Chinese medicine diagnosis of head sweat

Traditional Chinese medicine is a quintessence of Chinese tradition and is very effective in treating some physical diseases. Head sweating is a common problem encountered in people's daily lives and has a great impact on people's physical condition. Usually, the phenomenon of sweating on the head is caused by qi and yang deficiency in the body. So how should Chinese medicine treat this symptom? For Chinese medicine, what methods can be used to treat the common problem of head sweating?

Spontaneous sweating is mostly caused by deficiency of Qi and Yang

Clinical manifestations

Spontaneous sweating often occurs during the day, especially when moving, and one is prone to catching colds, accompanied by symptoms such as dizziness, shortness of breath, fatigue, and loss of appetite. It is mostly caused by Qi deficiency.

treat

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that when positive energy exists within, evil cannot invade; where evil gathers, the energy will be weak. When the body's vital energy is weak, it is difficult to protect the body surface, and sweat will easily leak out on its own. Excessive sweating consumes body fluids, reduces resistance, and makes one prone to catching colds. Treatment should be to tonify the spleen, replenish qi, and strengthen the exterior. Medicinal Yupingfeng Powder with added ingredients: 30 grams each of raw astragalus, calcined dragon bone, calcined oyster, and floating wheat, 15 grams each of stir-fried white atractylodes and saposhnikovia divaricata, and 6 grams of licorice. Decoction in water.

If the patient sweats a lot, is prone to catching colds, and is very afraid of cold, it is a case of yang deficiency, and it is advisable to replenish qi and warm yang. Medicinal Guizhi Decoction with added ingredients: 30 grams each of raw astragalus and floating wheat, 15 grams each of cinnamon twig, white peony root, and angelica root, 10 grams each of ephedra root and roasted licorice, 5 slices of ginger, and 7 dates. Decoction in water.

Night sweats are mostly caused by Yin deficiency and excessive fire

Clinical manifestations

Sweating at night stops after waking up. Some people sweat profusely even when they sleep with the air conditioner on, and their pajamas are soaked. They also have symptoms such as hot body, hot and red face, hot palms and soles of feet, dry mouth and sore throat, and little and yellow urine. This is all due to yin deficiency and excessive fire.

treat

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that night sweats are mostly caused by yin deficiency and excessive fire, which causes the skin surface to be loose, resulting in sweat leakage. The treatment should be to nourish yin and reduce fire. The medicinal Danggui Liuhuang Decoction is modified: 15 grams each of Angelica sinensis, raw rehmannia, and cooked rehmannia, 10 grams each of Phellodendron chinense and Anemarrhena asphodeloides, 30 grams each of raw astragalus and fresh reed root, decocted in water and taken orally. If there are night sweats, dizziness, palpitations, and insomnia, it is mostly due to insufficient blood in the heart. You can use Guipi Decoction with modifications.

In addition, children's skin is tender, contains more water, has abundant capillaries, has active metabolism, and their autonomic nervous system regulation function is not yet perfect. During sleep, the blood vessels in the skin dilate and they sweat a lot, which is conducive to heat dissipation. This is physiological night sweats.

There are also some special sweating phenomena seen in clinical practice that need to be carefully distinguished.

Head sweat

Sweating only on the head is more common in Yangming heat syndrome and damp-heat syndrome. Sweating will stop when the internal heat subsides. Sweating on the head is common after a serious illness or in the elderly with asthma, which is a deficiency syndrome. Children often sweat on their heads when they sleep, commonly known as "steamer head", without other symptoms, and it is not a sign of illness.

Excessive sweating on the chest is called "heart sweat", which is mostly caused by weak heart qi. It can be treated with Shengmai San with modifications.

Excessive sweating of hands and feet

It is mostly caused by spleen and stomach dysfunction, spleen and stomach weakness, insufficient body fluid, accompanied by symptoms such as dry mouth, irritability, red tongue with little coating, etc. It is a syndrome of deficiency heat and can be treated with Zengye Decoction with modifications. If it is a syndrome of damp-heat in the spleen and stomach caused by alcoholism and a preference for spicy, fatty and sweet food, accompanied by symptoms such as bad breath, bitter mouth, constipation, yellow and turbid urine, thick and greasy tongue coating, etc., Sanren Decoction with Scutellaria baicalensis, Radish Seed, Lophatherum gracile can be used.

Partial sweating

Sweating on the left or right side, upper or lower body. If it is due to imbalance of the Ying and Wei systems and disharmony of Qi and blood, it is advisable to replenish Qi and nourish the Ying systems, and use the Shiquan Dabu Decoction with modifications. Excessive sweating in the elderly may be a precursor to stroke and should be treated early.

Excessive perineal sweating

If the perineum often sweats a lot and the scrotum is wet, you can take Jinkui Shenqi Pills; if you sweat a lot in your dreams and feel the perineum is wet when you wake up, you can use Zhibai Dihuang Pills to treat it; if the perineum sweat is sticky and fishy, ​​it is due to damp heat, and you can use Longdan Xiegan Decoction with modifications.

Cold sweat

People who usually have Yang deficiency and insufficient Wei Qi often fear cold, have cold limbs and sweat. You may also break out in a cold sweat when you are suddenly frightened.

War sweat

It is often seen in the early and middle stages of various infectious diseases. During the struggle between good and evil, the whole body trembles and then sweats. If sweat comes out and fever subsides, the pulse becomes calm and the body becomes cool, it means that the evil has gone away and the body is at peace, and the vital energy has been restored. If the limbs become cold and the patient becomes restless after sweating, it means that the body's vital energy is weak and cannot overcome the pathogenic factors, and the condition is serious.

No sweat

It is often seen in patients with critical heart failure, with profuse sweating, accompanied by rapid breathing, cold limbs, weak pulse, and intermittent pulse. It is a sign that the Yang Qi is about to be exhausted and should be actively treated.