Liver-Gallbladder Damp-Heat
They have heat and heaviness at once on the right side: discomfort under the ribs, nausea, a bitter sticky taste in the mouth, and very dark urine.
In plain words
They have heat and heaviness at once on the right side: discomfort under the ribs, nausea, a bitter sticky taste in the mouth, and very dark urine.
It almost always comes in through food and drink: a lot of fat, a lot of alcohol, a lot of sugar, or years of eating at odd hours; a very humid, hot climate also feeds it. What the body cannot finish processing stays behind as a thick residue and, held there, it heats up. Settling along the route of the Liver and Gallbladder, it parks in the right flank and runs down towards the pelvis, which is where that route passes.
Characteristic symptoms
- Pain and inflammation in the right hypochondrium
- Jaundice (yellow color in eyes and skin)
- Dark, yellowish urine
- Nausea, vomiting or sensation of heaviness
- Fever or sensation of internal heat
- Yellowish stools or foul-smelling diarrhea
- Genital itching or profuse yellow leukorrhea
- Irritability and insomnia
Key clues to recognize it
- A sticky bitter taste and nausea with fatty food, plus discomfort under the ribs on the right.
- Dark, concentrated urine, and in marked cases a yellow tint in the whites of the eyes.
- The tongue coating is yellow and greasy: it looks slick, as if it could not be scraped off.
Tongue and pulse
- Tongue
- Red tongue with yellow, greasy coating, especially on the sides
- Pulse
- Wiry (xiàn), rapid and slippery (huá) pulse
Treatment principle
Clear heat, eliminate dampness, drain the Gallbladder and cleanse the Liver
Common points
Reference formula
Long Dan Xie Gan Tang (Gentiana Drain the Liver Decoction)
What not to confuse it with
What aggravates it
- Alcohol, especially beer and spirits
- Fried food, cured meats and very fatty meals
- Humid, hot environments
- Late, heavy dinners
Lifestyle advice
Avoid alcohol, fried foods, fats and spicy foods that generate dampness and heat. Eat cooling and diuretic foods: cucumber, watermelon, radish, barley. Rest adequately. Manage chronic stress, the main generator of heat in the Liver.
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.
