Swollen, especially in the chest area with a heart crack. Tongue diagnosis in chinese medicine by giovanni maciocia. The foundation of tongue diagnosis is that the tongue reflects the general state of health of the individual, and a corresponding system exists between the tongues topography and the bodys organ systems. As mentioned initially, a cracked tongue can be a symptom of a thrush infection, which is brought about by an overgrowth of candida fungus, which is naturally found on the tongue. Tongue diagnosis in acupuncture mairead fahy body matters. The foundation of tongue diagnosis is that the tongue reflects the general state of health of the individual, and a corresponding system exists between the tongue s topography and the bodys organ systems. The tongue is a map of the body in chinese medicine. The stomach crack on the tongue is rather wide and it is in the central section of the tongue corresponding to middle burner.
If wide and not deep it points to stomach yin deficiency usually. Details of the tongue, including shape, size, color, texture, cracks. Once again, if there is a coating it will be grey, blackish, or brown in color and will typically coat the colon area of the tongue. Research achievements of tongue acupuncture west hollywood. A purple tongue tells your practitioner that there is stagnation somewhere in the body. Cracks on the tongue with deep red color indicate excessive heat. The two large, elevated papilla on the back of the tongue are a normal part of the taste buds. Ask the patient not to brush their tongue, at least the day of their tcm tongue. It also informs the practitioner about the underlying strength or weakness of the patient s constitution.
Cracks in a red tongue indicate deficient yin or heat injuring the fluids. In fact you will mostly only notice signs of a cracked tongue during your regular dental checkup. For example, heart disease is often reflected on the tongue as cracks or. The photos provide a graphic representation of a wide variety of common disorders. Tongue diagnosis and analysis natural health techniques. In fact, im surprised when acupuncturists dont use it. The tongue can be a window into your health and is connected to the meridians and organs. The coating, called fur, depends on many factors and changes more quickly than the tongue body. Bald patches resulting from this increases the chances of getting a cracked tongue. Jan 25, 2017 vertical crack on the tongue usually indicates the exhaustion of your body fluids specifically yin deficiency. A tongue that is pale indicates a deficiency of qi and blood or the presence of cold.
Tongue fur the tongues coating is best described as moss or fur. Back of your tongue the back of the tongue reflects many of the bodys functions, but is mainly the domain of the water element, or kidneybladder network, which includes the hormonal system and sexual glands. The basics of this art can be learned in a single day or less. They are both yin deficiency as fluids, ying and blood are all part of yin. A cracked tongue is when pronounced grooves, cracks, or fissures appear on the tongue s surface. These are the characteristics of a fissured tongue. Diagnosis for tcm traditional chinese medicine and to identify the advancement of a condition. However, a cracked tongueof long term duration without any other symptoms can be considered normal. The chart of acupuncture points is reproduced with permission of medicine and health publishing, hong kong, and was supplied by scarboroughs. This is an excerpt of my book with over 400 acupuncture points.
Tongue inspection ti is important for diagnosis and prognosis in traditional chinese medicine tcm. Thorny eruptions of the buds on the tongue alert the doctor to heat or stagnant xue. Sep 07, 2017 why do licensed acupuncturists look at your tongue. The tongue is associated with the internal organs of the body as well as the meridians. When i look at the tongue im looking at its length, size eg swollen or not, shape eg cracked or not, color, and any details about the coat on top of it. The diagrams showing trigger points and neuronal connections mediating acupuncture s effects were supplied by mike cummings of the british medical acupuncture society. In a doubleblind randomized controlled trial, university of hong kong researchers reveal that electroacupuncture improves core functions in children with asd, especially language comprehension and selfcare ability. You might be self conscious of this, you do not need to be. Whether in china, japan, korea, southeast asia, or america, it is highly valued and preferred by acupuncturists. It will often be necessary to crossreference several or all of these aspects to establish a full picture. Cracks on the tongue coating can indicate that your nourishing fluids are burned out, just like the earth cracks when it becomes dry.
A thick tongue coating can indicate dampness in the system. A thick tongue coat indicates that digestion is sluggish. According to the american academy of oral medicine, fissure tongue occurs in about 5% of the population in us. Have you ever wondered why an acupuncturist wanted to look at your tongue.
We asked chinese medicine practitioner william lo from the hong. The amount of things those tiny invisibleacupuncture points can do to help you wear a healthylooking tongue is immense. It has a look of aliveness and is supple not stiff. Causes of papillae hypertrophy or inflammation include, for example. To examine the reliability of traditional chinese medicine tcm tongue inspection. A peeled or cracked tongue coat indicates insufficient lining or flora in the digestive system. But if the tongue is pale and cracked, deficient qi or xue is present. If a tongue is a socalled vata tongue, it is typically small, thin, and shaky or trembling in appearance. The holistic philosophy of traditional chinese medicine tcm sees the. Your acupuncturist can also give you advice on nutrition and exercise to improve your tongue health. Scalloped tongue or teeth marked tongue, is swollen tongue that feels surrounding the teeth of the lower. A tongue diagnostician of the era could simply check the patients tongue from a safe distance and. For example, depending on tongue and pulse conditions, a tcm practitioner might diagnose bleeding from the mouth. According to mayo clinic, geographic tongue manifests as cracks and lesions red in color but smooth.
