Damp-Heat in the Large Intestine

In plain words

They have urgent, foul-smelling diarrhoea, sometimes with mucus or blood, and the anus burns afterwards.

The Large Intestine receives what the Spleen can no longer transform. When Damp arrives and Heat is present too — from spoiled food, a humid summer, greasy food and alcohol — the two combine and stick to the intestinal wall. Heat pushes outward, hence the urgency and the burning; Damp holds back and retains, hence the tenesmus, that feeling of not having finished. That tug of war between what pushes and what holds is exactly what distinguishes this from simple diarrhoea.

Characteristic symptoms

• Urgent diarrhoea with pasty, foul-smelling stools
• Mucus or blood in the stools
• Tenesmus: the urge to keep going after a bowel movement
• Burning at the anus after passing stool
• Abdominal pain that eases somewhat after evacuation
• Thirst without real desire to drink
• Low fever and a feeling of bodily heaviness
• Scanty, dark urine

Key clues to recognize it

• Tenesmus: the urge continues right after a bowel movement. It is the sign that separates this from a deficiency diarrhoea.
• The stools smell strongly and burn on the way out; in cold or deficient patterns they neither smell nor burn.
• The coating is yellow and greasy: were it white and greasy, this would be Cold-Damp and the treatment would be the opposite.

Tongue and pulse

Tongue

Red tongue with a thick, greasy yellow coating

Pulse

Slippery (huá) and rapid pulse

Treatment principle

Clear Heat and drain Damp from the Large Intestine; regulate intestinal Qi and stop the diarrhoea

Common points

Reference formula

Ge Gen Qin Lian Tang (Pueraria, Scutellaria and Coptis Decoction); Bai Tou Weng Tang when blood and marked tenesmus are present

What not to confuse it with

What aggravates it

• Raw, poorly kept or doubtful food, especially in summer.
• Milk, fried food and alcohol during the episode: they stretch it out for days.
• Simply stopping the diarrhoea with antidiarrhoeals: it keeps in what the body is trying to expel.

Lifestyle advice

Keep hydration up, with oral rehydration salts if the diarrhoea is heavy. Bland, warm diet: rice, pumpkin, cooked carrot, mung bean; avoid dairy, fried food, alcohol, spices and raw food while it lasts. Be strict with hand hygiene and food handling, since many cases are infectious in origin. Heavy blood in the stool, high fever, dehydration, diarrhoea lasting more than three days, or diarrhoea in an infant, an older person or a pregnant woman all need medical attention.

When to see a doctor