Terms used in Traditional Chinese Medicine

Blood Deficiency: signs and symptoms include pale or sallow complexion, pale lips, dizziness, poor memory, blurring of vision, palpitations, insomnia, numbness of hands and feet, a pale tongue and weak and deficient  pulse.

Blood Stagnation: symptoms such as fixed, boring, or stabbing pain, mass tumors which do not move, hemorrhage with dark blood and clots, purple lips and nails, purple blotches or bruises on skin, purple tongue and wiry, choppy or knotted pulse.

Cold: Caused by Cold Pathogenic Factor or diminished vital function, marked by intolerance to cold, fondness for warmth, loose bowels, pale tongue with white coating, slow pulse, etc.

Cold in the Middle Burner: Usually refers to Cold in the Spleen and Stomach. Marked by cold and pain over the stomach, anorexia, abdominal fullness, belching, vomiting thin fluid, diarrhea, lassitude and cold limbs.

Dampness: Caused externally by Damp Pathogenic Factor or internally by a dysfunction of the Spleen and Kidney in promoting water circulation and distribution. Symptoms include heaviness in the limbs, headache as if the head were tightly bound, fullness in the chest, joint pains and swelling, diarrhea, abdominal fullness, sallow face, edema of the lower limbs, turbid discharges, etc.

Damp Heat: A combination of Dampness and Heat which produces varying symptoms depending on the part of the body affected. Symptoms include loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, bitter taste and stickiness in the mouth, heaviness of the body and limbs, fullness of the chest, lassitude, jaundice, loose stools or diarrhea with blood or mucus, offensive odor of stools, burning in anus, scanty yellow urine, abdominal pain and distension, eczema, swelling and burning pain in the testes, yellow foul-smelling leucorrhoea, frequent and urgency of urination, burning pain in the urethra, dribbling urination, turbid deep yellow urine. Pulse is rapid, tongue is red with a sticky, yellow coating.

Deficiency: Deficiency of vital energy and lowered body resistance. Some Deficiency symptoms include: emaciation, listlessness, lassitude, shortness of breath, pallor, insomnia, poor memory, spontaneous and night sweating, nocturnal enuresis, pain alleviated by pressure. Tongue is dry with little or no coating, pulse is weak and deficient.

Deficiency Heat or Fire: Caused by a deficiency of Yin, symptoms include afternoon or low grade fever, malar flush, dry mouth, insomnia with mental restlessness, anxiety, feverish sensations in the palms and soles, night sweats, constipation, concentrated urine, etc. Tongue is red with little coating, pulse is rapid, deficient, and empty.

Dryness: One of the Six Pathogenic Factors which prevails in autumn or in dry climates, causes consumption of body fluids with symptoms such as red eyes, dry nose and throat, dry cough, dry skin, constipation, reduced urination, etc. Also an internal condition caused by impairment of Yin.

Essence: (also known as "Jing"), refers to the combination of the energy which makes up a person's inherited constitution and energy derived from food. It resides mostly in the Kidneys and is the basis of growth, reproduction and development. It is also the source of Kidney Qi and of constitutional strength. Deficiency of Essence results in a variety of symptoms such as stunted growth, poor bone development or bone deterioration, infertility, habitual miscarriage, loose teeth, hair falling out or prematurely gray, poor sexual function, impotence, weakness of knees, ringing in the ears, poor memory, poor concentration, dizziness, lowered body resistance, and chronic allergies.

Fire: A severe form of Heat, manifestations include: high fever, restlessness, insomnia, mania, delirium, thirst, sweating, mouth and tongue ulcers, swollen and painful gums, headache, congestion of the eyes.

Food Stagnation: Symptom pattern includes: stomach pain and distension, loss of appetite, foul belching, acid regurgitation, vomiting. Tongue has a thick, sticky coating.

Heart Blood Deficiency: Symptom pattern includes: giddiness, pallor, palpitation, insomnia, forgetfulness, a fine, weak pulse.

Heart Qi Deficiency: Symptom pattern includes: palpitation, shortness of breath on exertion, spontaneous sweating, a fine, weak or irregular pulse.

Heart Yin Deficiency: Symptom pattern includes: mental irritability, palpitation, insomnia, low fever, night sweats, flushed cheeks, thirst, a fine, rapid pulse.

