Traditional Chinese Medicine

During my flare-up, another research session led to me reading up on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which takes an herb-based approach to dealing with psoriasis. I booked an appointment at a clinic in Manchester’s Chinatown.

There, I was asked questions that I later realised were to establish the 'heat constitution' of my body: essentially, whether I was too hot-bodied, internally (in TCM terms, a Yin/Yang imbalance). They related to how regularly I felt hot, thirst, bowel movements, stress and sleep. However, my answers didn’t really feed into any indication that I was, indeed, “overly hot” inside. There was, of course, the psoriasis, and I was told that I have a dry tongue, but I personally wasn’t convinced of this.

I was prescribed a 4 week course of medicine to ‘cool my blood’- a herbal powder to be dissolved in boiling water- and told to stop putting on any moisturisers as this would block my skin’s pores. I had no intention of doing the latter: the body butter I make myself, the melted coconut oil I apply at night and the colloidal oat cream for any times it’s feeling dry don’t contain any ingredients that would block my pores.

The twice-a-day herbal drink

In addition to that, apricots, leeks and garlic were foods I was advised to avoid because they’re “warming”. I was disappointed to hear this: my diet is already so limited, and these edibles are highly rated in other psoriasis-friendly regimes. I found an article that lists cooling and warming foods…but if one follows everybody’s advice on what NOT to eat, our plates would surely be empty.

A potentially useful takeaway was the benefits of drinking warm water. The reason wasn’t given, but a bit of research revealed several sources (here’s one and another) explaining that the body has to heat up cold water. Absorption of minerals is therefore an easier process if it’s closer to room-temperature.

The consultation (£40) and medicine (£35 per week) left me £180 lighter in the space of twenty minutes. After the 4 weeks had passed, I had zero confidence that keeping up with this treatment would be valuable for my skin- or wallet. I visited the clinic in a vulnerable state of mind, resulting in me making a very expensive purchase. Fortunately, my request for a partial refund was accepted.

...so, call me a cynic, but I consider TCM to be unproven, unendorsed claptrap.