In her teenage years, from 13 to 18, she had been very nervous, frequently had palpitations and
often fainted.
Facial diagnosis revealed an uneven, blemished surface on the forehead in the area
corresponding to the teenage years between 16 and 19 (Figure 9.11(267)) and rather dull eyes.
Her tongue was Pale but with a Red tip. Her pulse was Weak on the right side and on both Rear
positions and the Heart pulse was relatively Overflowing and very slightly Moving, i.e. it was
Overflowing in relation to all the other pulse positions which were Weak.
Diagnosis At first observation, all her symptoms would seem to point to Spleen-
and Kidney-Yang deficiency. Whilst there certainly was a Spleen-Yang
deficiency (tiredness, loose stools, Pale tongue and pulse Weak on the
right side), there was not much Kidney-Yang deficiency. The symptoms
which would seem to point to Kidney-Yang deficiency are a late
menstrual cycle, feeling cold during the period, infertility, backache and
poor memory. However, on closer analysis, although there was some
Kidney-Yang deficiency some of these symptoms could be explained
differently. First of all, the backache started only after the fall and was
therefore due to a structural rather than an energetic Kidney problem.
As for the other symptoms, they are also partially due to the Heart's
influence on the Kidneys. The Fire of the Heart (in a 5-Element sense)
needs to communicate with Kidney-Water: Kidney-Water needs to flow
upwards to nourish Heart-Yin, while the Fire of the Heart needs to flow
downwards to the Kidneys and the Lower Burner. In this case, this
patient had been affected by deep emotional problems during her
teenage years. This was probably a mixture of shock and sadness which
caused Heart-Fire (in a pathological sense). This was deduced from the
Heart-pulse's Overflowing and Moving quality, from the blemished area
on her forehead, dull eyes and her dreams. The shock and sadness had
obviously affected the Heart (causing dreams of fire and waking up
laughing) and Lungs (causing dreams of buildings and waking up
crying). When asked about it, she confirmed this was true but she did
not wish to discuss it further. Thus, Heart-Fire was blocked upwards,
unable to communicate downwards with the Kidneys and Lower Burner
which became cold. This was the cause of the infertility, delayed
menstrual cycle, blood clots and cold feeling.Treatment principle The main treatment principle adopted was to calm the Mind, and
conduct Heart-Fire downwards to communicate with the Kidneys. In
this case, it was not a matter of "clearing" Heart-Fire so much as to
establish a communication between the Fire of the Heart and the
Kidneys. Shock "closes" the Heart and makes it smaller while sadness