Cheng Kai Health Preservation said: What should I do if the liver and spleen are not in harmony?

Disharmony between the liver and spleen is a typical or more common syndrome in clinical practice. Many friends will have stomach bloating and stomach pain. When they go to the hospital, the doctor takes the pulse and looks at the tongue coating. You have a disharmony between the liver and spleen. The patient said why the liver and spleen are at odds with each other. Why is my liver fighting with the spleen?

To explain clearly the disharmony between the liver and spleen, we must first look at the five elements attributes of the two.

The liver belongs to wood, and the spleen belongs to earth.

The liver belongs to wood, and the nature of wood is smooth. The liver is responsible for dispersing and regulating the body's qi, so the body's qi must be properly dredged. It rises when it should rise and falls when it should fall, so that qi and blood can circulate normally, and the various physiological functions of the human body can function normally.

The spleen belongs to earth, and the spleen is like a granary of food. Food enters the stomach for digestion and absorption. After digestion, the nutritional subtle substances are transported to various parts of the body for utilization through the spleen's transport ability. Therefore, the spleen plays a management and coordination role in the stomach, and is very meaningful for the overall digestion, metabolism and absorption of the human body.

The liver and the spleen belong to wood and earth, respectively, and their attributes are very consistent with each other.

But among the five elements, wood controls earth. In other words, wood controls earth. Under normal circumstances, the liver has to manage the spleen. The spleen cannot work randomly on its own. It can do whatever it wants. It has to be managed by the liver. So how does the liver control the spleen, and how does the liver's ability to relieve spleen play a management role in the function of the spleen? In traditional Chinese medicine, the spleen is responsible for promoting clearness and raising good things, while the stomach is responsible for lowering turbidity and expelling bad and garbage things. Therefore, there are opportunities to move in the process, and there needs to be ups and downs. Therefore, the Liver Regulating Qi Machine has a management function on it, which can help or manage the spleen to play a better role in raising clearness, and the spleen matches the stomach so that it can better reduce turbidity.

From the perspective of modern medicine, it can also be understood, where does the liver govern the dispersion? It is the diaphragm of the body. The liver that stores blood in traditional Chinese medicine is the function of the liver in liver anatomy, but at the same time it is responsible for catharsis. Catharsis is to adjust the diaphragm of the human body. Once the diaphragm is regulated, the pressure in the human body's chest and abdominal cavity will naturally decrease. It can achieve balance and regulation, so the rhythm of the organs in the abdominal cavity, especially the organs mainly in the gastrointestinal tract, can be normal and it can perform its physiological functions normally. Therefore, the diaphragm is very important, and there are many ligaments in the anatomy of the liver that are directly connected to the diaphragm. Therefore, the liver mentioned in traditional Chinese medicine not only has the anatomical concept of storing blood in the liver, but also has the ability and function to regulate the diaphragm muscles. This is the function of catharsis.

The spleen governs transportation and transformation. The spleen refers to the anterior abdominal wall, including muscles and the fascial layer where muscles are attached to bones. The structure of this layer protects and squeezes the internal organs of the human body. It is precisely attached to the position of the rib arch, where it meets the diaphragm and is attached at the same time. One is inside and one is outside. The spleen is attached outside the costal arch, and the diaphragm is within the costal arch. The two meet here, and their functions are linked together.

This is to understand part of the concept of spleen in traditional medicine through the perspective of modern medical anatomy. It is clear that the liver manages the spleen. So what will happen if the liver manages the spleen excessively?

In daily life, we all often encounter situations like this. For example, a mother is in charge of everything about her child and says no to everything. If this doesn’t work, that won’t work. Do you think this child can still have the ability to be autonomous? , of course not. Therefore, children cannot be managed too strictly or too rigidly. Teachers must also give full play to students' initiative in managing students.

Therefore, under physiological conditions, the liver cannot over-manage the spleen. If it is over-managed, it will be called liver wood taking over the spleen earth.

When do you become too strict? It means when you are angry or when the liver qi is stagnant. When symptoms such as bloating, stomach pain, and hypochondriac pain appear due to disharmony between the liver and spleen, people often have some emotional problems. It's comfortable, and it lasts for a long time, and I feel depressed and uncomfortable for a long time. These conditions lead to a state of liver stagnation, which multiplies the spleen and leads to the suppression of the spleen.

