Blood Stagnation with Heat
The information provided here is not a replacement for a doctor. You shouldn't use it for the purpose of self-diagnosing or self-medicating but rather so you can have a more informed discussion with a professional TCM practitioner.
At a glance
Preliminary reading: What is a pattern?
Diagnosis
Common symptoms: Pain in the groin Alternating fever and chills Guarding of the abdominal musculature Lower abdominal distension and pain that increases with pressure
Pulse type(s): Rapid (Shu), Slippery (Hua)
Tongue coating: Yellow coating
Tongue color: Pale
Treatment
Common formulas: Da Huang Mu Dan Pi Tang
Pathology
Blood Stagnation with Heat is a pattern of disharmony in Chinese Medicine.
Chinese Medicine views the human body as a complex system that tends toward harmony. A pattern of disharmony is a disorder that prevents that harmony from occurring.
Patterns give rise to symptoms that may at first glance seem unrelated from a Western standpoint but that actually make a lot of sense when one understands Chinese Medicine theory. For instance here Blood Stagnation with Heat gives rise to such diverse symptoms as lower abdominal distension and pain that increases with pressure, guarding of the abdominal musculature, pain in the groin and alternating fever and chills.
To diagnose a pattern, analyzing a patient's pulse as well as their tongue is common practice. In the case of Blood Stagnation with Heat patients tend to exhibit rapid (Shu) or slippery (Hua) pulses as well as a pale tongue with yellow coating.
Patterns aren't exactly the Chinese Medicine equivalent to Western diseases, they're rather the underlying causes behind diseases or health conditions. Here Blood Stagnation with Heat is thought to sometimes induce conditions such as pelvic inflammatory disease, conjunctivitis or appendicitis (as well as nine others).
Diagnosing Blood Stagnation with Heat
Diagnosing a pattern in Chinese Medicine is no easy feat and should be left to professional practitioners. In particular one has to know how to differentiate between different types of pulses and tongue coatings, shapes and colors as well as learn to read from a long list of seemingly unrelated symptoms.
Pulse type(s): Rapid (Shu) or slippery (Hua)
Tongue coating: Yellow coating
Tongue color: Pale
Main symptoms: Pain in the groin Alternating fever and chills Guarding of the abdominal musculature Lower abdominal distension and pain that increases with pressure
Treating Blood Stagnation with Heat
Herbal formulas used to treat Blood Stagnation with Heat
Da Huang Mu Dan Pi Tang
Source date: 220 AD
Number of ingredients: 5 herbs
Key actions: Clears Stagnant Heat in the intestines. Reduces swelling and disperses lumps.
Formula summary
Da Huang Mu Dan Pi Tang is a 5-ingredient Chinese Medicine formula. Invented in 220 AD, it belongs to the category of formulas that clear internal abscesses and sores.
Besides Blood Stagnation with Heat, Da Huang Mu Dan Pi Tang is also used to treat Blood Stagnation.
Related conditions
Please keep in mind that a Western Medicine condition can be caused by several Chinese Medicine patterns of disharmony and vice versa. As such a patient suffering from one of the conditions below will not necessarily be suffering from Blood Stagnation with Heat, it is just one pattern that's commonly associated with the condition. Click on a condition to learn what other patterns it's associated with.
Pelvic inflammatory disease Conjunctivitis Appendicitis Iliac fossa abscess Subdermal abscess Renal abscess Hepatic abscess Pulmonary abscess Bacillary dysentery Pyelonephritis Osteomyelitis Folliculitis