Liver Yang Rising (Excess Yang; Deficient Yin)

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One thing I want to stress about Liver Yang Rising is that this is a mixed

Deficiency and Excess pattern. Liver Yang only rises if Liver Yin is

insufficient and unable to control Yang. (Yang heats and activates; Yin

cools and calms.)

 

Because this is a mixed pattern of Deficiency (Yin) and Excess (the rising

Yang), the tongue and pulse signs can vary. Usually the tongue will be red,

" especially on the sides " , and the pulse wiry. BUT, if the Liver Yin

Deficiency (this includes Liver Blood Deficiency) is particularly

pronounced, the the tongue will be pale and the pulse choppy and fine. If

there is joint Liver and Kidney Yin Deficiency, the tongue may be red and

peeled (without coating), and the pulse may be floating and empty. (A

floating pulse is one that is felt the clearest with the least pressure on

the wrist. Increase the pressure and it gets harder to feel the pulse.

Floating pulses usually are associated with Exterior conditions, but an

exception to this is joint Kidney and Liver Yin Deficiency.)

 

" Clinical manifestations

 

" Headache which may be on the temples, eyes, or lateral side of the head,

dizziness, tinnitus, deafness, dry mou8th and throat, insomnia,

irritability, feeling worked-up, shouting in anger.

 

" Tongue: Red, especially on the sides.

 

" Pulse: Wiry.

 

" Key symptoms: headache, irritability, Wiry Pulse.

 

" Pathology

 

" This is a mixed Deficiency/Excess pattern as it derives from deficiency of

Liver-Yin and/or Kidney-Yin causing the rising of Liver-Yang. In 5-Element

terms, Water is deficient and fails to nourish and 'submerge' Wood, which

becomes too dry and causes the rising upwards of Liver-Yang.

 

" This pattern is therefore characterized by an imbalance between Liver-Yin

(which is deficient) and Liver-Yang (which is in excess). The

manifestations described above are only those of the rising of Liver-Yang.

In practice, they would normally appear together with some symptoms and

signs of Liver and/or Kidney Yin deficiency. The symptoms of Liver-Yin

deficiency (not usually describedd as a pattern in itself) are basically the

same as Liver-Blood deficiency, with the only addition of dry eyes. In

addition to the signs of Liver-Yin (and Liver-Blood) deficiency, there may

also be signs of Kidney-Yin deficiency.

 

" Usually Liver-Yang rising is a result of Kidney/Liver Yin deficiency, but

in practice, it can also arise from Kidney-Yang deficiency. This is because

Kidney-Yin and Kidney-Yang have the same root, and a deficiency of one

always implies a deficiency of the other (albeit to a lesser degree).

Therefore, when Kidney-Yang is deficient, Kidney-Yin will also be deficient

to a certain extent and may give rise to symptoms of rising of Liver-Yang.

 

" The main difference between the pattern of Liver-Yang rising and that of

Liver-Fire blazing is that in Liver-Fire blazing there is 'solid' Fire

drying up the Body Fluids and causing symptoms and signs of dryness such as

constipation, scanty-dark urine, red eyes and face and bitter taste which

are absent in Liver-Yang rising. Liver-Fire blazing is a purely Excess

pattern, while Liver-Yang rising is a combined Deficinecy/Excess pattern

characterized by an imbalance between Yin and Yang, without 'solid' Fire.

 

" Most of the manifestations are due to the rising of Liver-Yang to the head:

tinnitus, deafness (both of sudden onset), propensity to outbursts of anger

and headache. The headache is one of the most common and distinctive signs

of rising of Liver-Yang. Tuypically, it would be on either temple, but it

can also be on the lateral side of the head (Gall-Bladder channel) or in or

just above the eye. It is usually unilateral. "

 

The treatment principle is to subdue Liver Yang while tonifying (increasing)

Yin.

 

Giovanni Maciocia, The Foundations of , pp. 225-226.

 

Victoria

 

 

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