In this video, you will learn what cracks, spots, red dots, and bumps all mean. Tongue color varies widely from person to person, but is a good indicator of the overall nature of what is going on in the body. Feb 03, 2015 tongue acupuncture is based on one of the most ancient medical books in china, wang dis internal medicine, and the idea that the tongue is the intersection site of all 14 meridians in the human body. However, it is not recommended to diagnose this condition by yourself. It mainly represents the stomach s health and more generally how the health of the yang organs. Taking into account swelling of the tongue body your teeth marks it confirms the yin deficiency in the spleen and accumulation of damp.
I learn a lot about a patients health from examining their tongue. And if you find cracks on a red tongue, it usually means that theres heat either excess heat thats burned up the tongue or theres insufficiency of yin, usually stomach yin. Be sure to check out the free ebook on the top 5 acupuncture points on the left side of the page. Qi pronounced chi and yang are responsible for the smooth and orderly traffic as well as holding the organ in good shape. Tongue assessment in traditional chinese medicine tcm. The best acupuncture clinics in hong kong asiaxpat. Pdf acupuncture in the treatment of burning mouth syndrome. When you get acupuncture, your acupuncturist will look at your tongue. A normal tongue should be pale red with a thin translucent coating with no swelling or cracks. Accordingly, it was one of ma danyangs famous eleven heavenly star points. There is no movement quivering, trembling, sidetoside motion, curling or shifting to one side.
I can often tell when someone smokes, or has been drinking a lot of alcohol by the state of the tongue. Cracked or grooved tongue is also known as scrotal tongue. This is what you want to see on a normally healthy tongue. Bian zhaoxiang of the school of chinese medicine, hong kong baptist. The burning mouth syndrome bms is a chronic orofacial disease characterized by symptoms of burning or burning in the oral mucosa without being able to detect lesions or clinical change. Tongue diagnosis in tcm acupuncture theory tcm acupuncture theory. Sun of the hong kong international tongue acupuncture brain disorders research clinic in a clinical study that covers 125 cases of pseudobulbar paralysis caused by stroke, the overall effectiveness rate of tongue acupuncture treatment is 100%.
Jan 21, 2019 acupuncture point large intestine 4 li4 as the commentary in a manual of acupuncture puts it, large intestine 4 hegu li4 is probably the best known and most commonly used of the acupuncture points. When a chinese practitioner carries our his diagnosis through tongue session, he would take notes of the following. Chinese medicine tongue diagnosis show me your tongue did you know that your tongue is giving very important clues about your overall health. When we look at your tongue, it tells us a lot about your health. It is an important way to diagnose a patients health and sometimes can be crucial in deciding what to do first. White tongue is the result of an overgrowth and swelling of the fingerlike projections papillae on the surface of your tongue. The tongue is the only muscle that you can see and reflects what the muscles look like inside. The coating of the tongue is equally important for tongue diagnosis. A tongue that has lesions, deep grooves or fissures can also indicate diseases.
Weve created a directory of the leading hk acupuncture clinics and treatment centres. Heres how it works, other benefits it can offer, tongue. Furthermore, according to wang dis internal medicine, the tongue reflects conditions of the heart, which is the master organ. The surface of the tongue reveals significant information about underlying imbalances. Apr 05, 2018 tongue scraping is a fast way to remove extra particles including the ones that cause bad breath from the top of the tongue.
Likewise, it is relatively easy to agree on color, thickness and color of tongue fur, and the moistness of. The four examinations, part 2 tongue diagnosis in chinese. Jun 16, 2015 a cracked tongue cracks appearing in different areas of the body proper, indicates either excess heat or a deficiency of body fluids. In 1959, hong kong had researched the use of traditional chinese medicine to replace western medicine. Your acupuncturist will look at your tongue to determine.
This tongue is slightly unusual in that it clearly shows us the exact location of a pathogenic factor. Many dont use pulse diagnosis either, which is another vital way to. The coating on the tongue primarily reflects the coating and lining of the digestive system. Tongue pain chinese herbs, chinese medicine, acupuncture. The meridians in tcm refer to pathways within the body where energy is known. You can get familiar with the symptoms of vitamin b12 deficiency and iron deficiency. Jun 14, 2016 the tongue is a map of the body in chinese medicine. Chinese tongue diagnosis has been employed as far back as 1066 b. Tongue coating in the first place, the properties of tongue coating should be examined. It has been commended for its scientific principles, practicability, rapid effectiveness, the absence of undesirable sideeffects and the durability of its effects. As you continue treatment with acupuncture and herbs, your overall health will improve, and it will be reflected in your tongue. Most common is the longitudinal midline crack running up the centre or the tongue from back to front.
