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See also diseases 8, men and women for conditions that do not apply to both sexes.

Anterior Yīn

See also diseases 8, men and women.

Genital damp itch (阴部湿痒 yīn bù shī yǎng): Itching of the genitals with redness, swelling, dampness, and exudation is mostly attributable to liver-gallbladder damp-heat running down through the channels.

Mounting (疝 shàn): Any of various diseases marked by pain in the abdomen and pain in the external genitalia. In men, it includes painful swelling of the scrotum, attributable to the protrusion of the intestines into the scrotum or to swelling of the testicles.

Cold mounting (寒疝 hán shàn): The term cold mounting refers to two specific conditions.

• A condition of cold in the umbilical region with cold sweating and counterflow cold of the limbs, attributable to the accumulation of cold evil in the abdomen arising from repeated contraction of wind-cold fostered by spleen-stomach vacuity or from postpartum blood vacuity.
• A condition of cold pain in the scrotum attributable to cold evil invading the reverting yīn (jué yīn) channel. The scrotum becomes swollen, hard as stone, cold, and painful. Attending signs may include impotence, fear of cold, and cold limbs. The pulse is sunken stringlike and tight.

Water mounting (水疝 shuǐ shàn): A swollen scrotum that feels full of water that that appears orange and translucent under a light transmission test is water mounting. Biomedical correspondence: scrotal hydrocele. The light transmission test involves rolling non-translucent paper into a tube, one end of which is pressed against one side of the scrotum and shining a flashlight pressed against the other side of the scrotum. The degree of translucence of the scrotum is judged by the light in the paper tube. In water mounting, the paper tube shows an orange light.

Lower-body gān (下疳 xià gān): A sore of the penis, yīn head (glans penis), foreskin, vagina, or labia that starts with a bean-like lump that is neither painful nor ruptures (hard lower body gān) or that starts was a small sore and gradually ruptures (soft lower body gān). It develops into a red bayberry sore (杨梅疮 yáng méi chuāng), now known to be syphilis. Red bayberry sores were first recorded in the Jīn-Yuán period. By the Qīng Dynasty, they were understood to be transmitted through sexual intercourse and from mother to child.

Red bayberry sores (杨梅疮 yáng méi chuāng): Sores that develop after the appearance of lower-body gān and biàn sores (bubo), being heralded by generalized heat effusion, headache, and joint pain. They begin as faint red areolas that develop into patches (red bayberry patches) and finally into sores. In the advanced stages, the toxin invades the bone, joints, bowels and viscera in what is called red bayberry toxin bind. The disease is transmitted by sexual intercourse and from mother to fetus.

Biomedical correspondence: syphilis.

Bubo sore (横痃 héng xián): Swelling in the groin. At onset, it is the size of an almond; it can grow to the size of a goose’s egg, becoming hard, painful, and either red and scorching hot or mildly reddened and warm. It ruptures to exude pus.

Biomedical correspondence: corresponds to various kinds of lymphadenectasis (dilation or distension of a lymph node). See red bayberry sore. Compare fish mouth; biàn toxin [sore].

Posterior Yīn

Anal welling-abscess (肛痈 gāng yōng): Redness and elevated swelling around the anus with pronounced pain, in some cases with rupturing to exude pus, is usually attributable to damp-heat pouring downward or external contraction of heat toxin.

Anal fissure (肛裂 gāng liè): A split in the perianal skin and or in mucous membrane within the anus, causing pain on defecation. It is usually due to hard bound stool and straining on defecation.

Hemorrhoids (痔 zhì, 痔疮 zhì chuāng, 痔核 zhì hé): The protrusion of blood vessels on the inside or outside of the anus, often accompanied by constipation and the passage of fresh blood. A distinction is made between internal and external hemorrhoids. Those that are hidden inside are internal hemorrhoids. In the early stages, these do not protrude from the anus, but they cause bleeding. When the condition becomes more severe, they may protrude from the anus on defecation and be associated with pronounced bleeding. The bleeding may manifest in the form of fresh blood, but it may simply turn the stool a dark purple color that may be confused with having eaten beets or other foods that color the stool. Hemorrhoids that are normally visible from outside are external hemorrhoids. These are associated with a heavy sagging or otherwise abnormal sensation and pain. A patient may suffer from internal and external hemorrhoids at the same time. Both are due to the same causes. A distinction is made between vacuity and repletion patterns, the latter being the more common.

Vacuity patterns are caused by long sitting, standing, or walking, enduring dysentery or diarrhea, constipation and straining to defecate, or center qì fall in pregnancy.

Repletion patterns are the result of damp-heat or blood heat and intestinal dryness. In repletion patterns, hemorrhoids may manifest in heat signs such as constipation, reddish urine, thirst, a red tongue with yellow fur, and a rapid pulse.

Anal fistula (肛瘘 gāng lòu): This is a pipe-like lesion between the perianal skin and the inside of the anus or rectum. It develops from an anal welling-abscess or from hemorrhoids that fail to heal. It is associated with pain, itching, and exudation of pus. The causes are as for anal welling-abscess and hemorrhoids. See also communicating bowels.

Prolapse of the rectum (脱肛 tuō gāng): Protrusion of the rectum through the anus. In mild cases, prolapse happens during defecation to retract after evacuation. In severe cases, it can only be retracted with a helping hand. It is usually attributable to spleen vacuity qì fall.

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