generated from Spleen deficiency. Dampness settles in the Lower Burner and obstructs the
urinary passages causing difficulty in urination and, in extreme cases, retention of urine.
Dampness may also make the urine cloudy or turbid.
Dampness more often combines with Heat but it may also combine with Cold. Besides causing
urinary difficulty, Damp-Heat causes burning during urination.
Dampness at the acute stage is a purely Full condition, whereas in chronic states it always occurs
on a background of Spleen and/or Kidney deficiency.
Stagnation of Qi
Stagnation of Qi in the Lower Burner affects mostly Liver and Triple Burner channels.
Stagnation of Qi in the Liver channel, which flows through the genitalia, interferes with the
Bladder function of Qi transformation and the Triple Burner function of keeping the Water
passages open and free. This causes urinary dysfunction, hypogastric distension and pain. If
there is pain, this typically occurs before urination.
Qi Deficiency
Deficiency of Spleen-Qi involves deficiency of Central Qi, i.e. the Qi which pulls up the internal
organs in the midline of the body. Sinking Spleen-Qi causes frequency and dribbling of urine.
Qi deficiency affects the urinary function also via the Lungs. Lung-Qi descends to communicate
not only with the Kidneys but also the Bladder as it provides strength to the Bladder for
urination. Thus, deficient Lung-Qi, especially in old people, may sometimes cause urinary
retention or Painful-Urination Syndrome.
Kidney Deficiency
Kidney deficiency is a common background to Painful-Urination Syndrome. The balance
between Kidney-Yang and Kidney-Yin regulates the amount of urine excreted. When
Kidney-Yang is deficient there is excessive urination, when Kidney-Yin is deficient, urination is
scanty.
In Painful-Urination Syndrome, Kidney-Yang deficiency causes dribbling, while Kidney-Yin
deficiency causes the urine to be scanty. Besides this, when deficient Kidney-Yang fails to
transform fluids it may lead to the formation of Dampness. Thus Dampness in the Lower Burner
is often found against a background of Kidney-Yang deficiency. In chronic conditions, however,
it may also be found against a background of Kidney-Yin deficiency, either because