six evils of sickness (wind, cold, heat, damp, dry and heat). The other five evils Qi attach to the wind to attack the human body. Such as wind cold, wind heat, wind damp etc. Thus, wind plays a leading role of all the evil Qi that account for sickness and diseases.
1. What is draft?
Draft is usually an artificial wind channel. It is the wind between two windows, two doors, two buildings, two walls, two objects etc. The higher the building, the stronger the wind; the thinner the wind, the sharper it could be. Australia is surrounded by ocean, there is strong ocean wind around us. Of course, this provides an advantageous condition for the draft to take place.
2. Why is it dangerous? Which part of body does the draft attack us?
Draft is sharper than natural wind. It could penetrate our skin, organs and body, especially when we feel deficient or sick. Children and the elderly are specially affected by it. The draft always prefers to ‘bully’ the weaker part of our body, stay there and make trouble.
IFs:
- If the wind attacks the joints, people feel sore in the joints, it ends up as arthritis.
- If the wind cold or wind heat attacks the head (or people go out with wet hair), it could probably lead to headache, earache, sore throat or toothache.
- If the wind cold or wind heat attacks the stomach, it could probably lead to abdominal distension, abdominal pain or diarrhoea.
- If the wind cold or wind heat attacks the chest and lung, it will lead to cough, sore throat or cold.
- If the wind cold or wind heat attacks the neck or waist, it will lead to neck pain or sore back. (Note: It is easy to be attacked by draft when driving, improper sleeping positions make it easy for the wind to attack our body too)
- If the wind attacks the muscles, people would feel weak and have muscle pain.
- If the wind attacks the body after sex, it goes into the body deeper because the sexual arousal consumes lots of energy and blood. It is more possible to happen to males who can easily fall into deep sleep after ejaculation to be attacked by cold wind. A most common chronic disease of the central nervous system called Multiple Sclerosis is related to the wind attack after sex according to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
- If the wind attacks the skin, it will lead to itching and skin disease.
3. The hazards to children
- If the wind attacks children, they will easily get ear ache, ear infection.
- It will accelerate getting a cold, (making it last longer),cough,asthma or bronchitis.
- It leads to headache.
- Babies and young children are suggested not going out when the wind is strong.
- It makes children unsettled and tired.
4. How to avoid draft
- Avoid staying in the draft. For example, draft in a café, restaurant, or inside the house etc.
- Only open the door or window on one side of the house.
- Open only other doors or windows during the night that let a soft wind blow into the bedrooms.
- Put more clothes on when you are surrounded by High-rise.
- Pay attention to avoiding draft when you are wet after exercise, and have wet hair and the time when you feel tired or after sex.
- It is important to keep your navel and waist warm. Especially for women, it will affect menstrual and it might be harder to get pregnant because the uterus has a cold environment.
- Keep your neck warm. Neck is the window of the body and it easily catches the wind.
Prevention and wisdom are the two principles of Traditional Qi.
Written by Angela Zhu (Chinese Medicine Practitioner)
Translated by Alan Huang.
© Copyright Angela Zhu 2011
Last year I slept with my window open, in the morning when I coughed right side of my head hurt and I noticed that my right eyelid is swollen and I feel discomfort in the same eye. My headache went away but my eye and eyelid still the same. I went to an eye doctor, even had MRI of my head, but my eye doctor did not find anything. its been a year now 🙁
I can’t tolerate cold on the abdomen. Specially from drafts, inside the house. And the colder it is, the quickest and worse I get. Very often neither hands or face reveal any air moving and yet it may be worse for my belly than actual wind. I am pretty sure it i a mater of the difference in temperature between out and inside. It just fills my belly of air. Of course, I do something so that it doesn’t continue. But when I can’t or I didn’t pay attention it reaches to the point of quite painful. And, as usual with health, getting worse is quick, but recovering takes time. I wear one of this elastic things for keeping the belly warm. It helps but very often is not enough.
I’ve tried several times Tibetan( the easiest for me since I live among them), Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Unani medicines, and several home medicines without any success. It is not something that impairs my life; it doesn’t seem serious, either. But is quite a bother. And in the long summer, to wear any extra piece… Not to be able to turn on a fan, or enjoy the evening breeze…
The more stools are loose the more sensitive I am to it. And living in India and Nepal for years, that is very common.
Now I am in Kathmandu and there is only one TCM Dr.I have good references from. Now, in 2005, I went to her and she didn’t believe me. For that reason and the fct that it was a hassle to go to her clinic, I only took 3 of the 10 sessions I was supposed to. And because I didn’t feel any change. I was thinking I should give it another try. And going with a number of open tabs in my laptop to show her that it is something TCM talks about.
I would hugely appreciate any advise. Particularly regarding the diagnosis , since I see many problems that have similar symptoms: stagnated Qi, cold affecting spleen, etc.
How would you treat it , in terms of accupuncture and herbs?
TThank you very much in advance.
Hi Peter,
Thank you for your comment.
Even in this modern day and age, we must not forget that the human body is still a part of nature. If the wind can blow the waves up and down, knock down trees, send out the clouds, and even dry out clothes, the wind could come through our body when we are weak, or tired, when our body cannot shake the wind out, and gradually, can damage our energy and body. That is why people could have headaches, migraines, arthritis, cold, etc…
I hope this makes some sense to you.
Hello. Interesting post. I’ve noted that it is almost impossible to find any article about dangers of draft on the internet. Why could it be?
In ex-Yugoslavian countries, (and I have heard that the same is in some other Balkan countries) there is a strong tradition of fear from the draft. E.g. my father has been telling me all my life that, while driving a car, I should close the window if one is already opened. People always tend to close one window in their homes, if stronger wind starts to blow. In case you leave both windows opened, there is a great chance that some older person is going to start to panic and insist that you close one window, explaining that the draft will provoke serious headaches and other health problems. The same is in public transportation, and so on. What I find interesting is that in countries of Western Europe this issue doesn’t even exist. They don’t even mention the draft, and if they do, it is not related to any health issues. How could this be?
Hi. The dangers of draft is common known in Skandinavia. People I know AND me included eksperience it on our own bodies. But maybe some are more sensitive to draft than others.
It’s true. I’m from Serbia and people here are very cautious when it comes to the draft. Right now I’m experiencing a headache caused by one. It is really interesting to find an article about it in English, cause yeah, it seems like no other nation recognizes the draft as a problem and cause of diseases. It’s always been bugging me how’s that possible 🙂
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