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TCM Eight Principles Diagnosis: Yin-Yang, Exterior-Interior, Cold-Heat, Deficiency-Excess
Before reading this article, it is recommended to first read all articles in this collection regarding body constitution health.
We provide a brief review of nine types of constitutions:
Normal Constitution: Balanced Yin and Yang Constitutional Bias: Cold and Heat
Yang Deficiency Constitution: Sensitive to Cold Yin Deficiency Constitution: Prone to Heat
Qi Deficiency Constitution: Feelings of Weakness Blood Deficiency Constitution: Dryness and Astringency
Phlegm-Damp Constitution: Heaviness and Stickiness Divided into Cold-Damp and Damp-Heat
Cold-Damp Constitution: Prone to Pain Damp-Heat Constitution: Prone to Itching
Qi Stagnation Constitution: Liver Discomfort Blood Stasis Constitution: Prone to Masses
After learning all the characteristics of these constitutions, one may find that their condition does not completely match any single constitution, or they may identify with multiple characteristics. The answer is: you belong to a mixed constitution.
There are many names for mixed constitutions, such as Yin-Yang Dual Deficiency, Qi and Blood Dual Deficiency, Qi Stagnation and Blood Stasis, Qi Stagnation with Phlegm Obstruction, Upper Heat and Lower Cold, and even Yin-Yang and Qi-Blood Both Deficient, Qi Stagnation with Blood Stasis and Phlegm-Damp Intermingling, and Mixed Deficiency-Excess with Cold-Heat…
Just as illness does not follow a textbook, constitution does not form according to textbooks either. Our constitution is gradually formed by the accumulation of various external pathogens and internal emotional injuries over time, and it is changeable. If you actively adjust, your constitution can return from complexity to simplicity, ultimately achieving normalcy.
Due to the complexity of mixed constitutions, akin to permutations and combinations, various outcomes are possible, making it impractical to analyze each one in detail. We might as well use a gradual approach to observe the formation process of various complex constitutions.
Generally speaking, it is more common for a deficiency constitution to gradually develop into a mixed deficiency-excess condition.
For example, due to congenital insufficiency or lack of exercise, many people have insufficient heart and lung function, often experiencing shallow breathing and shortness of breath with exertion. In this unstable foundation, combined with hard work, excessive play, staying up late, mental exhaustion, and irregular diet…
The body has insufficient Qi and Blood nourishment and excessive consumption, gradually leading to a Qi Deficiency constitution, characterized by physical weakness and fatigue without awareness; or a Blood Deficiency constitution, with dizziness and pale complexion, mistakenly believing that resting will improve the situation; or even a combined Qi and Blood Deficiency, which is also overlooked.
Because deficiency symptoms initially do not affect daily life, and looking around, everyone’s constitution is not particularly good, one may think they are part of the normal population. Therefore, the attitude is indifferent.
In terms of the human body, Yang transforms into Qi and Yin forms the body. Sufficient Qi means sufficient Yang, leading to vigorous activity and agile thinking; sufficient Blood means sufficient Yin fluids, nourishing the limbs, organs, and skin. When Qi and Blood are deficient, it inevitably leads to insufficient Yin and Yang, with Qi Deficiency developing into Yang Deficiency, Blood Deficiency developing into Yin Deficiency, and Qi and Blood Dual Deficiency evolving into Yin-Yang Dual Deficiency…
In fact, these deficiency symptoms rarely exist in isolation; they influence each other and coexist.
Due to the relatively mild pathological state caused by deficiency symptoms and their slow progression, many people do not pay attention, often tolerating or treating them simply without considering fundamental adjustments. However, it is during the deficiency stage that adjustments are relatively easy, with many methods available to tonify deficiency, including diet, herbs, exercise, and external treatments.
Missing the deficiency stage leads to the onset of mixed deficiency-excess.
For instance, in a state of Qi Deficiency and Yang Deficiency, our spleen and stomach functions are relatively weak, as the transformation of food requires the push of Qi and the warmth of Yang. It can be understood that the spleen and stomach need to ‘burn’ the food you consume into various nutrients that the body can absorb. This process requires Qi to ignite the Yang fire, allowing the water in the pot to boil, and the steam to spread, enabling the body to absorb it. Insufficient Qi cannot ignite the fire, and insufficient Yang means the fire is not strong enough, preventing this process from completing perfectly.
