asthma: Liver Fire Insulting Lungs

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This is another Excess Heat imbalance (like Hot Phlegm Blocking Lungs is

Excess Heat) that can manifest as asthma.

 

A person can have Liver Fire or Liver Fire Blazing Upwards without having

Liver Fire Insulting Lungs. But when the Lungs are affected by Liver Fire,

and the breathing problems are particularly pronounced, the diagnosis is

Liver Fire Insulting Lungs. Also, when Liver Fire Insults Lungs, the person

can get a feeling of fullness and stuffiness in the chest that is not

present with just Liver Fire.

 

When Liver Fire Insults Lungs, the tongue probably will be red and the

coating yellow - like when Hot Phlegm Blocks the Lungs. So how do you tell

if it's Liver Fire Insulting the Lungs or Hot Phlegm Obstructing the Lungs?

 

For one thing, in Hot Phlegm the yellow coating will be sticky or maybe

greasy. When Liver Fire Insults the Lungs, the entire tongue will tend to be

red (like in any Heat condition), but the sides will be the reddish. (The

sides of the tongue often will reflect problems in the Liver (left side) and

Gallbladder (right side).

 

Liver Fire Blazing tends to rise. It may or may not affect the Lungs (if it

does, then it's Liver Fire Insulting Lungs), but all cases of Liver Fire

will affect the face and head. All cases of Liver Fire will tend to

manifest a red face and eyes, headache (especially in the temporal area),

dizziness, and maybe even vertigo and tinnitus (ringing in the ears, though

tinnitus more often has a Root of Kidney Deficiency than Liver imbalance).

 

One of the main symptoms which will differenciate Liver Insulting Lungs from

Hot Phlegm Blocking Lungs is anger. The Liver and Gallbladder are most

vulnerable to anger, and in turn, when there is a Liver (and/or Gallbladder)

imbalance, the person will tend to be very angry. (The imbalance can be the

Root of anger. It's a two-way street. Anger is one of the things that can

damage the Liver, but a Liver in imbalance (from whatever cause) can also

produce anger.)

 

There also may be a bitter taste in the mouth when it's Liver Fire Insulting

Lungs. Actually, a lot of Liver Imbalances have a bitter taste in the mouth

as a symptom. Some Heart Imbalances also can manifest with a bitter taste in

the mouth, but there are ways to tell if the bitter taste is due to Liver or

Heart Imbalance. But suspect Liver imbalance first when a bitter taste is

present and rule it in or out as Liver imbalance is the more probable.

 

Because this is a Heat imbalance, you will tend to see the symptoms that are

common to all Heat imbalances: The person tends to feel too hot and be

bothered by heat and have problems getting cool. The person will tend to be

thirsty and want cold drinks. The urine will tend to be scanty and

dark-colored. If consipation is present, the stools will tend to be hard

and dry (the effects of Heat).

 

In an earlier post I said that the main TCM concepts to pay attention to in

considering asthma are Hot/Cold, Excess/Deficiency, and Qi Stagnation or Qi

Flow problems. In addition to being an Excess Heat imbalance, Liver Fire

Insulting Lungs is also a Qi Stagnation and flow problems. The Root of Liver

Fire often is Liver Qi Stagnation. Any time Qi gets dammed up over a long

period of time, Heat and even Fire can result; hence, Liver Fire when the Qi

is blocked in the Liver. Once Liver Fire gets established, both the Liver

Fire and the Qi will tend to rise. When the Liver Qi rebels upwards, this

also interferes with Lung Qi descending like it's supposed to do. (Remember,

Lung Qi failing to descend can be another Root of asthma. Lung Qi can fail

to descend for a number of reasons - Liver Fire and rebellious Liver Qi are

blocking it, there's a problem in the Large Intestine, or Kidneys Are

Refusing to Grasp Lung Qi.)

 

Because this is not just a Heat imbalance but a Fire Imbalance, the sputum

may be blood-tinged. Actually Hot Phlegm (or Cold Phlegm) in the Lungs can

over time turn into Fire.

 

In the terminology of the 5-Elements, Liver Fire Insulting Lungs is called

Wood Insulting Metal. Wood is the element of the Liver (and Gallbladder).

Metal is the element of the Lungs (and Large Intestine). Metal is supposed

to control Wood, but when Wood instead controls Metal, it's called Metal

Insulting Wood.

 

Victoria

 

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