Observing the tongue is one of the major diagnostic tools of tcm and there are hundreds of possible indications. The four examinations, part 2 tongue diagnosis in chinese medicine share this with your friends 0 0 0 0. If you stick your tongue out at yourself in the mirror, you can actually see the health of your organs. Ask the patient not to brush their tongue, at least the day of their tcm tongue diagnosis. Many cracks on tongue fissured tongue ayurvedic diet. It is a multidirectional and systematic analysis process which is vital in any tcm treatment determination. A stress tongue is also typically dry and often unsteady. It includes observing the tongue and any coating it may have. Tongue inspection ti is important for diagnosis and prognosis in traditional chinese medicine tcm. Fissured tongue occurs in as many as 80% of children with the chromosomal disorder down syndrome. Tcm diagnostics is a study of the theories, methods and techniques of diagnosis used in traditional chinese medicine tcm. Tcm diagnosis is the most difficult yet most important fundamental core of traditional chinese medicine. The deficiency extends to the tongue manifesting as cracks on the tongue.
Now they have a bright red tongue with cracks and its peeled. If there is no tongue fur over the crack or fissure, the fissure belongs to pathologic changes. Ayurvedic tongue diagnosis made easy wake up world. Taking into account swelling of the tongue body your teeth marks it confirms the yin deficiency in the spleen and accumulation of damp. Tongue diagnosis is an important diagnostic tool in traditional chinese medicine tcm. Learning to read the 28 pulses that are an essential part of chinese medicine diagnosis takes years of study and practice. The treatment of diseases with acupuncture and chinese herbs, 2e. Discover what a tongue diagnosis of cracks on your tongue means and how to remedy a cracked tongue with ayurveda.
If something is on the exterior it cannot change the tongue coating. The photo on the right shows a completely different story. Tongue diagnosis is an integral part of taking a medical history in chinese medicine. Tongue apperance and mechanisms a quick guide tongue diagnosis is a powerful means by which a practitioner of chinese medicine can quickly locate the solution to many issues of internal medicine. Stick out your tongue tongue diagnosis in tcm petersen. However it is best to see a practitioner who specialises in tongue diagnosis.
However, your chinese medicine practitioner will talk to you about your pulse diagnosis, and the most common descriptions are. The tongue can tell a great deal about the internal condition of the body. Tongue diagnosis is an important method in tcm to detect constitution like qi deficiency, yin deficiency, blood stasis, dampness, etc. Various parts of the tongue correspond to different bodily organs, such as kidneys, spleen and lungs, and a tcm doctor can determine their state of health and any pathological changes by observing the condition of the body muscular tissue, known as tongue proper, and the coating of the tongue. Tongue diagnosis of traditional chinese medicine for.
Many healing systems recognize the tongue as reflecting something about the health of a person, both patterns of overall health or imbalance and the state of particular organs and tissues. How tongue diagnosis works by transformational acupuncture. The tongue every disease, no matter what name it is known by medical science, is constipation a clogging up of the entire pipe system of the human body arnold ehret every type of symptom or. Tongue assessment in traditional chinese medicine tcm. In fall or autumn, the tongue may be thinner with a coating that is more dry.
Tonguethe tongue is one of the major pillars of diagnosis, the other main one being the pulse. In fact, tongue diagnosis is a vital instrument used in ayurvedic medicine. In tongue diagnosis, observation of the surface of the tongue is mainly focused on the shape, fur, and body of the tongue. If the tongue body also has cracks and there is little or no tongue coat, this. Tongue diagnosis is used all the time by acupuncturists and practitioners trained in chinese medicine it is an important way to diagnose a patients health and sometimes can be crucial in deciding what to do first. But in ayurveda, cracks on your tongue tell an important story. Tongue diagnosis is a practice long used in traditional chinese medicine a system of alternative medicine that originated in china. Pulse and tongue diagnosis is often a part of the first acupuncture appointment, and always part of our herbal consultations. For example, coffee yellows the coating and peptobismol turns the tongue black.
