5 Signs of Kidney Qi Deficiency

When we use the word qi in Chinese medicine, there are a lot of different opinions about what that actually is. But I'll share something that I know for sure to be true, which is that when we talk about qi, we're often talking about the function of something. So when we say something like there's kidney qi deficiency or spleen qi deficiency, the easiest way to translate that could be one synonym, which is function deficiency. So today in this video, I want to talk about what's called kidney qi deficiency or kidney functional deficiency and some of the key signs and symptoms for it. Hey guys, Dr. Alex Hein, author of the health book Master of the Day, licensed acupuncturist and doctor of Chinese medicine. So before we jump into this video, two very important links that are right below the video. The first is if you'd like to become a patient of mine locally in Los Angeles or virtually via telemedicine, you can contact my private practice right below this video. There's a contact info button right there. The second is there's a free download I've put together for you, which is four daily rituals that could potentially help you add years to your life with traditional Chinese medicine. And that is right below if you want to download that. So maybe the first hallmark sign of kidney qi deficiency, actually we could say the hallmark demographic would be the middle-aged male who begins to experience these signs and symptoms, right? Textbook. First one being frequent urination, especially nighttime urination. So when we talk about nighttime urination, that's frequent, that's clear. This is a clear sign of the lower jowl from a Chinese medicine perspective, getting deficient and getting cold. So frequent urination, but most often frequent nighttime urination is one of the key signs and symptoms that we tend to see. The second sign and symptom we see is usually feeling cold. So one of my mentors said to me once, he said, why do you hear every middle-aged or elderly man say, I'm ready to move to Florida where it's warm. That's because the kidney yang is getting weak. It's getting run down. And the way you could think about that is that we call it the Ming Men. The way that I could explain it the most simply is that it is the primordial fire of life. It is the person's oomph, right? In our culture and in most cultures, I think there is a concept of what is the oomph? What is the yang? What is the primal force that makes people feel alive and feel strong and feel fertile and be virile? And what is that thing, right? There's a concept for it, which is why we say terms like burnout. Well, what burned out, right? Like what specifically burned out? We talk about burning the candle at both ends. We have these cultural sayings to understand a concept and the concept, you know, I don't think there's a real thing that is kidney chi that will be ever measured. I don't think there's a real thing that's kidney yin or kidney yang that is ever measured. I think they are ancient concepts that physicians and people use to observe and describe functions in a time in history that predated biochemistry by literally thousands of years. And the amazing thing is that these formulas all still work to treat those symptoms very effectively. So when we talk about these functions, kidney chi, kidney yin, kidney yang, we're talking about these physiological aspects of the body and of certain organs. So when we say burning the candle at both ends or the yang is getting weak, the mingmen fire, the primordial fire is getting a little bit doused. One of the patterns for this is kidney chi or kidney yang deficiency. And so feeling cold is because that fire as a concept has gotten weak. And so decreased immunity, poorer circulation, definitely worse sexual performance, urination, these are all related to that aspect of deficiency and cold in our perspective. The third sign and symptom is back or knee issues. It's common to see people at this time also experience knee problems, hip problems, whether it's osteoarthritis or they end up getting a hip replacement. Very, very common, a knee replacement, hip and knee replacement, double hip, double knee replacement. Let's just make them bionic. You know, maybe they can put like a special thing in my arm, I can replace this and then I can just not even have to feel the pulse. And I can have an ultrasound machine and I can just feel the pulse via ultrasound. It'd be pretty cool when I'm 146. The fourth sign and symptom is actually respiratory problems. So it's common to see people with things like shortness of breath, asthma. These breathing problems is a thing that the kidney grasps the chi. And it's a very difficult concept to explain. But clinically, one of the patterns you'll see in chronic asthma is that you often need to treat it clinically from the kidney perspective and not just from the lung perspective. And so in the same way, you know, something very similar, you often are treating heart problems from the kidney as well, which is why you look at a lot of the formulas, you know, some of the diuretic formulas that are related to hypertension, the kidney and the heart share that relationship, obviously both physiologically, but even from a Chinese medicine perspective for thousands of years, that's been observed as well. So these formulas can be used for respiratory or cardiovascular problems at the exact same time. So it's cool to see that modern medicine has this relationship and ancient Chinese medicine observed this relationship as well. So edema, for example, can be another one. And the last one, last sign and symptom is commonly sexual dysfunction. So it's common to also see, for example, men at this age, where they're having nighttime urination, sleep's not so good. And they're also having problems with getting or maintaining erections. So impotence, one of the patterns for it is a kidney qi or kidney yang dysfunction. So when we treat fertility, sometimes for both men and women, we're often treating the kidney. There are other patterns as well, but this is a very common kind of cliche textbook pattern. So if you see some of these patterns and you're getting up at night for the first time in your life, and maybe sleep's not so good, or you're also having some anxiety, depression, maybe some edema, some shortness of breath, some of these problems, you may be moving in towards that kidney qi deficiency pattern or kidney function deficiency pattern. And again, in my experience, Chinese formulas are very, very effective for this kind of pattern. And we have some formulas that are so famous and so well studied. In Japan, they're actually used over the counter. So shenshiwan kidney qi pill is over the counter for men over the age of 50. It's just like a textbook pattern. Night sweats, nighttime urination, boom. Hit them with shenshiwan for a couple months. They're all good. All right, guys, that's all I have for today. Five symptoms of or five signs of kidney qi deficiency. I thought I would share it because if you notice this happening, you may understand why it's happening and that it's not necessarily something to be afraid of. But in addition to seeing your PCP, this is a very well understood pattern in Chinese medicine for a very long time. All right, before you go, if you'd like to become a patient locally in Los Angeles or virtually via telemedicine, the contact info for my private practice is right below this video. And otherwise, I will catch you guys in these related videos over here.