What to do about blisters on the lips?

Getting a sore throat or lip ulcers is a common and frequent occurrence. So, what should you do if you get sore throats or lip ulcers? Let's take a look.

What to do about blisters on the lips?

"Getting too hot" is a term specific to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Symptoms such as dry and sore throat, red eyes, hot nasal cavity, dry mouth and tongue, cracked corners of the mouth, nosebleeds, and toothaches are considered "getting too hot" in TCM.

How does "fire" arise? One way is through direct invasion of "heat evil" from nature, causing symptoms of "internal heat"; another way is through the invisible "fire" within the body that drives life functions, which, due to an imbalance of yin and yang, loses its normal latent function and causes symptoms of "internal heat".

There are many specific factors that can cause "internal heat". Excessive emotional fluctuations, heatstroke, catching a cold, smoking and drinking alcohol, as well as excessive consumption of spicy foods such as onions, ginger, garlic, and chili peppers, consuming fatty foods such as mutton and dog meat, poisoning, and lack of sleep can all cause "internal heat".

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) categorizes symptoms of heat in the upper body, such as dizziness and sore throat, as "upper burner fire"; those in the middle body, such as feverishness, thirst, and stomach pain, as "middle burner fire"; and those in the lower body, such as constipation and dark urine, as "lower burner fire." Furthermore, based on the internal organs' functions, red and swollen eyes are called "liver fire," nasal flaring and shortness of breath are called "lung fire," and mouth ulcers are called "heart fire," and so on. Considering internal conditions, these fires can also be divided into two main categories: "excess" and "deficiency." Excess fire is characterized by severe symptoms and a rapid onset; deficiency fire is characterized by milder symptoms, prolonged duration, and accompanying symptoms such as hot palms and soles, night sweats, and tidal fever. This classification provides a basis for relevant treatments.

There are two key points to note when treating "internal heat": First, choose traditional Chinese medicine instead of blindly using Western medicine. The former addresses the root cause by regulating the whole body, while the latter only treats the symptoms. Second, follow the principles of traditional Chinese medicine for diagnosis and treatment. For example, for "heat in the middle burner," use Qingwei San; for "heart fire," use Daochi San; and for "excessive heat," use Sanjiao or Niuhuang Jiedu Pian to clear heat. It's best to do this under the guidance of a doctor. Using Sanjiao or similar medications indiscriminately for every instance of "heat" is sometimes ineffective and may even worsen the condition.

Five dietary therapies to reduce internal heat

People are prone to symptoms of "internal heat," such as red, swollen, and painful eyes, sore throat, swollen gums, painful mouth ulcers, and tongue tip erosion. "Internal heat" can be regulated through diet, and "food therapy" has unique effects.

1. Drink lotus seed soup to clear heart fire

Symptoms: There are two types, deficiency and excess. Deficiency heat manifests as low-grade fever, night sweats, irritability, and dry mouth; excess heat manifests as recurrent oral ulcers, dry mouth, dark and scanty urine, irritability, and anger.

Dietary therapy: 30 grams of lotus seeds, 15 grams of gardenia (wrapped in gauze), add appropriate amount of rock sugar, decoct in water, eat lotus seeds and drink soup.

2. Eating pig liver can clear lung heat.

Symptoms include: dry cough with little or no phlegm, night sweats, hot palms and soles, insomnia, and a red tongue.

Dietary therapy: Cook one pig liver and 30 grams of chrysanthemum together until the liver is cooked through. Eat the liver and drink the soup.

3. Drink mung bean porridge to clear stomach heat.

Symptoms: There are two types, deficiency and excess. Deficiency heat manifests as mild cough, poor appetite, constipation, abdominal distension, red tongue, and little coating; excess heat manifests as upper abdominal discomfort, dry mouth and bitter taste, and hard stools.

Dietary therapy: Take 30 grams of gypsum powder, appropriate amounts of japonica rice and mung beans. First, decoct the gypsum powder in water, then filter out the residue and take the clear liquid. Then add japonica rice and mung beans to cook porridge and eat it.

4. Drink pear juice to clear liver fire.

Symptoms include headache, dizziness, tinnitus, dry eyes, bitter taste in the mouth, bad breath, and distending pain in the hypochondriac region.

Dietary therapy: Crush 10 grams of Fritillaria cirrhosa into powder, peel and chop 2 pears, add appropriate amount of rock sugar and water, stew and consume.

5. Eating pork kidneys can reduce kidney heat.

Symptoms include: dizziness, tinnitus, hearing loss, lower back pain, night sweats, and restlessness.

Dietary therapy: Take 2 pig kidneys, 15 grams each of wolfberry and cornelian cherry, put them together in a clay pot and cook until the pig kidneys are cooked. Eat the pig kidneys and drink the soup.

When you feel hot and bothered, eat more bitter foods, as bitter foods are the natural enemy of "heat"! The best bitter food for clearing heat and detoxifying is bitter melon. It can be eaten raw in salads, stir-fried, or in soups. It's best to stir-fry it until it's cooked through but still retains its green color. Alternatively, wash the bitter melon, add a little salt and sesame oil, and eat it as a cold salad; this way, you won't destroy the bitter melon's nutrients. You can also slice the bitter melon and steep it in tea or juice it. Drinking raw bitter melon juice allows the body to quickly absorb a large amount of the effective components of bitter melon. To reduce the bitterness of bitter melon, you can soak it in salt water before eating. This can remove some of the bitterness and also remove some of the oxalic acid in the bitter melon, so as not to hinder the absorption of calcium from food. Besides bitter melon, other bitter foods are also worth recommending, such as almonds, bitter greens, bitter tea, celery, buckwheat, kale, and nasturtiums. A decoction of fresh celery leaves in water, or the juice of fresh celery after blanching in boiling water, can also clear heat and relieve summer heat.

The above is a brief introduction to "what to do about mouth ulcers caused by internal heat." Besides eating more bitter foods, spring brings an abundance of fruits and vegetables, so it's also important to eat plenty of sweet and refreshing fresh fruits and tender vegetables. Cabbage, cauliflower, watermelon, hawthorn, apples, and grapes are rich in minerals, especially calcium, magnesium, and silicon, which have calming and heat-reducing effects. Therefore, these foods should be eaten frequently in spring.