A raw tongue, that looks like a slab of raw meat, and is dark red in color, is generally a sign of advanced consumption, deficiency heat, and a severe depletion of the vital fluids. A cracked tongue can be observed as an incidental finding during a routine dental examination. Furthermore, some people have minor, unchanging cracks on their tongue, which are considered. Tongue diagnosis can be complicated but there are a few easy to look for signs that may give you an indication of whats going on.
Observation of the tongue, also known as tongue diagnosis, is an important procedure in tcm examination. Taking into account swelling of the tongue body your teeth marks it confirms the yin deficiency in the spleen and accumulation of dampness. Tongue diagnosis is an important part of the chinese medical assessment. Tcm doctors rely on tongue diagnosis to differentiate one syndrome from another, and use variations in the tongue s colour, texture, shape and coating to evaluate a patients condition. Vitamin h deficiency mostly occurs in those taking antiseizure medications, taking longterm antibiotics and absorption difficulties such as in crohns disease. It forms the foundation of all, physicians assess a persons syndromes or disease, and state of health by collecting and analyzing clinical information on the basis of different diagnostic methods. Learn diagnosis tcm tongue with free interactive flashcards. In this article i am going to share with you knowledge about tongue diagnosis. Most people dont even notice the cracks on their tongue. A reddishpurple tongue body colour usually indicates blood stasis deriving from or. Diagnosis in traditional chinese medicine may appear to be simply a grouping of symptoms, but the elegance of chinese medicine is that a diagnosis automatically indicates a treatment strategy for example, a woman experiencing menopause may have hot flashes, night sweats, thirst, and irritability.
If the tongue body also has cracks and there is little or no tongue coat, this usually indicates deficient heat due to internal injury. Tongue diagnosis is a primary diagnostic tool in traditional chinese medicine. Tongue diagnosis in tcm is comprehensive and much information can be gathered from it such as the degree of the pathogenic factor and the state of. A cracked tongue is a benign condition with multiple small but furrows, fissures or grooves visible on the dorsal of the tongue. It will often be necessary to crossreference several or all of these aspects to establish a full picture. Diagnosis through tongue acupuncture and chinese medicine.
In this video i have mentioned how to do ayurvedic tongue diagnosis. That said, there are two specific conditions that can be assessed by looking at just the tongue cracks. In fall or autumn, the tongue may be thinner with a. The normal tongue in traditional chinese medicine has a light red or. Diy ayurvedic tongue diagnosis john douillards lifespa. The aims of this study were to 1 understand cognitive strategies and diagnostic reasoning processes of tcm practitioners engaged in tongue diagnosis and 2.
Tongue diagnosis in chinese medicine by giovanni maciocia. There are several shapes such crack and fissure on the surface of tongue, which differ in depth and numbers. In fact, im surprised when acupuncturists dont use it. This method involves examination of the shape, size, color, and texture of the tongue body and coat and helps reveal the state of organ functions and progression of conditions. A tongue without cracks is frequently soft and supple. Cracked tongue pictures, causes, diagnosis, treatment.
Cracks on the tongue with deep red color indicate excessive heat. In ayurveda, one of the primary investigative tools of practitioners for determining the state of ones health is tongue diagnosis or evaluation of the tongue. Knowledge of tongue diagnosis is one of the unique treasures of traditional chinese medicine tcm. It can show the condition of your body, organs, progress of a disorder and your tongue will show the depth and nature hot, cold, etc. It is rare to need a biopsy to diagnose a fissured tongue. What follows on this page are the various tongue body and coating appearances, how they came to look that way mechanisms and what they indicate. However, a cracked tongueof long term duration without any other symptoms can be considered normal. This tongue, which generally afflicts vata and pitta types, will have many small cracks on the tongue. Tongue diagnosis requires a great deal of knowledge of tcm theory and experience with. You can also get a pulse and tongue diagnosis checkup as part of a holistic health counseling appointment. The four examinations, part 2 tongue diagnosis in chinese. Your tongue can speak to you about your health through tongue diagnosis. The symptoms of a fissured tongue are cracks on top surface of the tongue.
