Waike: The Specialty of External Medicine

The “physical” interpretation of the Waike (External Medicine) Specialty focuses on ailments of an individual’s external terrain, including:

1. the skin – Dermatology
2. the individual’s physical movement  – Orthopedics and/or Neurology
3. the sensory orifaces – EENT (eyes, ears, nose, throat)

A deeper interpretation of Waike includes any treatment strategy focused on facilitating the intrinsic movement of wei qi. Since the intrinsic movement of wei qi is constant profusion upward and outward, unblocking and facilitating that flow will externalize any unresolved pathogenic factors. That can include external ones that have penetrated to the interior, and unresolved internal pathogenic factors – emotional conflicts. The key to successful treatment with the Waike Specialty is frequently cathartic release with a “resetting” of the individual’s intrinsic profusion of wei qi.

This seminar presents the classical roots of Waike theory from Suwen (Simple Questions) – especially the progression of “perverse wind,” and delineates the core elements of its treatment strategy. We will discuss how to devise custom Waike herbal formulas for ingestion by patients (in contrast to soaks, external plasters, liniments, etc. for external use). While this specialty can be used to evaluate and devise treatments for patients with a wide variety conditions and diseases, the most straight-forward applications of Waike include ailments affecting an individual’s musculo-skeletal movement. We will discuss the principle strategies of Waike through analyzing well known historical formulas from Shanghanlun, Jiguiyaolue, Sun Simiao, Li Dongyuan, Zhu Danxi, and the Formulary of the Chinese Imperial Academy of Medicine.

In modern terms, this seminar will allow participants to begin applying Waike strategies to treat patients with a wide variety of orthopedic ailments. These can include acute, sub-acute, or chronic ones (such as tendonitis, bursitis, disc lesions, etc.), or degenerative ones like arthritis. Many of these patients may have neurological complications, such as radiculopathy or entrapment. Other patients with chronic and/or degenerative neurological ailments, such as CP, MS, or Parkinson’s can also be treated using the Waike specialty with slight modifications to account for the internal penetration of pathogenic factors. We will introduce this process to allow participants interested in those “internal” modifications to begin probing reversion treatments with patients challenged by such chronic neurological ailments.