Bone tumor

A tumor (growth on the outside of the body) that grows on bone. A disease called bone flat-abscess possibly fitting the description of bone tumor was mentioned in The Inner Classic (内经 nèi jīng). The term gǔ liú first appeared in the in A Unified Treatise on Diseases, Patterns, and Remedies According to the Three Causes (三因极一病症方论 sān yīn jí yī bìng zhèng fāng lùn) in the Sòng Dynasty, but without any description. Pivot of External Medicine (外科枢要 wài kē shū yào) states, If there is taxation damage to kidney water preventing it from giving luxuriance to the bone, there is swelling which rises from the bone and which is hard to the touch. This is called a bone tumor. Life-for-All Compendium of External Medicine, Patterns and Treatment (外科证治全生集 wài kē zhèng zhì quán shēng jí) of the Qing dynasty states, There is also a bone-clinging tumor that grows on the bone and is extremely painful. This latter description may be that of what Western medicine calls an advanced malignant bone tumor. Bone tumor is attributed to insufficiency of kidney qì and cold-damp carrying phlegm into the bone, causing qì and blood to congeal. In mild (in Western medicine, benign) cases, it develops slowly and is not marked by pronounced signs. In severe cases, onset is characterized by a dull pain that gradually worsens until it becomes unbearable, especially at night; the tumor grows swiftly and clings to the bone, immovable, and hard as stone, while the skin becomes purple-brown in color with dilated vessels. Accompanying signs include low fever, emaciation, lassitude of spirit, and poor appetite.

Medicinal therapy: Supplement kidney qì, disperse swelling, and break hardness. Use Kidney Qì Pill (肾气丸 shèn qì wán) as oral medication and apply Harmonious Yáng Decongealing Plaster (阳和解凝膏 yáng hé jiě níng gāo) topically.