Heat: Caused by Pathogenic Heat or by excessive vital function. Marked by feverishness, flushed face, thirst, craving for cold drinks, constipation, red tongue with yellow coating, rapid pulse.

Heat in the Blood: Marked by restlessness or mania, feeling of heat, skin diseases with red eruptions, mouth ulcers, itching, excessive menstrual bleeding, hemorrhage, dry mouth, red tongue, rapid pulse.

Heat-Toxin: Refers to toxic Heat generated by bacterial or viral infection.

Kidney Yang Deficiency: Symptom pattern includes: pallor, cold limbs, soreness and weakness of the lumbar region and knee joints, nocturnal urination, impotence, infertility, dizziness, ringing in the ears, a pale tongue with white coating, a deep, weak pulse.

Kidney Yin Deficiency: Symptom pattern includes: low back pain, weak knees, lassitude, general weakness, vertigo, ringing in the ears, thirst, flushed cheeks, mental irritability, afternoon fever, night sweats, nocturnal emission, yellow urine, constipation, red tongue with little coating, deficient, rapid pulse.

Liver Blood Deficiency: Symptom pattern includes: sallow face, blurring of vision, dry eyes, spasms of muscles and tendons, dizziness, mental irritability, insomnia, absent or scanty menstruation, prolonged menstrual cycle, pale tongue or lips.

Liver Fire: Symptom pattern includes: dizziness, headache, flushed face, red eyes, bitter taste in the mouth, mental irritability, anger outbursts. In severe cases symptoms include: mania, nosebleed, blood in the urine, or coughing blood. Tongue is scarlet red on tip and sides, with yellow coating. Pulse is wiry and rapid.

Liver Heat: Marked by mental irritability, bitter taste in mouth, thirst, etc. Similar to Fire but not as severe.

Liver Qi Stagnation: Manifests in irritability, tendency to anger, dizziness, abdominal and hypochondriac pain and distension, fullness in chest, excessive sighing, breast distension, belching, loss of appetite, nausea, sensation of a foreign body in throat, menstrual disorders.

Liver/Spleen Disharmony: Symptom pattern includes: abdominal pain and distension, diarrhea or loose stools, belching, vomiting, acid regurgitation.

Liver Wind: Usually resulting from Liver Fire or Deficient Blood, symptoms include: dizziness and vertigo, convulsions, tremors, spasms and numbness.

Liver Yang Rising: Manifests in headache with distending sensation in the head, dizziness and vertigo, ringing in the ears, flushed face, red eyes, irritability, insomnia with dream-disturbed sleep, palpitations, poor memory, red tongue and a tight, rapid pulse.

Liver Yin Deficiency: Symptom pattern includes: dizziness, headache, ringing in the ears, blurred vision, dry eyes, insomnia, night sweats, feverishness in palms and soles, thirst, dry throat. Pulse is deficient  and taut. Tongue is reddened with little coating.

Lung Heat: Marked by cough with thick or yellow phlegm, pain in the chest and shortness of breath.

Lung Yin Deficiency: Manifests in symptoms such as dry or blood tinged cough, or cough with a small amount of sticky sputum, dryness of the mouth and throat, afternoon fever, malar flush, night sweats, feverishness in palms and soles. Tongue is red with little coating. Pulse is  deficient and rapid.

Middle Qi Deficiency: Refers to Deficiency of Qi of the Spleen and Stomach, resulting in hypo-function of those organs, digestive disorders, weakness, etc. (See Spleen and Stomach Qi Deficiency)

Normal Qi: Body energy made up of Qi inherited from parents, Qi from food, and Qi from air. Responsible for the movement, functioning, and warmth of the body and for protection from disease.

Painful Obstruction: Obstruction of vital energy and blood flow usually bringing on pains, specifically arthritis, due to Wind, Cold and Dampness blocking the channels of the limbs.

Pathogenic Factors: The causes of disease. Pathogenic Factors include Wind, Cold, Dampness, Heat, Dryness and Fire. These can be of exterior origin (related to extreme or sudden climatic changes such as invasion by Wind-Cold) or they can be internally generated such as Liver-Wind.

