Blood Deficieny

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Like all Deficiency disorders, you'll find fatigue as a symptom in Blood

Deficiency. The tongue coating will be normal to thinner than normal. (You see

the thick tongue coating in Excess conditions, and this is a Deficiency (not

enough of something causing problems) as opposed to an Excess (too much of

something causing problems) condition.

 

You'll see the pale tongue in Blood Deficiency like you see in Qi and Yang

Deficiency. (In Yin Deficiency the tongue will tend to be red and maybe even

have fissures.) So how do you tell the pale tongue of Blood Deficiency from that

of Qi or Yang Deficiency? In Blood Deficiency the tongue will be dry all over

and will tend to be thin and maybe even withered. In Qi and especially in Yang

Deficiency, the tongue may be swollen. You'll see the swollen tongue especially

in Spleen Yang Deficiency because one job of the Spleen is to keep fluids moving

in the body and to make sure that fluid distribution is equal in the body. In

Yang Deficiency, especially in Spleen Yang Deficiency, the fluid isn't being

moved properly, and you get swelling from fluid accumulation. Sometimes the

swelling is so great that the teeth will leave indendation marks on the tongue.

This is called a " scalloped tongue. " In Blood Deficiency the tongue will tend to

be dry and thin.

 

The skin and scalp will tend to be dry and itchy in Blood Deficiency. In women,

the periods will tend to be scanty. (Blood Deficiency is not the only thing that

can cause scanty periods, but it is one of the things.)

 

Blood Deficiency also can manifest as numbness in the limbs, dizziness, spots in

the vision, and poor vision. There's muscular weakness and there may be tremors

in the arms and legs. (The tremors in the arms and legs is going to make more

sense later when you learn about one of the treatments for Wind.)

 

The face color will be pale with no luster. A thin body structure and maybe even

emaciation is common. Think of a wrinkled, dried up, shriveled prune pass the

state where you'd want to eat it or could. Or a raisin.

 

The pulse will tend to be thready. A thready pulse is one that is narrow and

weak - sort of like a single, thin thread. But it can be feel clearly even

though it is weak. A thready pulse can indicate Qi, Blood, and/or Yin

Deficiency. Or, it can indicate that the person has overdone physically and is

exhausted. Or, it can indicate there's Dampness accumulation, expecially in the

Lower Burner (lower abdomen), and this Dampness is impeding Qi flow.

 

Why is that part about tremors in the limbs so significant in diagnosing Blood

Deficiency? Because one of the symptoms of Wind problems is trembling, shaking,

tics, etc. " Liver Wind " is Wind which is being produced Internally by the Liver

being messed up. The TCM treatment for Liver Wind is to tone the Blood and

improve Blood circulation. According to Henry C. Lu, " When the Blood begins to

circulate, Wind will stop by itself. " (Chiense Herbal Cures, p. 35) Blood

Deficiency and Blood Stasis pave the way for the body to be more susceptible to

both External and Internal Wind.

 

It's fairly common for both Yin Deficiency and Blood Deficiency to occur

together. Blood Deficiency by itself won't produce Heat, just Dryness. But when

Yin Deficiency is present, you'll see both Heat and Dryness - very marked

Dryness. According to Wicke, when both Yin and Blood Deficiency are present

together, the condition is neither more than less severe than Blood Deficiency

alone. He contrasts this to Qi and Yang Deficiency where if both are present,

it's a lot more severe than if just Qi Deficiency is present. (vol.1, p. 73)

 

Victoria

 

 

 

 

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