Pain in the limbs

Pain in one or more of the limbs. Pain in the limbs is usually caused by wind-cold-damp invading the channels and network vessels, the flesh, and the joints, obstructing the movement of qì. Plain Questions (素问 sù wèn, bì lùn) states, When wind, cold, and damp evils concur and combine, they give rise to impediment (bì). Pain in the limbs can also arise as a result of spleen and stomach disorders. The spleen governs the limbs, and spleen vacuity can cause limb pain. The location and nature of pain in the limbs provides useful diagnostic evidence: Pain in the joints and scurrying pain is usually wind impediment; Acute pain in the joints exacerbated by cold and relieved by warmth is usually cold impediment; joint pain with heavy cumbersome body usually indicates damp impediment; scorching pain in the joints that likes cold, in some cases with redness and swelling, is usually heat impediment; dull pain in the heel or lower leg and knee is usually insufficiency of kidney qì.