The tongue s relationship to the internal organs over time, chinese medicine has observed that certain parts of the tongue relate to certain parts of the body. It may look pale in color, appear to be dried out, and have a few or many cracks. If you find cracks on a pale tongue, it usually means that the qi and the blood is deficient. Modern tongue diagnostics in chinese medicine hong chun yin on. How tongue diagnosis works by transformational acupuncture. Traditional chinese medicine tcm is a branch of traditional medicine that is said to be based. A healthy tongue looks like a piece of freshly killed meat. Why acupuncturists look at your tongue acupuncture in edina mn. Mar 31, 2018 a purple tongue show blood stagnation. The tongue body shows the condition of zang fu organs, especially zang, the yin organs. A reddishpurple tongue body colour usually indicates blood stasis deriving from or. This person will often have pain in the organ corresponding area of the tongue. You may feel hot at night, or notice dryness in your skin or eyes.
A cracked tongue may be present in a normal person. A healthy tongue tends to be light red or pink with a thin coating. The tongue indicates the conditions throughout the entire body, but also focuses on the spleen and stomach in particular. So, a coating that covers the entire tongue can sometimes indicate only a pathology of the middle jiao. He says that in stomachyin deficiency there is a deficiency of fluids while in spleenyin deficiency there is a deficiency of ying and blood. It is considered normal to have certain types of cracks on the tongue. The symptoms of a fissured tongue are cracks on top surface of the tongue.
A longdeep central crack, midline reaching to the tip of the tongue indicates a tendency to a heart pattern. In fact, i can find out almost everything i need to know regarding your health just from looking at your tongue. Jan 07, 20 the qualities of the tongue the tongue is the only muscle in the body we can see that isnt covered with skin. It is relatively easy to agree whether there are teethmarks on the edges of the tongue or cracks down its middle. Dr hong guang huai makes an important differentiation between stomachyin and spleenyin deficiency. Tongue diagnosis is a practice long used in traditional chinese medicine a system of alternative medicine that originated in china. Oct 11, 2019 tongue diagnosis is used all the time by acupuncturists and practitioners trained in chinese medicine. Alice fung acupuncture 94504224 flat e, 4f sun hey mansion, 6876 hennessy road, wan chai, hong kong. Other names applied to the fissured tongue are scrotal or plicated tongue. One map that is laid atop the tongue suggests that the entire tongue indicates the condition of the spleen and stomach only.
Acupuncture is effective for the treatment of autism spectrum disorder asd. Sep 05, 2011 research achievements of tongue acupuncture. Chinese medicine tongue diagnosis comox valley acupuncture. Understanding tongue diagnosis in chinese medicine midwest. The appearance and qualities of the tongue is a critical part of diagnosis in chinese medicine tcm. Crack down center, depending on length, can indicate severity of disease and progression. A tongue examination consists of observing color, shape, size, and coating.
This sounded very encouraging, however our mums mnd was not stroke related. Things like poor digestion, insomnia, edema and internal organ dysfunction can be quickly detected. A normal tongue has a thin white coat, which reflects a healthy lining of the digestive system and normal gut flora. Dampness can be likened to sludge, and often times may indicates issues with digestion. A cracked tongue may be sore, sensitive to certain foods, tingly, or feel completely normal other than the obvious texture differences. Indicates the quality of blood, reflecting blood andor qi deficiency or cold. A tcmbased ti protocol was prepared, comprising four levels of severity and complexity. See more ideas about chinese medicine, acupuncture, traditional chinese medicine.
Sep 28, 2016 understanding tongue diagnosis in chinese medicine jennifer dubowsky, lac, is a licensed acupuncturist with a practice in downtown chicago, illinois, since 2002. It is the opposite of hairy tongue in which the filiform papillae overgrows and keratinizes and the tongue becomes stained. Modern tongue diagnostics in chinese medicine hong chun yin on amazon. In general, a dark red tongue is a sign that there is excess heat in the body. A normal tongue is relatively flat across its length. Cold in summer it is actually very common, but cold basically means that you have nose discharge, sneezing, nose is blocked. Tungs acupuncture can be said to have gained popularity worldwide. According to the principles of tcm, analyzing the appearance of an individuals tongue can provide a greater understanding of his or her overall health. In the elderly, energy and blood deficiency is more common, so the tongue may present with dryness and cracks while infants tend to have a white thick coating that is easily removed. There is a very small amount of encouraging evidence from smallscale studies such as this.