I once saw an old lady who was close to eighty years old. Her stomach was bloated, her stomach hurt, her epigastrium was full, she felt a little uncomfortable, and she couldn't eat anything. I took her pulse and found that her pulse had typical characteristics. The left hand is called the heart, liver and kidneys, and the right hand is called the lungs and spleen. According to the diagnostic method of Cunkou pulse, I found that the pulse in her left hand was very strong, and the pulse in her right hand was very weak, weak and weak. Then the pulse in her left hand was the Xian pulse, and the pulse was very obvious. The Xian pulse is a type of liver stagnation. Typical characteristics. Then I asked her, I said you are so old, why are you still angry? The old lady said that the old man was angry with me and kept talking for a long time.

Then I told the old lady, I said you have stomach pain and the bloating is caused by gas. This is called liver stagnation and spleen deficiency, and liver wood takes advantage of spleen earth. I said that your internal organs are already fighting. As long as you don’t fight in your life, your internal organs will stop fighting. So feel better and call the old man over. I will talk to him. The knot in your heart will be untied, and your stomach will be aching and bloated. will be relieved.

This is a situation. Don’t think that the liver and spleen are at odds with each other. This is the only situation. Every two or three patients, a female patient in her sixties comes with the same stomach bloating and stomach pain. , hiccups. Then he told me that my stomach has been like this for many years. I asked you how did this happen to you? Are you popular? Feeling your pulse, I say you don't seem to be popular. She said I was happy and nothing happened at home. I said, do you have poor spleen and stomach function all year round? She said that since she was young, her spleen and stomach have been relatively weak and cold. She is afraid of cold and it is difficult to digest anything she eats. She belongs to the type of weak spleen and stomach.

So at this time, if we compare the tongue of the former old lady and the tongue of the female patient in her sixties, there are obvious differences. The former's tongue coating is thick and greasy, and it is dry. Although the sides of the tongue are light red, the red color is on both sides, which means that the liver and gallbladder are in a state of insufficient liver yin and excessive liver yang. In short, the liver is stagnant on the side, and the spleen is in the middle. The spleen also has decreased transport function and phlegm obstruction. The tongue of the latter is fatter and larger, and the tongue is pale. This is a tongue with spleen deficiency.

The former is phlegm obstruction caused by liver stagnation, and the latter is due to spleen deficiency. The pathogenesis is different. Although they are both said to be caused by disharmony between the liver and spleen, the former is diagnosed as liver stagnation and spleen deficiency, while the latter is diagnosed as spleen deficiency and liver stagnation. In the latter, spleen deficiency is the root, and liver stagnation is the auxiliary. In other words, the child is too weak between the two, and the mother appears to be stronger. The former is because the mother is too overbearing and suppresses the child. Now the relationship between the two is different, so the methods used in the treatment process are obviously different. The former mainly uses the method of soothing the liver and relieving stagnation, with the help of reducing phlegm, while the latter of course mainly focuses on strengthening the spleen and soothes the liver as a supplement.

In daily life, if you fit into different categories, the acupoint self-care methods you adopt will also be different. Of course, the former is mainly to soothe the liver, so the stimulation site is in the ribs. Don’t forget that the spleen is the position of the rib arch where the abdominal wall is attached and interfaces with the liver. Therefore, this area is a very important part for soothing the liver and relieving stagnation, so you will use your palms to rub this area. The method is called rib rubbing or rib arch rubbing.

When you rub it like this, you will stimulate several key acupuncture points on the site, such as Youqimen point and Sun and Moon point. Qimen is the acupoint of the liver, and Sun and Moon are the acupoints of the gallbladder. In addition, below it, there is an acupoint on the spleen meridian called belly mourning. belly mourning means fullness, and mourning means letting it decline.

Therefore, the abdominal mourning point is also on the rib arch. These acupuncture points are combined together. Don’t worry about whether you can guess the exact location. You just put your palm here and then the rib arch. Rubbing the lower edge back and forth will definitely stimulate these acupuncture points.

If your liver and spleen are not in harmony, if liver stagnation is the main problem, do this.

If your liver and spleen are not in harmony, mainly due to weakness of the spleen and stomach, or deficiency of the spleen and stagnation of the liver, then what should you do? Focus on strengthening the spleen. Go and read the chapter on "The Most Acupoints for Strengthening the Spleen" !