↑ reinforcing ↓ reducing ⊥ even method.
1. Blood Deficiency
Clinical manifestations: Pale lips and nail beds; dizziness; palpitations; poor memory; fatigue; a washed-out complexion; scanty menstrual flow with pale blood.
Tongue: Pale, thin white coat. Pulse: Fine and weak.
Treatment principle: Nourishes Blood directly to restore colour and substance to the tissues.
Note: moxa is appropriate.
Clinical manifestations: Pale lips with a dull, yellowish complexion; poor appetite; bloating after meals; loose stools; fatigue; heaviness in the limbs; poor memory.
Tongue: Pale, puffy, tender, tooth-marked, thin white coat. Pulse: Soft, forceless, slow at the right middle position.
Treatment principle: Tonifies Spleen Qi to restore the digestive transformation that produces Blood.
Note: moxa is appropriate.
Clinical manifestations: Pale lips with a cold, puffy appearance; cold hands and feet; loose, watery stools with undigested food; dull abdominal pain improving with warmth; poor appetite; bloating; tiredness and heaviness.
Tongue: Pale, puffy, tender, tooth-marked, white slippery coat. Pulse: Deep, slow, weak.
Treatment principle: Warms and strengthens Spleen Yang to restore digestive fire and circulate warm Blood upward.
Note: moxa is strongly indicated.
4. Interior Cold
Clinical manifestations: Pale lips with a bluish or dull cast; cold hands and feet, difficult to warm; deep abdominal pain relieved by heat; no thirst, or only sips of warm drinks; loose, watery stools; clear, abundant urination.
Tongue: Pale, puffy, tooth-marked, white moist or slippery coat. Pulse: Deep, slow, may feel tight.
Treatment principle: Warms the interior, disperses deep Cold and restores Yang to thaw congealed Blood vessels.
Note: moxa is strongly indicated.