Scant menstruation due to blood stasis, usually caused by congealing cold with stagnant qì that gives rise to internal blood stasis inhibiting the movement of blood in the thoroughfare (chōng) and controlling (rèn) vessels.
Patterns
Congealing cold (寒凝 hán níng) causes scant menstruation with dark clotted flow, cold, pain, and sometimes distension in the smaller abdomen relieved by warmth and the passing of clots and exacerbated by pressure.
Medicinal therapy: Warm the channels, quicken the blood, and move stasis using with Lesser Abdomen Stasis-Expelling Decoction (少腹逐瘀汤shào fù zhú yū tāng) or Overdue Beverage (过期饮guò qī yǐn).
Acumoxatherapy: Base treatment on the CV and the three yīn channels of the foot. Main points: CV-6 (Sea of Qì, 气海 qì hǎi), KI-13 (Qì Point, 气穴 qì xué), SP-6 (Three Yīn Intersection, 三阴交 sān yīn jiāo), BL-17 (Diaphragm Transport, 膈俞 gé shù), CV-3 (Central Pole, 中极 zhōng jí), and SP-8 (Earth’s Crux, 地机 dì jī). Needle with even supplementation and drainage. In addition, to address the congealing cold, needle with drainage and large amounts of moxa at ST-29 (Return, 归来 guī lái) and ST-25 (Celestial Pivot, 天枢 tiān shū).
Qì stagnation (气滞 qì zhì) causes scant menstruation associated with purple clotted flow, abdominal distension and sometimes pain relieved by the passing of flatus.
Medicinal therapy: Move qì and quicken the blood with formulas like Infradiaphragmatic Stasis-Expelling Decoction (膈下逐瘀汤gé xià zhú yū tāng) or Sevenfold Processed Cyperus Pill (七制香附丸qī zhì xiāng fù wán).
Acumoxatherapy: Use the same basic points that are given above, and to address the qì stagnation, needle with drainage at LR-3 (Supreme Surge, 太冲 tài chōng) and LR-5 (Woodworm Canal, 蠡沟 lǐ gōu). For cold pain in the smaller abdomen, moxa CV-4 (Pass Head, 关元 guān yuán).