Hannah Zulueta TCVM · Skin
The Hot Spot Started In Winter
Why the lesion shows up on the skin in June, and why the work that prevents it happens in January.
In Chinese Medicine the skin is an extension of the Lungs. When the Lungs are healthy, the skin is healthy. That does not happen on its own. Your dog also has Wei Qi, defensive Qi, a network whose job is to protect the outside of the body.
The one thing
Hot spots in dogs are a Damp Heat pattern.
A hot spot appears when the Wei Qi is not strong enough to hold the exterior. Pathogenic heat, usually driven by the rising Yang of spring and the heat of summer, sits between the exterior and the interior of the body. There is a level of disharmony where the body does not have enough Yang to push the external pathogen back out.
That is why treating only the skin keeps failing. The skin is where you are seeing it. It is not where it began.
The mechanism
The role of the Kidneys
In the winter months, or the wet months if you live in the tropics, the body stores water in the Kidneys. When the Kidneys are healthy, Kidney Yang and Kidney Jing are held there, and cold and wet cannot invade.
When the Kidneys are weak, cold and damp enter the body and incubate.
In five-phase element theory there is an order and a balance between the phases and the organs. Disease is what disharmony looks like. Here the hot spot presents in the skin, and the skin belongs to the Lung and Large Intestine.
Patterns of disharmony rarely stay in one organ. Often the root cause started somewhere else entirely. In this case the Kidney starts to overpower the Liver and Gallbladder, and overwhelms the Lung and Large Intestine.
What you see
From where you are standing
- Your dog starts to itch at the hot spots.
- The tongue turns a darker red.
- They may or may not start licking their paws.
- The whites of the eyes may look redder to you.
- They may be restless at night and not sleep peacefully.
Biomedically, cells respond to hot weather by releasing polymorphonuclear leukocytes, histamines, prostaglandins, thromboxanes, cytokines, leukotrienes and several more. That acute response is meant to rid the body of the foreign agents that triggered the inflammation. Two frameworks, one event.
First line of defense
Keep the Kidneys strong
If your dog is prone to hot spots, start now. Do not wait for the dry months after the rains. Do not wait for spring, and certainly do not wait until summer to start attending to your dog’s Kidneys.
Pull from the list below when you build recipes. It could be beef, beef heart and egg, with bone or calcium and organ meat, topped with asparagus and yam.
Salt has a ceiling. A diet with an excess of salt is associated with a deficient Heart and a disturbed Shen. Use these to season the pattern, not to build the bowl.
Avoid cold or cooling foods, raw foods, and excessive salt, particularly during winter.
Second line of defense
Barrier immunity
Same as before, this starts in the wet or cold months rather than when the skin breaks.
- Do not let your dog stay out too long in the cold and wet months.
- Dry them off immediately when they come in from outside.
- Once the temperature turns, start moving. Hike or walk, and get the circulation going.
You want to move that Qi, so any dampness trapped inside gets moved around and out rather than left to sit.
Third line of defense
Drain the damp, then clear the heat
If hot spots have already arisen, the order is drain the damp first, then clear the heat. Different foods clear heat from the Kidneys, the Liver and the Spleen, so the choice depends on where the heat sits.
Pick a category. These are toppers added to the food, not a replacement for the meal.
First move. Damp is the heavier obstruction, and heat sitting on top of undrained damp will keep coming back.
Second move, once the damp is moving.
Vegetables should be lightly steamed. Not wet and soggy.
You will notice chicken, lamb and oats appear on both lists. That is not a contradiction. They support the Kidney in the quiet months, and they are too warming to be in the bowl while a hot spot is active. The season and the state of the dog decide which list you are reading.
The right combination of food acts like a lock and key to return your dog’s body to a state of wholeness.
Recipe
Herbal tonic with fresh watermelon
The flavor and nature of these ingredients clear heat while also helping the Liver and Gallbladder, which in turn helps the Kidneys.
Cool it in the fridge. Let your dog drink a small amount every day, from the moment you see the hot spots until it is gone. You can also apply Manuka honey directly to the hot spot to speed the healing.
Also worth trying
Corn silk tea
Corn silk tea is found all around the world. In the United States, look in your Korean or Chinese grocery store.
Brew it, store it in the fridge, and let your dog take a cold drink of corn silk tea to clear the heat.
Chinese herbs for hot spots
There are Chinese herbs that release heat, but I do not normally recommend them until the food options are exhausted.
Putting it together
Three things to remember
The body wants to return to a state of wholeness, and food can support that.
Work with me
If the hot spots keep coming back
Where the heat sits changes which foods clear it, and a dog who gets hot spots every single summer usually has something underneath that a topper will not reach. If you are stuck, book a consultation and we will work out which pattern you are actually treating.
Related reading: allergies and skin conditions, East and West, herbal minute on astragalus, and the nutrition calculators.
The information on Daily Dog Food Recipes is intended for nutritional, informational and educational purposes only. Nothing here is intended to diagnose, cure, treat or prevent any disease or illness. Please consult your veterinarian about your dog’s medical care.
Hannah Zulueta obtained her Certificate in Canine Nutrition from CASI Institute. She is also studying for her Doctorate in Acupuncture, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Herbalism from the esteemed Pacific College of Health and Medicine. If you’re as keenly interested in health for yourself, visit her website for human health: Satori Acupuncture and Herbs.
She resides in San Diego with her three dogs, Maggie, Orbit, and Mr. Higgins.
She is available for one on one consultations. She develops evidence-based recipes that meet both NRC and AAFCO nutritional standards while integrating the therapeutic food principles of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine into her formulations.
Additionally, you can find her sharing free content on Instagram.
What are your thoughts on re-hydrated foods. I buy this wonderful organic mix from Dr. Harvey’s that you add hot water too to rehydrate it. It is mix of oats, barley, spelt, carrots, green beans, peas, minerals and even peppermint. And you add your protein of choice and some oil which I use flaxseed. My dog loves it. Right now she is going through a bout of phlegm build-up throughout the day that hangs out in her esophagus due to mega-esophagus and it is thick and slimy and she ends up regurgitating it and her food. I have her on some chinese herbs and I still want to use this food. Adding in shitake mushrooms and celery into her food as well. You think it is okay?
Hello Michele,
Dr. Harvey’s makes great base mixes. I used to feed them before I went to full DIY.
If your dog is on Chinese Herbs I am going to assume that someone who has examined your dog, has guided you on that. There are so many different herbs I can’t really give my opinion w/out a full consult.
But that aside – regurgitating is what we call “Rebellious Qi” because Qi (movement) of food is supposed to go down so if it’s coming back up it’s going counterflow.
The question is what might be causing that.
In western medicine the name for this is Mega-esophagus.
In eastern medicine we look to see what we can to do help the Liver (who is in charge of Qi) rebalance so that you don’t have the regurg.
Outside of a consult, I’d look to help the liver through
– Milk thistle for 3 weeks
– Broccoli sprouts
– trading out the celery for dark leafy greens like collard greens or even cabbage which the stomach loves
Mushrooms are great in most cases.
Good luck with her – sounds like you are a very caring dog mom and she’s in good hands.