Painful Obstruction with Qi and Blood Deficiency

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: Difficulty in moving Numbness in the extremities General sensation of heaviness Stiffness in the neck shoulder and upper back

Pulse type(s): Slowed-down (Huan)

Tongue coating: Thin white coating

Treatment

Common formulas: Juan Bi Tang

Pathology

Painful Obstruction with Qi and Blood Deficiency 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 Painful Obstruction with Qi and Blood Deficiency gives rise to such diverse symptoms as general sensation of heaviness, numbness in the extremities, difficulty in moving and stiffness in the neck shoulder and upper back.

To diagnose a pattern, analyzing a patient's pulse as well as their tongue is common practice. In the case of Painful Obstruction with Qi and Blood Deficiency patients tend to exhibit slowed-down (Huan) pulses as well as a tongue with thin white coating.

Patterns aren't exactly the Chinese Medicine equivalent to Western diseases, they're rather the underlying causes behind diseases or health conditions. Here Painful Obstruction with Qi and Blood Deficiency is thought to sometimes induce conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis or periarthritis of the shoulder.

Diagnosing Painful Obstruction with Qi and Blood Deficiency

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): Slowed-down (Huan)

Tongue coating: Thin white coating

Main symptoms: Difficulty in moving Numbness in the extremities General sensation of heaviness Stiffness in the neck shoulder and upper back