Liver Damp Heat: jaundice to fever and discharges

Jonathan Clogstoun-Willmott

February 3, 2021

There are several ways to acquire Liver Damp Heat, but a lack of moderation in your appetites is a good start: read more about this under Aetiology, further down the page.

Exactly which Appetites do I mean?

In the biggest sense of the word ‘Appetite’, I mean Life.

But if you don’t moderate your appetite for the following, you’ll probably end up with Liver Damp Heat, amongst other problems:

Exotic food
Rich food
Junk food
Alcohol and drugs
Sex (Sexually transmitted diseases often produce Liver Damp Heat)
Hot climates especially if damp
Too many prescribed medications, or taken in excess

Symptoms

Of course, you won’t get all the following; at least let’s hope not!

Fever- Stuffy ‘fullness’ in chest and abdomen
Distending pain, feels full and oppressive, often better for cold and aggravated by pressure or even touch
Various kinds of headache, more often on the sides of the head or around or in the eyes
Nausea and/or vomiting
Appetite loss
Jaundice
Swelling of the abdomen
Pain in the hypochondrium (under the ribs on either side, usually the right side)
Discharges that are smelly and yellow (for example, in women, also from vagina) and may itch
Bitter and/or sticky taste
Inflammation, eczema, redness, sores, pain and itching of the sexual organs including scrotum and vulva
Fatigue and a feeling of heaviness
Aversion to heat
Skin rashes, often vesicular or papular, with itch
Thirstlessness. If thirsty, no desire to drink
Usually prefer cool drinks
Urine usually dark and may be hard to pee, may burn
May have diarrhoea and foul-smelling stools, or diarrhoea alternating with constipation
Sluggish and irritable. May have orange complexion from jaundice.
Tongue: looks red, with a yellow and sticky or greasy coating
Pulse: slippery, wiry and rapid

Most people with these symptoms will feel ill and hot, and prefer open, cool air. However, not always: someone broken down by long years of illness may prefer warmth and prefer to avoid cold air.

It is also possible to have someone at the early stage of the condition who doesn’t yet feel ill.

Other forms of Liver Damp Heat that might seem unconnected include athlete’s foot, usually between the fourth and fifth toes or in the arch or sole of the foot, and some discharges from the eyes, if the sclera or other parts of the eyeball are inflamed.

Aetiology of Liver Damp Heat

Damp conditions, environments or foods that produce damp (see above and more below) prevent the free flow of Liver Qi, producing Liver Qi stagnation symptoms, (distension, nausea etc). This stops the usual direction of flow of bile, forcing it into the Blood, causing jaundice.

The presence of Heat with Damp produces continuous fever-like symptoms, although if not actual fever, then symptoms of heat.

So hot, damp, climates create the environment for this.

If someone has suffered Liver Qi Stagnation for a long period this will produce Heat in their bodies.

Combined with Damp you get Damp-Heat.

(By the way, I’ve written a book on Stress and Qi Stagnation, quite a big subject.)

However, external conditions such as hot weather can combine with Spleen-caused Damp to produce Damp-Heat.

Gallbladder Damp Heat is fairly similar and can increase it.

For this Liver syndrome to occur, usually Spleen qi must have been affected so that the Damp can arise in the first place.

This means that diet and worry, for example, could have been contributory factors, because they affect the Spleen.

Foods that, over-eaten, tend to cause this condition include:

Greasy fatty food produces Liver Damp Heat — Copyright amirali-mirhashemian-unsplash

Rich food (fatty, greasy)
Dairy foods
Junk food
Highly-spiced food
Alcohol
Meat, especially roasted, grilled or fried
Foods eaten too fast, or under mental or emotional pressure
Many social drugs incline towards Liver Damp Heat

Bad eating habits also contribute to this.

Treatment of Liver Damp Heat

Easy to say, not necessarily easy to do:

resolve dampness,
clear the Heat,
calm the Liver and Gall Bladder.

What can YOU do about Liver Damp Heat?

If this condition goes on for too long, untreated, the experience of Chinese medicine is that it can turn into something worse, Phlegm.

Phlegm when combined with Fire, as in Heart Fire or Liver Fire can cause dizziness, mental illness, stroke and epilepsy. Trust me, you don’t want Phlegm. (I’ve even written a book about it!)

So what can you do about this?

Easy to say, not necessarily easy to do!

Moderate your appetites: control them
Avoid Damp-inducing factors
Treat Liver Qi stagnation
Reduce exposure to factors causing Heat
Get expert acupuncture! For instance, acupuncture treatment for jaundice is often very helpful.
Try to reduce the number of drugs and medications you take
Eat plenty of fresh food, lightly cooked, including vegetables, fruit and fish (if you can find healthy, unpolluted fish)
Drink plenty of water (unpolluted, filtered, pure)
Rest; light exercise; sleep; friendly support
Avoid factors that upset or excite or anger or stress you
Cut out, or greatly reduce aggravating factors such as:

Wrong foods
Bad eating habits
Harmful sex
Alcohol and drugs
Eating hastily or when tired

What will your Acupuncturist Do about Liver Damp Heat?

Careful diagnosis of Liver Damp Heat — Photo by Helloquence on Unsplash

First, a careful assessment of your condition and circumstances, during which he’ll take your pulse and look at your tongue and eyes.

He may palpate both your abdomen and along your acupuncture channels. He may look for sore points on your body or limbs. Importantly, he’ll take notes – careful notes.

Eventually he’ll make a diagnosis. That diagnosis tells him what he must do and the order to do it.

He’ll probably give you a lecture. In China it’s called ‘re-education’! He’ll want you to do things to help yourself, (see above) otherwise what he does may not work so well.

Acupuncture Forehead calms Liver Damp Heat

Then he’ll choose acupuncture points to use, some to relax you, some to clear damp and heat, some to calm your Liver energy.

After treatment, you’ll probably feel calm, in less discomfort, and you may sleep better.

Your family or friends may then find you easier to live with. You will almost certainly need a number of acupuncture treatments, although often even one leaves you feeling calmer, in less discomfort and more confident about your future. However, if you have addictions, you may need professional help for them.