FSF #7 – Swelling and Abd. Distension

Case By: Fei Sheng-Fu (费绳甫)

Mr Xu Zhongxiu from Zhenjiang [suffered] from swelling of the feet and legs as well as of the testicles, abdominal distension, coughing, facial edema, and reduced urination. He came to me for examination and treatment because treatment so far had not worked. His pulse was floating and wiry in the right cun position indicating water swelling. The Lungs were unable to afford regular passage through the water ways towards the Bladder so that water qi flowed over transversely into the spaces between the skin and flesh. I considered Yu’s treatment [strategy] for flooding, which relies on first dredging [the water pathways] so that [water qi] can flow downward. Once the water has a way to exit [the body] it will no longer have cause to flow over [into the body].

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Cough & Hot Tongue (Warm Disease) (JB)

Case by: Jason Blalack

A 35 year-old female on Wednesday, March 31, 2010 presented with a chief complaint of cough and a hot tongue.

The previous day she had a runny nose and felt like she was getting a cold. She also reported that both of her kids had strep throat, which in the past she would get a couple times a year.

Currently she had a dull and achy sore throat. Her cough was mildly productive with congealed thick discolored phlegm. She felt like she was breathing fire, felt hot, irritable, had a dry mouth, no sweat, no chills, and had some eyelid twitching. Her bowels were not moving and when they did they were black and hard. She had a sensation of abdominal bloating and had no appetite.

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Constraint- Focal distention and clumping below the heart (YTS)

Original Case by: Ye Tian-Shi (叶天士)

Hu, 46 years of age, had been weeping due to grief. The disease arose from internally generated emotions, which led to constraint. There was a physical manifestation in the area below the heart that was gradually getting larger with a hardness upon palpation.

Treatment principle: A bitter-acrid and downward-draining method was used. First must treat the qi clumping.

Diagnosis: (Focal distention and clumping below the heart).

Coptidis Rhizoma (huáng lián))
Zingiberis Rhizoma (gān jiäng)
Pinelliae Rhizoma preparatum (zhì bàn xià)
Zingiberis Rhizomatis Succus (jiāng zhī) (ginger juice)
Poria (fú líng))
poria with cutis (lián pí fú líng)
Trichosanthis Fructus (guā lóu)

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Gui Zhi Tang (with chi shao)

Shang Han Case:

Yang, a two and five month-year-old girl, presented with the chief complaint of cough, that had been going on for one month. There was sometimes white and sometimes yellow phlegm, nasal congestion, profuse sweating, fear of wind, reduced food intake, no thirst, and her bowels were not dry. She tried many Chinese and Western treatments without success. Her tongue body was normal and there was a white coat. Her pulse was deep and rapid.

Diagnosis: cough (wind pathogen invading the Lungs, which has started to slightly transform to heat).

Prescription: modified guì zhī tāng (Cinnamon Twig Decoction)

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Tai Yang with Internal Damp (DGR)

Case by: Ding Gan-Ren (1865-1926)

Shang Han Case

There was external cold assaulting the tai yang with damp stagnation internally blocking the middle burner. This pattern presented with sweat and chills that failed to resolve the condition. There was also full body aching pain, stifling sensation in the chest, upflow nausea, and abdominal distention. It was suitable to disperse the pathogen, release the muscle layer, transform stagnation, and open the middle burner.

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