From Essential Prescriptions of the Golden Cabinet (金匮要略 jīn guì yào lüè). Food stagnating in the stomach and intestines persisting form for several days. It is usually caused by voracious eating or spleen vacuity. It is characterized by abdominal pain and distension, belching of sour fetid qì, nausea, aversion to food, constipation or diarrhea, slimy tongue fur, and in some cases, aversion to cold, heat effusion, and headache. Abiding food can cause phlegm, which in turn can engender heat. Such conditions are known by the compound term phlegm-food.
Medicinal therapy: Treat by fortifying the spleen and stomach and by dispersing food and abducting stagnation. Use Harmony-Preserving Pill (保和丸bǎo hé wán) or Center-Ordering Decoction (治中汤zhì zhōng tāng) and variations. For abiding food in the upper stomach duct, characterized by oppression, glomus, and distension in the stomach duct and nausea, mechanical ejection may be used. For heat effusion and aversion to cold, headache, constipation, or diarrhea with ungratifying defecation, use formulas such as Major Bupleurum Decoction (大柴胡汤dà chái hú tāng) and Unripe Bitter Orange Stagnation-Abducting Pill (枳实导滞丸zhǐ shí dǎo zhì wán).
Acumoxatherapy: Base treatment mainly on CV and ST. Select CV-12 (Center Stomach Duct, 中脘 zhōng wǎn), CV-10 (Lower Stomach Duct, 下脘 xià wǎn), ST-25 (Celestial Pivot, 天枢 tiān shū), CV-6 (Sea of Qì, 气海 qì hǎi), and ST-36 (Leg Three Lǐ, 足三里 zú sān lǐ) as the main points. For voracious eating, add Lǐ Inner Court (里内庭lǐ nèi tíng); and ST-37 (Upper Great Hollow, 上巨虚 shàng jù xū); needle all points with drainage. For spleen-stomach vacuity, add BL-20 (Spleen Transport, 脾俞 pí shù), BL-21 (Stomach Transport, 胃俞 wèi shù), CV-4 (Pass Head, 关元 guān yuán), and SP-4 (Yellow Emperor, 公孙 gōng sūn); needle all points with supplementation, adding moxa.
Point selection according to signs: For constipation, add BL-25 (Large Intestine Transport, 大肠俞 dà cháng shù). For diarrhea with ungratifying defecation, add PC-6 (Inner Pass, 内关 nèi guān) and LR-2 (Moving Between, 行间 xíng jiān). For glomus and oppression, add SP-4 (Yellow Emperor, 公孙 gōng sūn). For putrid belching and acid swallowing, add GB-40 (Hill Ruins, 丘墟 qiū xū) and GB-34 (Yáng Mound Spring, 阳陵泉 yáng líng quán). Compare food damage, food stagnation, and food accumulation.