It is also best to avoid eating too many sour foods, which include yoghurt, vinegar, cooking
apples, pickles, oranges, graefruit and gooseberries.
Stasis of Blood in the Stomach
Clinical Manifestations
Stabbing epigastric pain which is worse with pressure and after eating, palpable masses in the
epigastrium, vomiting of dark blood sometimes looking like coffee-grounds, dark complexion.
The pain may be worse at night. There may be blood in the stools.
Tongue: Purple, possibly only in the centre.
Pulse: Choppy or Wiry or Firm.
This can only be a very chronic condition which takes a long time to develop. Stasis of Blood
usually derives from stagnation of Qi over a long period of time. Stasis of Blood in the Stomach
is often associated with stasis of Liver-Blood. It may also be the result of other Stomach patterns,
principally Stomach-Fire or Retention of Food in the Stomach. A stabbing type of pain is typical
of stasis of Blood and so is its possible aggravation at night. Because this is an Excess condition,
the pain is worse with pressure and after eating. Because the Stomach is related to the Large
Intestine (Bright Yang), the stasis of Blood may extend to the latter organ and cause blood in the
stools. This blood would be dark, reflecting stasis of Blood. The purple colour of the tongue
body indicates stasis of Blood; it may be Purple only in the centre.
Since this is a very chronic condition, it is inevitably accompanied by other patterns such as
stasis of Liver-Blood, stagnation of Liver-Qi, retention of Cold (patterns of the Excess type) or
deficiency of Qi or Yin (patterns of the Deficiency type).
Carcinoma of the stomach often manifests itself with this pattern.
Treatment Principle
Move Blood, eliminate stasis, harmonize the Stomach, stop pain.
Acupuncture
General Prescription
Ren-10 Xiawan, ST-22 Guanmen, ST-34 Liangqiu, SP-10 Xuehai, BL-17 Geshu, SP-4 Gongsun,
P-6 Neiguan, BL-18 Ganshu. Reducing or even method.