Jow vs Rubbing Alcohol

I have never used Jow, but heard it has similar effects as Rubbing Alcohol. I had some RA, splashed and massaged it in. Felt real good and helped ease some pain in my joints.

Any thoughts on this? Anyone use both and can compare and contrast.

Godzilla

"Alcohol dries out your skin and makes you look old"

--American Psycho--


Go for the jow.. just watch out... smells like syrup and it might make you think of pancakes.

"If you and I agree all the time, then one of us is unnecessary."

I love the smell of Jow.

I make it using Vodka but I have a batch brewing for about a year that was made with Gin, it gets thicker.

I use alcohol more than jow. I take in internally in large dosages. mostly on weekends few times a month.

Yes, the internal use of alcohol can bring about moments of heightened happiness. Jow is definitely better for external application though :)

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What we do in life echoes in Eternity

Jow is made up of two main components: ethyl alcohol (the type we can drink) and any number of herbs which have been identified to have very specific medicinal qualities.

Rubbing alcohol is isopropyl alocohol. Not for internal use. It is used to sterilize the skin before shots, etc. (although Western medicine has proven it actually does very little to actually sterilize the area) and occasionally in old-school western massages.

According to TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) alcohol is warming and invigorating. It stimulates the Yang qi of the body and invigorates the blood (promotes circulation). Because of it's warming nature it can generate the TCM pathology of Damp-Heat when consumed too often.

I do not know the exact difference between ethyl alcohol (that which was classified by the Chinese long ago) and isopropyl alcohol. I have a vague memory of hearing it was cooler than regular alcohol. However this is only a vague memory so please do your own research.

With the assumtion of the two types of alcohol being the same we could then decide what the difference is between Jow and Rubbing Alcohol. First, however, you must decide if you think Chinese herbs do what they say they do. If you do, then it is easy to say that Jow is better. If you do not, then either will do.

Of course with any Jow formula you will need to know what herbs are in there and what they do to know what your formula does.

Hope the info helps...

Justin

since my chin na class i have been using rubbing alcohol on my hands to ease the soreness. it definately helps ease the pain. i never thought it could be used for this. Still, never tried jow so cannot compare.

Godzilla

Jow is really good...thats the only thing i use when i bruise my arms or have small fractures in my bones...it works really well u should try it

It is interesting that ETOH can increase the effect of bruising if taken internally and decrease the effect of bruising if rubbed on externally.

We bang arms in Xing-Yi class and use Sifu's jow afterwards. Unless I go psycho hard and over do it,I hardly ever have a burise.

-------------------------I am fortunate to have a teacher to correct my foolish ways......Qiman

in liquid form, what color should the Jow be? Green? Brown? My accupuncturist gave me some pills, the bottle says "die de jiu wan"(sp?) he said this would do for the bruises I had, and if i get them worse than usual, we'd go from there. anyone? :confused: :)