It is based on one of the most ancient medical books in china, wang dis internal medicine, and the idea that the tongue is the intersection site of all 14 meridians in the human body. Tongue acupuncture tac is an innovative acupuncture technique invented by my team collaborator, dr. The chest area is clearly more swollen than the rest of the tongue indicating the presence of phlegm in the upper burner. A red tongue indicates that there is heat present in the body, and the redder the tongue, the greater amount of heat present. It may not sound like the most pleasant therapy, but tongue acupuncture is attracting attention from parents of children with chronic disabilities in hong kong and worldwide. In chinese medicine, it is believed that the appearance of your tongue is a reflection of your health and can be a powerful diagnostic tool. Every practitioner versed in traditional chinese medicine tcm theory will tell you a lot can be read about a patient from their tongue. Cracked tongue, also referred to as fissured tongue is common according to medical practitioners during diagnosis.
Jul 01, 2014 tongue diagnosis is a powerful tool for me to gauge progress of a patient along with discussions of symptoms. Erythema migrans geographic tongue is often associated with fissured tongue as well. If the tongue body is also moist, tender, and swollen, this can indicate yang cold. The appearance of a white coating is caused by debris, bacteria and dead cells getting lodged between the enlarged and sometimes inflamed papillae. Aug 10, 2017 reddish purple is related to stagnation of heat. According to traditional chinese medicine, scalloped tongue means that a deficiency of qi and yang in the body. If the tongue is pale and cracked, there is deficient qi or xue.
It is simply when small or pronounced grooves or fissures develops on the surface of your tongue. Looking for reputable acupuncture clinics in hong kong to help cure chronic aches and pains. As the term implies, tongue acupuncture is a technique that cures sickness through acupuncture applied to the tongue. Vertical crack on the tongue usually indicates the exhaustion of your body fluids specifically yin deficiency. National geographic channel has recruited a patient with chronic back pain and came to prof. Acupuncture can even get rid of bad dreams and keep your mind from racing. The fissured tongue is also the most common oral finding in patients with psoriasis. It is being studied for treating brain disorders in children, ranging from cerebral palsy to autism to blindness.
It is more prevalent in aged individuals where its severity is also know to increase. It can be a strong indicator of a persons overall harmony or disharmony. A red tongue can also be an indication of vitamin deficiencies, particularly deficiencies in vitamin b12, folic acid, or iron. The colour, coating, shape, wetness and cracks of the tongue. This new 2nd edition of atlas of chinese tongue diagnosis contains over two hundred color photographs of tongues seen in a western clinic. The lumpy, white lesions can spread to the gums or elsewhere in the oral cavity and can cause pain or throw off your sense of taste.
Diagnosis through tongue acupuncture and chinese medicine. To contrast and compare the heart and stomach cracks, the former is rather narrow and runs all along the tongue from near the root to near the tip, while the latter is rather wide and is only in the middle of the tongue. Although its a very specific symptom, cracked tongue causes come from a surprisingly varied pool. A cracked pale tongue indicates insufficiency of yin and blood. I have suffered for many years with no physiological reason for this and the constant pain is driving me mad.
Tongue acupuncture treatments have been appraised by specialists in both western medicine and traditional chinese medicine. Therefore a surge of people with claims to teach tungs acupuncture has also emerged. Cracks in on tongue, fissured,causes, vitamin deficiency. The overall tongue picture seen in these patients was that the tongue was swollen and toothmarked, had a pink body with cracks, and had a thick, dry.
Your tongue reveals a great deal about the state of your health to the trained eye it is a wealth of information and a highly effective early warning system that the chinese have used for thousands of years. Cracks, grooves, or clefts appear on the top and sides of the tongue. A normal tongue is pink in color, medium thickness, no cracks, ulcers, no teeth marks and with a light white moist coat with root on it. Tongue diagnosis in tcm acupuncture theory chinese medicine. A cracked tongue indicates excessive heat consuming body fluid if the tongue is deep red in color, and indicates deficiency of blood if the tongue is pale. Tongue diagnosis in acupuncture february 19, 2014 in tongue diagnosis by mairead when you visit an acupuncturist for the first time, you will go through a huge amount of questions involving diet, stress factors, lifestyle choices, past medical history, etc, but one of the most astonishing things you will be asked to do is. If the tongue body also has cracks and there is little or no tongue coat, this usually indicates deficient heat due to internal injury. Fissured tongue is a benign condition affecting the top surface of the tongue. We are not looking at it to show the quality of your dental hygiene. Say ahhh why acupuncturists look at your tongue february 11, 2017. Overweight people may have more damp andor phlegm, and, therefore, their tongues may be larger and lighter in color while thinner patients tend toward redder. The importance of the tongue in traditional chinese medicine.
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