Search in dictionary
Internal cold
内寒 〔內寒〕nèi hán
Cold arising from within when yáng qì is debilitated and cannot warm the body. Internal cold affects the movement and transformation of water humor and causes the retention of turbid yīn. When yáng is vacuous, yīn is exuberant, and when yīn is exuberant, there is internal cold. The spleen governs the movement and transformation of water-damp. The kidney governs the regulation of water-humor, and kidney yáng is the root of the yáng qì of the whole body. This pattern is therefore essentially one of spleen-kidney yáng vacuity. Its clinical characteristics are vomiting and diarrhea, abdominal pain, and counterflow cold of the limbs, in some cases with water swelling and phlegm-rheum, etc. The patient’s snivel, phlegm, drool and spittle, and urine are clear and cold, while his stool is thin. This reflects the statement in All disease with watery humors that are clear, pure, and cold is ascribed to cold.
Internal cold is the opposite of external cold, i.e., cold entering the body from outside. These two forms of cold are to some degree mutually conducive. For example, individuals whose yáng qì is weak are especially vulnerable to external cold evil; and damage to the body’s yáng qì by cold can cause internal cold. See internal evil.