Severe Sweating and dry lips
forum post
I have a patient who comes in for shoulder pain however, he has massive sweating (mainly underarms) at any time of the day - without exersion. He has had this for "most of his life." I know this can be Lung Qi Xu or Yang or Qi xu however, are there any other suggestions?
He mainly complains of having for the past month "dry/sticky" lips - his tongue coat is white and sticky. He says he doesn't have a dry throat or mouth at all, just has to lick his lips quite a bit - causing a sore on his tongue. Again, he does not have a dry tongue at all - just a noticeable white sticky coat.
Pulse - moderate and even in all positions
PMH - Asthma (although, he hasn't had any problems recently)
General Health is overall, really good. He is very calm, doesn't seem stressed at all with work or life.
Any suggestions?
Thank you!
This post has the following associations:
Acupoints: gv 22, kd 3, li 4, li 11, li 18, st 11
Comments / Discussions:
comment by "ChadD" (acupuncturist)
on Jan 2010
There are a number of causes for excessive sweating. These fall into two basic categories - either the condition hyperhidrosis which can be genetic and can arise without any other health issues, or a number of health issues most notably heart disease, lung issues, infection, cancer, and others.
If it is a fairly recent issue it is probably some kind of infection and should pass on it's own. If it happens primarily with exertion (even mild exertion) the patient should have their heart checked out by their physician. If it is not either of these, then I would look through our sweat questions section of our diagnostic questions article. Then couple these ideas with other supporting signs and symptoms to come to a proper TCM diagnosis.
For hyperhidrosis (and most sweat related conditions) we focus on the following areas in addition to points appropriate for their overall TCM diagnosis:
Huatuo area of T4 (sweat glands), T5 Left side (heart), GV 22 (hypothalamus), LI 18 (sky window, circulation), LI 4 (clear heat), KD 3 (tonify kidneys), LI 11 (clear heat), ST 11 (vagus nerve).
Out of all of these the most important is needling and massage/tuina in the T4 area.
top Login/Comment
comment by "tim"
on Jan 2010
In my opinion to be able to ascertain the correct treatment we must first ascertain the correct syndrome differentiation. the differentiation will dictate the correct points and manipulation
Although there is not much information to go on,I may still be able to hazzard a guess. The tongue and pulse diagnosis do not correlate as sometimes happens; but I am more inclined to follow the tongue
This is because the patient is an astmatic. In TCM, asthma is refferred to as Xiao- Chuan, and to cut a long story short, the kidney, lung, and spleen are deficient resulting in a deficient Wei-qi and hidden phlegm
The phlegm is a result of dampness that has congealed, and the dampness (which can be seen on the tongue) is the result of a deficient spleen
qi deficiency can easily manifest from either one of these deficient organs which will manifest as spontaneous sweating
It is my opinion that the root is the asthma and to look to either the kidney, lung or spleen for the differentiation
top Login/Comment
comment by "jayeshortho"
on Jan 2011
I too have a patient with excessive sweating on pals and feet and forehead also .
He is overweight also.
Can you suggest the points to be stimulated and also if moxa will be useful
comment by "ChadD" (acupuncturist)
on Jan 2011
What is the tcm diagnosis of your patient? Did you try the points I mentioned above? If not, what have you done and why do you feel it isn't working? (Also in the future, if you are not commenting directly in the case at hand, please start a new forum topic....)
All Content 1999-2024
Chad J. Dupuis / Yin Yang House
Our Policies and Privacy Guidelines
Our Affiliated Clinics