Introduction to tongue assessment for the western herbalist. Seasons of the year in summer, there may be more dampness present in the tongue coating, leaving it slightly thicker and light yellow. The fissures or grooves vary in sizes and can either be deep or shallow and may be as deep as six millimeters. Changes in the tongue color usually reflect chronic illness. This is not to be confused with a geographic tongue, which normally exhibits many cracks. By observing the tongue we can see how our whole body is functioning and able to detect imbalances in different systems in our body. The tongue coating fur refers to a layer of moss over the tongue surface, which is produced by the stomach qi. When a chinese practitioner carries our his diagnosis through tongue session, he would take notes of the following. The tongue body refers to the muscular tissue of the tongue. The tongue reflects the health of the internal organs and blood circulation.
Ideally, the tongue should be supple, free of cracks, and when briefly. Tongue diagnosis is one of the main diagnostic tools in traditional chinese medicine. And as strange as it sounds, it really makes sense pulse diagnosis the pulse is taken on the wrist. Fissured tongue in tcm tongue diagnosis tcm health. The cracks, for example, may never go totally away, but the coat will repair pretty quickly. Choose from 500 different sets of diagnosis tcm tongue flashcards on quizlet.
When the stomach is diminished and there is no coat on the tongue, thats a bad sign the coat of the tongue will change faster than the body of the tongue. Tongue diagnosis, yin and yang in tongue, swollen tongue, tcm theory, channels in tongue, byung choi duration. A cracked pale tongue indicates insufficiency of yin and blood. A cracked tongue is generally a sign of chronic nervous stress and tension. Tongue diagnosis in tcm acupuncture clinic of tom ingegno.
According to the principles of tcm, analyzing the appearance of an individuals tongue can provide a greater understanding of his or her overall health. During an examination, the overall tongue coating, shape, and color is taken into account. Cracked tongue is a condition in which the top visible surface of your tongue gets cracks or fissures these tongue cracks might go unnoticed because of their benign effects, but they change the tongue appearance. In fall o r autumn, the tongue may be thinner with a coating that. Housed in the mouth, the tongue is the most visible part of the internal body and can provide you with information about your general state of health. However, most fissures occur in the middle of the tongue. Food and drugs may change the coating or color of the body of the tongue.
When we ask you to stick your tongue out, we are observing the appearance of the tongue in three distinct areas. Practical diagnosis in traditional chinese medicine, 1e. If the tongue body also has cracks and there is little or no tongue coat, this usually indicates deficient heat due to. The tongue occurs as painful and magenta in color, inflamed glossitis. The tongue is the beginning of the digestive tract, which lumbers on for another 30 feet or so. According to the book, tongue diagnosis in chinese medicine, by giovanni maciocia.
The diagnosis can also be made using the clinical symptoms of the tongue. If wide and not deep it points to stomach yin deficiency usually. Vertical crack on the tongue usually indicates the exhaustion of your body fluids specifically yin deficiency. The four examinations, part 2 tongue diagnosis in chinese medicine. Tcm doctors rely on tongue diagnosis to differentiate one syndrome from another, and use variations in the tongues colour, texture, shape and coating to evaluate a patients condition.
Most common is the longitudinal midline crack running up the centre or the tongue from back to front. The image on the left shows the correlation between the organs and area of the tongue. Basically, it is an indepth look at how the body functions without bias. When a practitioner of tcm looks at a patients tongue heshe is looking at many things such as the tongue body, shape, movement, coating as well as the yin and yang organs reflected on the tongue. Traditional chinese medicine tongue diagnosis carahealth.
The role of tongue diagnosis not all tongue irregularities are indications of disharmony, however. Understanding diagnostic reasoning in tcm practice. The normal tongue in traditional chinese medicine has a light red or pinkish body with a thin white coating. A cracked tongue diagnosis usually requires looking at more than just the grooves and fissures and often involves inspecting your body andor mouth for other symptoms. In some cases, the cracks may cause burning sensation while consuming specific food type or may leave you tasteless too. Tongue diagnosis is a very traditional and effective method which has been used to diagnose diseases for over two thousand years. This is one of the most valuable tools available to us herbalists.
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