↑ reinforcing ↓ reducing ⊥ even method.
Clinical manifestations: Sudden ear fullness and blockage; cough with thick yellow phlegm; a sore or scratchy throat; nasal congestion with yellow mucus; thirst and mild fever with slight chills.
Tongue: Red tip, thin yellow coating. Pulse: Floating and rapid.
Treatment principle: Disperse Wind-Heat, clear Heat, restore Lung diffusing function to open the ear passages.
Clinical manifestations: Ear distension and pain, often throbbing, worse with anger or emotional stress; a bitter taste; intense irritability; red, painful eyes; loud ringing tinnitus.
Tongue: Red body with redder sides, dry yellow coating. Pulse: Wiry and rapid, full and forceful at the left middle position.
Treatment principle: Drain excess Fire from the Liver and Gallbladder, clear Heat from the Liver channel.
Note: no moxa. Direct match with
Liver-Fire blazing — irritability, a bitter taste, red eyes and tinnitus are shared.
Clinical manifestations: The ear feels heavy and full, not just sharp pain; a bitter taste; an aversion to greasy food; nausea; irritability.
Tongue: Red body with thick yellow greasy coating. Pulse: Wiry, slippery, rapid.
Treatment principle: Drain Damp-Heat from the Liver and Gallbladder, relieve ear distension and purulent discharge.
4. Turbid Phlegm Blocks the Orifices
Clinical manifestations: The ear feels stuffed or wrapped in cotton, rather than sharp pain; heavy-headedness; dizziness; chest tightness; nausea; poor appetite.
Tongue: Pale, swollen body with teeth marks, thick white greasy-slippery coating. Pulse: Slippery, often wiry at the right Guan position.
Treatment principle: Dry Dampness, transform Phlegm, regulate Qi, descend rebellious Qi.
Note: no moxa. No deck on this site has a Phlegm-blocking-the-orifices/Mind category framed around the ear specifically, so no pattern link is given here.
Clinical manifestations: Gradual, persistent ear fullness and muffled hearing; high-pitched tinnitus; lower back and knee soreness/weakness; poor memory; dizziness; mental fog, worse with fatigue.
Tongue: Pale, thin body, little or no coating, possible fine cracks. Pulse: Thin, deep, weak at both rear (Chi) positions.
Treatment principle: Nourish Kidney-Yin, calm the Liver, open the ear orifices.
Note: moxa applicable on the tonifying points. Direct match with
Kidney-Essence deficiency — poor memory, dizziness and tinnitus are named there.
Clinical manifestations: Fixed, stabbing ear pain; a sensation of fullness that doesn't shift; a history of ear trauma or chronic problems; worse with pressure or touch.
Tongue: Purple body with stasis spots, distended sublingual veins, thin white coat. Pulse: Wiry and choppy.
Treatment principle: Invigorate Blood, dispel stasis, unblock the channels, open the orifices.
Note: no moxa. Matches
Liver-Blood stasis — a dark purple tongue with stasis spots is the same discoloration marker named there.