Constipation

Also fecal block; fecal stoppage. Stagnation in the intestines lengthening the interval between bowel movements to three or four days or more. Constipation occurs in the following patterns.

Patterns

Repletion (实 shí): Constipation with abdominal distension that refuses pressure, red facial complexion, generalized heat that heightens in the afternoon (late afternoon tidal heat), copious sweating, reddish urine, rough breathing, thick slimy yellow tongue fur, and a sunken replete pulse is a sign of gastrointestinal heat bind (repletion heat), sometimes referred to as a yáng bind. Constipation accompanied by frequent belching, glomus and oppression in the chest, rib-side distension, swelling of the breasts, slimy white tongue fur and sunken or stringlike pulse is a sign of liver qì depression affecting the spleenand is sometimes called qì constipation.

Vacuity (虚 xū): Constipation with long voidings of clear urine and signs of spleen-kidney yáng vacuity, sometimes called yīn bind. Dry bound stool with emaciation, lusterless facial complexion, dizziness, red tongue with little fluid, and a forceless fine pulse is a sign of yīn-blood depletion and may occur in the recovery period of externally contracted febrile diseases, after childbirth, or in old age. Constipation with straining to evacuate that causes sweating and shortness of breath is a sign of lung-kidney vacuity. Compare difficult defecation.