This incomplete process leaves many issues, with water not vaporizing and stagnating, forming dampness, and nutrients from food not being utilized, leading to waste. These wastes, which were originally essence, now become refuse, accumulating in the five organs and affecting their functions, leading to various masses, blocking meridians and blood vessels, and disrupting the flow of Qi and Blood, resulting in Qi Stagnation and Blood Stasis. Gradually, Phlegm-Damp constitution, Qi Stagnation constitution, and Blood Stasis constitution emerge, transforming the original deficiency constitution into an excess constitution, while the original deficiency constitution still exists. Due to the obstruction of excess pathogens, Qi and Blood cannot nourish the body normally, leading to greater deficiency, deficiency causing excess, and excess becoming more pronounced, resulting in a complex entanglement of deficiency and excess.
At this point, some excess symptoms appear, often acute, manifesting as inflammation, pain, heat symptoms, edema, dizziness, convulsions, tumors, and other clinical symptoms, which finally begin to attract attention and prompt active treatment. After this stage, regardless of the treatment outcome, health preservation finally becomes a priority…
Of course, it is never too late to focus on health preservation, though the difficulty may vary. However, many people fall into another misconception, thinking that health preservation is merely about supplementation. Due to the mixed deficiency-excess constitution, there are often manifestations of deficiency symptoms, leading to self-misjudgment or misdiagnosis by some doctors as deficiency, prompting them to begin supplementation.
Many people often worry that they cannot tolerate supplementation, experiencing heat symptoms upon supplementation, when in fact, they do not understand their true constitution and the principle of clearing before tonifying. Consider that if the obstructions in the body are not cleared, and the spleen and stomach are burdened, any additional intake will only become new waste. Therefore, the correct process should be:
First clear excess pathogens —- then enhance spleen and stomach function —- finally supplement.
Another common constitution is the upper heat and lower cold constitution, which is quite simple to understand. The human body is divided into three parts: the upper jiao (above the spleen and stomach), the middle jiao (spleen, stomach, liver, and gallbladder), and the lower jiao (below the spleen and stomach).
For Qi and Blood to circulate smoothly in the body, the upper, middle, and lower jiao must be unobstructed. The most prone area to congestion in the body is the middle jiao, namely the spleen and stomach and liver and gallbladder. Congestion in the spleen and stomach is due to dietary indiscretion, leading to impaired function and inability to operate; congestion in the liver and gallbladder is due to emotional distress and excessive thinking, resulting in liver Qi stagnation.
Once the middle jiao is congested, the upper and lower cannot communicate. In TCM, there is a concept of mutual assistance between water and fire, meaning that the heart fire and kidney water support each other. Heart fire warms kidney water, preventing the lower jiao from being cold; kidney water nourishes heart fire, preventing the upper jiao from being hot. Now, with the middle jiao congested, water and fire cannot assist each other, resulting in upper heat and lower cold.
Those with upper heat and lower cold constitution often experience symptoms of heat in the upper body, such as sore throat, oral ulcers, dry eyes, bitter taste, and dry mouth, while the lower body exhibits cold symptoms like weak lower back and knees, cold hands and feet, and may also experience insomnia due to heart-kidney disharmony. This constitution must first address the congestion in the middle jiao using methods to strengthen the spleen, eliminate dampness, and soothe the liver to regulate Qi.
With this article, our series on body constitution health is complete.
Finally, I would like to share a saying with everyone:
Understanding your constitution early allows for early health preservation,
Making the body simple and life joyful!
Click the blue text to view other collections:
Usage of Classic Formulas and Chinese Patent Medicines:Classic Formulas
Simple Formulas for Treatment and Health Preservation:Simple Formulas
External Treatments: Healing Without Medication:External Treatments
Understanding Common Illnesses with TCM Thinking:Common Illnesses
Read Good Articles, Learn TCM Easily:Read Good Articles
Learn Hand Diagnosis to Understand Health Trends:Learn Hand Diagnosis
Learn Tongue Diagnosis to Monitor Health Status:Learn Tongue Diagnosis
Learn Differentiation for Targeted Adjustments:Learn Differentiation
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