KristinWisgirda: September 11, 2020, 3:32pm
The post COVID case I recently posted got me thinking about this question. Maybe understanding this better will
shed light on the Heart/UB counterbalancing system.
Please share any insights you may have. Here are my thoughts:
It is a gem to know that with Heart excess the abdominal midline will be soft and warm within a 2 inch wide band
from ren15 to ren8. The same area will be cold and hard in UB excess. It is easy to understand the temperatures. It
is easy to understand the hardness of UB excess. Cold contracts and ice is hard. But how is the warmth and dryness
created by double Fire making the area soft?
Heat is associated with more movement and could make the tissues more flexible that way. Lacking the contracting
force of cold, the tissues could make the tissues lax. The lack of fluids can take the plumpness out of the vessels,
organs and tissues which will make more laxity.
The fukushin perspective is different: laxity in this area means deficiency that you treat with qi supplementing
medicinals that are neutral or warming. Some of these same qi supplementing herbs, eg ren shen and gan cao, bring
sweetness and warmth to relax tightness in this area caused by cool dryness in the Spleen and Stomach, not
Shaoyin/Taiyang. Of course the middle jiao is critical for supporting shaoyin and taiyang function.
The midline laxity remaining after treating UB+, in the absence of significant Heart excess signs, could be an
indication that the interior needs to be filled by other treatments such as SP+, Lung+ or K+ or made more dense by
Liver+. We can look at it as a Heart excess sign and still look at it simply for what it is- a laxity in the midline of
the middle jiao.
At times, it does seem better to keep herbal thinking separate from Saam thinking!
And why does this manifest in this area and not in the lower jiao where other systems of abdominal diagnosis look
for shaoyin, albeit with Kidney associations, and UB organ signs?
The heart sinew channel travels along this line to the navel and the primary heart channel branches to the small
intestine. Anatomically, this area of the abdomen contains the abdominal aorta with its branches to all of the
abdominal organs- a powerhouse area for sure!
When there is heat I wonder how the life force is either blocked in its circulation (so accumulating) or is not being
stored. UB+ can treat H excess heat whether it be from lack of storage or blocked circulation.
My blabbing on about this hasn t really led to any insights. I will just continue palpating this area on all patients
and taking seriously what I find there. Maybe you out there have some more clinically useful conclusions on why
the midline will be soft in H excess?
mtewksbury: September 11, 2020, 6:22pm
23/01/2024, 11:35Heart excess: why is the midline soft? – Sa’am Clinical Questions – Qiological Community
https://forum.qiological.com/t/heart-excess-why-is-the-midline-soft/1277/print2/4
Hi Kristen
I always love your musings. As I read your post I realized that I have not been thinking about the softness along the
mid line that indicates Heart excess as pathological. In other words, I have not been thinking of it as lax, just soft
and warm, open and receptive, but not necessarily deficient. In my mind, it takes a strong person to withstand the
dousing of cold water that comes from UB+.
Perhaps we can get Toby to elaborate on this. Or maybe others have had more insight into this sign.
Cheers,
Marintha
jedwardian: September 11, 2020, 8:53pm
Marintha, I was similarly hesitant to use UB+ on weaker / more deficient patients, but have since had several
experiences that have changed my mind. These mostly boil down to channel as opposed to quality (cf. sometimes
channel, sometimes quality ). I ve started to see how UB+ can release the exterior, for example, and treat things
like neck pain and headache even without pronounced or really any notable heat signs. And I ve had some good
experiences treating myself with UB+ and I m kind of a textbook guizhi type, thin and chilly for the most part. For
me, herbal training was probably getting in the way: I tend to avoid heat-clearing formulas except where absolutely
clearly indicated in fear of harming the yang. UB+ doesn t seem to be quite analogous. My two cents
Jonathan
cassiopeia: September 12, 2020, 4:09pm
this thread is fantastic.
Heart is the hottest of the yin conformations
Bladder is the coldest of the yang
Heart is the fire of fire shaoyin
Bladder is the water of water taiyang
The midline/Ren mai earth is where Heart and Bladder are being assessed
When a powerful fire meets the earth, all the yin substance is burned up, leaving a warm emptiness (like ashes after
a bonfire)
When a powerful cold meets the earth, all the yin substance is preserved and frozen (like the hard frozen ground of
winter)
The heart/bladder midline manifestation makes a lot of sense from that perspective.
Thanks @KristinWisgirda for getting us to think this through.
KristinWisgirda: September 13, 2020, 9:17pm
23/01/2024, 11:35Heart excess: why is the midline soft? – Sa’am Clinical Questions – Qiological Community
https://forum.qiological.com/t/heart-excess-why-is-the-midline-soft/1277/print3/4
mtewksbury:
In my mind, it takes a strong person to withstand the dousing of cold water that comes from UB+.
Learning the channel archetypes, I colored them with many preconceived notions of who might need them.
Practicing has helped me start to get over some of them.
The weak and deficient can be just as in need of any of the channels as the robust. Symmetrical people can need
K+ too sometimes.
mtewksbury:
I have not been thinking about the softness along the mid line that indicates Heart excess as pathological.
The softness is a pointer to Heart excess which is a pathology, unless it is really mild in an otherwise well balanced
system that is able to function with it well.
jedwardian:
I tend to avoid heat-clearing formulas except where absolutely clearly indicated in fear of harming the yang.
UB+ doesn t seem to be quite analogous. My two cents
Yes, treating UB+ can clear heat but only does so by vitalizing the function of the UB which doesn t always have
the net result of cooling. Somewhere on this forum is my case of the thin dry woman who craved heat but who was
talking non stop. UB+ warmed her body.
@cassiopeia: Ashes and Ice- I love it!
cassiopeia:
The midline/Ren mai earth is where Heart and Bladder are being assessed
This location might be the easiest place to access the midline vessels closest to the Heart.
amyjenner: September 16, 2020, 12:22am
I ve been thinking about the BL/HT pair in terms of the treatment of anxiety. Trying to make sense of and
differentiate why sometimes anxiety is helped by BL cold water to cool a hot agitated heart, vs HT as a hot mama
hug to warm up cold fear. Cant say I always get that right, sometimes the px will let me know that I have pushed it
the wrong way. I wonder if palpating the midline in those instances would help me decide
2 Likes23/01/2024, 11:35Heart excess: why is the midline soft? – Sa’am Clinical Questions – Qiological Community
https://forum.qiological.com/t/heart-excess-why-is-the-midline-soft/1277/print4/4