↑ reinforcing ↓ reducing ⊥ even method.
1. Spleen Deficiency with Dampness
Clinical manifestations: Bland or absent taste, worse after meals, feeling of heaviness in the body and limbs, abdominal bloating and loose unformed stools, fatigue and drowsiness after eating.
Tongue: Pale, swollen body with teeth marks, white greasy coating, moist surface. Pulse: Soggy and slow, soft and lacking force.
Treatment principle: Strengthen Spleen function and eliminate excess moisture so refined nourishment can reach the taste buds.
Note: moxa applicable on the tonifying points. No deck on this site combines Spleen-Qi deficiency with Dampness into one slide, so no pattern link is given here.
2. Damp-Heat in Stomach and Spleen
Clinical manifestations: Bitter or sticky taste in the mouth, thick yellow greasy tongue coating, heavy feeling in the body and limbs, bloating and fullness in the upper abdomen, sticky bowel movements that feel incomplete.
Tongue: Red body, possibly swollen with teeth marks, thick yellow greasy coating especially at centre and root. Pulse: Soggy and rapid, often slippery.
Treatment principle: Clear turbid Damp-Heat that steams upward and physically blocks the taste buds.
Note: no moxa. No deck on this site combines Damp-Heat across both the Stomach and Spleen into one slide, so no pattern link is given here.
Clinical manifestations: Emotional frustration or low mood, abdominal bloating especially after meals, sticky or incomplete bowel movements, heaviness of the body and limbs, distending discomfort along the ribs.
Tongue: Pale, swollen body with teeth marks, white greasy and excessively moist coating. Pulse: Slippery overall with a wiry quality, right Guan soggy or soft, left Guan wiry.
Treatment principle: Harmonize the Liver-Spleen relationship and resolve the moisture accumulation that blocks the taste buds.
Note: no moxa. Direct match — this site's own Obstruction-of-Spleen-by-Dampness-with-stagnation-of-Liver-Qi slide names the identical mechanism.
4. Stomach and Lung Yin Deficiency
Clinical manifestations: Dry mouth and throat, dry cough with little or no phlegm, thirst with desire to sip fluids, night sweats, hoarse or weak voice.
Tongue: Red or normal-coloured thin body, dry, little or no coating, possible cracks. Pulse: Fine and rapid.
Treatment principle: Nourish Yin and generate body fluids so taste buds can function again.
Note: no moxa given the Yin deficiency. This pattern combines Lung and Stomach Yin together, and no deck on this site has that exact combined-organ Yin-deficiency slide, so no pattern link is given here.
Clinical manifestations: Loss of taste came on suddenly with a cold or flu, fever stronger than any chills, sore scratchy throat, nasal congestion with yellow or thick mucus, thirst and dry mouth.
Tongue: Red tip, thin yellow coating, body slightly red. Pulse: Floating and rapid.
Treatment principle: Release the exterior and restore the Lungs' dispersive function to the nasal and oral sensory areas.
Note: no moxa. Direct match with this site's own Invasion-of-Lungs-by-Wind-Heat slide.