Phlegm: Results from an accumulation of bodily fluids due to a dysfunction of the Lung, Spleen, and Kidney and impairment of water metabolism. Clinical manifestations are many and vary depending on the area of the body affected. Symptoms can include cough with profuse sputum, asthmatic breathing, fullness in the chest, palpitations, coma, manic-depressive disorders, lymph node swelling, nodules under the skin, dizziness, blurred vision, sensation of a foreign body in the throat, edema, general body aching and heaviness, nausea, vomiting of sticky fluid, borborygmus, stomach and abdominal discomfort.

Phlegm Heat: Often seen in Lung or Stomach Patterns, clinical manifestations include: yellow-sticky phlegm, barking cough with profuse yellow or green sputum, fullness in the chest, asthma, dry mouth and lips, restlessness. Tongue is red with a sticky yellow coating. Pulse is rapid and slippery.

Qi Deficiency: Symptoms include: general weakness, lethargy, shortness of breath, weak voice, spontaneous sweating, loss of appetite, abdominal distension, loose stools, frequent urination, palpitations and an empty pulse.

Shao Yang Stage Disorder: Refers to an intermediate stage of an illness where the Pathogenic Factors remain between the exterior and interior. Pathological manifestations include: alternating chills and fever, fullness in the coastal and hypochondriac regions, lack of appetite, mental restlessness, vomiting, bitter taste in the mouth, dry throat, blurring of vision. Pulse is tight.

Spleen Dampness: Symptoms include: lack of appetite, sticky taste in the mouth or loss of sense of taste, nausea, fullness in the chest and abdomen, feeling of heaviness, loose stools, headache as if the head were bound. Tongue has sticky coating. Pulse is slippery.

Spleen Qi Deficiency: Clinical manifestations include: sallow complexion, emaciation, tiredness, dislike of speaking, reduced appetite, abdominal distension, loose stools, prolapses. Tongue is pale with a thin white coating. Pulse is empty, weak, or deficient.

Spleen Yang Deficiency: Symptom pattern includes: pallor, cold limbs, poor appetite, abdominal distension which is worse after eating, dull abdominal pain which improves with warmth and pressure, loose stools. Tongue is pale with a white coating. Pulse is deep and slow.

Stomach Phlegm: Symptoms include: nausea, vomiting of sticky fluid, stomach and abdominal fullness and discomfort, borborygmus. Tongue coating is sticky and pulse is slippery.

Stomach Qi Deficiency: Clinical manifestations include: uncomfortable feeling in the stomach, no appetite, lack of taste sensation, loose stools, tiredness, especially in the morning, weak limbs. Tongue is pale. Pulse is weak and empty especially in the Middle position of the right hand.

Unstable or Disturbed Shen: Shen is translated as "Spirit". It refers to the mind, consciousness, the force of the personality, and the connection to the spiritual aspects of humanness. When Shen is disturbed or unstable symptoms arise such as insomnia, unclear or muddled thinking, poor memory, restlessness, hysteria, incoherent speech, delirium, mania.

Wei Qi: Refers to Defensive Energy which protects the body from invasion by External Pathogenic Factors.

Wind: One of the six Pathogenic Factors. External Wind is usually combined with one of the other Pathogenic Factors (Cold, Heat, Dampness, and Dryness) which depend on Wind to invade the body. Symptoms of External Wind include: headache, stiff neck, nasal obstruction, sneezing, itching or pain in the throat, facial puffiness, aversion to wind, joint pains, and a superficial pulse. Internal or Endogenous Wind causes symptoms such as headaches, stiff neck, irritability, dizziness, fainting, high fever, delirium, coma, convulsions, tremors, tics, blurred vision, numbness, facial paralysis, wandering pains.

Wind-Cold: Symptoms include: Aversion to cold, shivering, sneezing, cough, runny nose with watery or white discharge, slight fever or no fever, neck pain and stiffness, no sweating. Pulse is tight and superficial. Tongue looks normal (normal color, thin-white coating).

Wind-Heat: Symptoms are similar to those above except with symptoms of Heat such as fever, yellow mucus, sore throat, swollen tonsils, thirst, sweating. Pulse is floating and rapid. Tongue is red on the tip or sides, with thin, white, or yellowish coating.

Wind-Damp: Symptoms include: itchy skin, rashes, hives, fever, aversion to cold, sweating, neck pain and stiffness, body aches and heaviness, swollen joints. Pulse is superficial and slippery.