Taiyin syndrome

The Taiyin syndrome refers to a cold syndrome of deficiency type resulting from deficiency of the spleen qi and retention of cold damp in the interior. Its main pathological manifestations are abdominal fullness, vomiting, poor appetite, diarrhea, abdominal pain which is alleviated with warmth or pressure, absence of thirst, a pale tongue with a white coating, and a slow or slowing - down pulse.

This syndrome is often due to constitutional deficiency of the spleen yang, direct invasion by pathogenic cold or inappropriate treatment of the three yang syndromes.

Insufficiency of the yang of the middle jiao implies not only dysfunction of the spleen in transportation and transformation, hence resulting in retention of cold damp in the interior, but also abnormal ascent and descent of qi which is the cause of abdominal fullness and pain, diarrhea, vomiting and a poor appetite. As it is a cold syndrome of deficiency type, the abdominal pain can be alleviated by warmth or pressure. This is also the cause of the absence of thirst, the pale tongue with white coating and the slow or slowing - down pulse.

The method of treatment is to warm up the middle jiao and to disperse cold. The Back - Shu, Front - Mu and He - Sea Points of the Spleen Meridian of Foot - Taiyin and the Stomach Meridian of Foot - Yangming are selected as well as points from the Ren Meridian. Both needling and moxibustion are used.