Understanding Blood Stasis, Blood Heat, Blood Deficiency, and Blood Cold: A Guide for Women’s Blood Nourishment

1. Blood Stasis (Xue Yu)

Symptoms: Manifestations include a dark complexion, dark lips, dark circles under the eyes, rough and dry skin, easy bruising, and a tongue that is purple or has stasis spots. If blood stasis is severe, it may lead to stabbing pain in the head, chest, flanks, lower abdomen, or limbs, cyanosis of the lips, or bleeding tendencies, such as vomiting blood, black stools, or blood in stools, abdominal masses, and in women, it may cause dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea, or metrorrhagia.

Regulation Principle: Blood stasis is often treated by invigorating blood and regulating qi simultaneously.

Regulation Suggestion: Longan and Walnut Tea (Gui Yuan He Tao Cha)

2. Blood Heat (Xue Re)

Heat pathogens invade and remain in the blood, often related to external heat pathogens and emotional disturbances.

Symptoms: Manifestations include fever, thirst, rashes, irritability, incoherent speech, and various bleeding symptoms such as vomiting blood, nosebleeds, blood in stools, and vaginal bleeding. Dysfunctional uterine bleeding, pelvic inflammatory disease, late postpartum hemorrhage, and hemorrhagic purpura are also common.

Regulation Principle: The main focus is on stopping bleeding and clearing heat.

Regulation Suggestions: Clear Heat and Secure Essence Decoction (Qing Re Guo Jing Tang), Clear Nutritive Decoction (Qing Ying Tang)

3. Blood Deficiency (Xue Xu)

Insufficient blood in the body fails to nourish the organs, meridians, and body, and cannot maintain normal mental activities. This is often due to congenital weakness, chronic illness, excessive worry, spleen and stomach deficiency, or excessive blood loss. In modern medicine, it is commonly seen in conditions like anemia, arrhythmia, sleep disorders, menopausal syndrome, neurasthenia, hypertension, ovulation disorders, constipation, neurogenic headaches, and acute or chronic hemorrhagic diseases.

Symptoms: Dizziness, pale or sallow complexion without luster, dry hair, dry skin, and numbness in limbs or extremities. Other symptoms may include headaches, dizziness, chest tightness, heart pain, fatigue, constipation, irregular menstruation, and cancer.

Regulation Principle: Nourishing blood and calming the heart, as well as tonifying blood and nourishing the liver are the main focuses.

Regulation Suggestions: Heart Nourishing Decoction (Yang Xin Tang) with modifications, Four Substance Decoction (Si Wu Tang) with modifications.

4. Blood Cold (Xue Han)

Cold in the blood is often caused by external cold pathogens.

Symptoms: Symptoms include cold intolerance, abdominal and leg pain, cold hands and feet, a white tongue coating, and in women, pain during late menstruation with dark purple menstrual blood containing clots.

Regulation Principle: Warm the meridians and disperse cold.

Regulation Suggestions: Ginger and Red Date Tea (Sheng Jiang Hong Zao Cha)