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2. Treat the Root-cause of bleeding


3. Astringe


4. Treat Qi.

The first of these aims, in turn, is composed of four steps:

(a) Stop bleeding

(b) Eliminate stasis

(c) Calm Blood

(d) Nourish Blood.

All these four principles of treatment are to be adopted simultaneously in any type of bleeding
(Figure 30.1(533)).

The rationale of the four treatment aims is briefly as follows:

1. Harmonize Blood: this is necessary to move, calm and nourish Blood after
   stopping bleeding.


2. Treat the Root-cause: this is essential to treat bleeding. The Root-cause may be
   Heat, Empty-Heat, Qi deficiency or stasis of Blood as indicated before. Rarely,
   bleeding may derive from Cold.


3. Astringe: this is an adjuvant to the stopping-bleeding method. It consists in the
   use of astringent herbs which, although they do not stop bleeding by themselves,
   they help the stopping-bleeding herbs.


4. Treat Qi: this consists in either tonifying Qi for bleeding from Spleen-Qi
   deficiency or subduing rebellious Qi for bleeding upwards (such as epistaxis or
   haemoptysis).

We can now discuss each of the four treatment aims in detail.

Harmonize Blood

Whatever its cause, bleeding must be treated by harmonizing Blood according to the four steps
indicated above, partly to stop the bleeding itself and partly to treat the consequences of blood
loss. These four steps are:

• Stop bleeding


• Eliminate stasis