Heat in the Blood
Their skin is flushed and itchy, they bleed easily from the nose or gums, and everything gets worse with heat.
In plain words
Their skin is flushed and itchy, they bleed easily from the nose or gums, and everything gets worse with heat.
Heat does not stay on the surface: it sinks to the layer where the blood moves. There it speeds the blood up and pushes it out of its channels, which is why two apparently unrelated things appear together — burning red eruptions and bleeding with no obvious cause. It usually arrives through external heat, through sustained spice and alcohol, or through an intense, prolonged emotion that turns into fire. If it lasts, it consumes the fluid within the blood and the skin turns dry as well as red.
Characteristic symptoms
- Red skin eruptions that worsen with heat
- Intense itching, usually worse at night
- Inflammatory acne with pustules on a reddened base
- Bleeding: nosebleeds, bleeding gums, heavy bright-red periods
- Sensation of internal heat and hot flushes
- Dry mouth with thirst, especially at night
- Scanty, dark urine
- Irritability, restlessness and insomnia
Key clues to recognize it
- The eruption is bright red and burns more than it itches at first; a hot shower or the sun sets it off.
- They bleed from different places with no prior injury: nose, gums, heavier and brighter periods.
- The tongue is red or crimson and the coating is scanty, not thick: there is no Damp, only Heat.
Tongue and pulse
- Tongue
- Red or deep-red (crimson) tongue with red spots; scanty or thin yellow coating
- Pulse
- Rapid (shuò) and overflowing pulse; thin and rapid once Yin has been consumed
Treatment principle
Cool the Blood and clear Heat; stop bleeding and nourish Yin
Common points
Reference formula
Liang Xue Di Huang Tang (Cool the Blood Rehmannia Decoction); Xiao Feng San when itching dominates
What not to confuse it with
What aggravates it
- Spice, alcohol, lamb and shellfish, which add heat to an already hot system.
- Very hot showers, saunas and unprotected sun exposure.
- Scratching: it breaks the skin and turns the itch into a lesion and an infection.
Lifestyle advice
Avoid spicy food, alcohol, lamb, shellfish and fried food, which heat the Blood. Favour cooling foods: mung bean, cucumber, celery, bitter melon, chrysanthemum tea. Do not scratch and avoid very hot water on the skin; cotton clothing and sun protection. Rest and reduce stress, since emotional Heat aggravates the pattern. Refer for medical assessment any persistent bleeding or skin lesion that changes in appearance.
When to see a doctor
Health notice. Educational and study content. It describes concepts of Traditional Chinese Medicine and does not replace diagnosis or treatment by a healthcare professional. Needling, medicinal herbs and invasive techniques must be applied by trained professionals. Safety guide.
