This is the first of a five part series that explores some important aspects of OM diagnosis.
Tongue diagnosis:
For those of you who have experienced acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (OM) treatments, you have probably been asked to stick out your tongue.
Tongue diagnosis is a major diagnostic indicator in OM. When you see your OM practitioner, be sure not to brush or scrape your tongue on the day of your appointment—there is so much information to be gleaned from looking at your tongue!
Three significant diagnostic characteristics of the tongue are shape, color, and coating. There are also many other subtle aspects, but shape, color, and coating are the easiest to describe.
The “ideal” tongue is pale red/pink, with a thin, clear-white coating and no cracks. It is very rare to see such a tongue.
Shape:
Three major shapes of the tongue include a thin, swollen, and scalloped tongue. Cracks in the tongue also give more detailed clues about overall health. A thin tongue indicates an overall dryness, or a Yin** deficiency. A swollen tongue indicates overall wetness, possibly a Yang*** deficiency, or Qi**** deficiency. Swelling in different locations indicates that specific systems in the body are deficient. A scalloped tongue indicates issues with digestion and improper processing of Qi.
Color:
Color as a diagnostic is used not only in the tongue, but throughout the body. Different colors can be seen in different locations on the same tongue, but today we will consider overall color only. Red indicates “heat” in the body. An example of “excess heat” is inflammation. An example of “deficiency heat” is night sweats. A pale tongue indicates “Blood” deficiency (in the Chinese philosophical sense of the word), among others, and an example is anemia.
Coating:
The most common type of coating is the white or yellow coating. White indicates “cold” and yellow indicates “heat”. Coatings can be thin, thick, greasy, or uneven. The type of tongue coating is important for pattern determination (what we use to guide our treatment plan). Often when one is in the early stages of a cold, a white coating will form on the tongue, and the coating will turn yellow and become thicker as the disease progresses.
Outside factors that can affect tongue coating are colorful foods and drinks, medications, and tongue scraping. Please inform your practitioner if any of these conditions are a factor during your intake.
Once all aspects of the tongue are considered, a pattern of disharmony will begin to emerge: Yin or Yang deficiency or excess, Qi, Blood, or Fluid imbalances, internal or external issues, hot or cold imbalances, or specific system imbalances (such as problems with regulators of respiratory, genetic, circulatory, and digestive systems).
The color purple:
One of the most common patterns seen in a stressed person is Qi stagnation. Qi must flow freely in order to have good health. When Qi becomes stuck, or stagnant, disease can manifest. Imagine a stream-fed pond where the stream no longer flows and then becomes stagnant and fetid. The color most associated with Qi stagnation is purple. If you have a purplish tongue, not only are you probably experiencing stress, but you could also be experiencing pain. Often the sublingual (under the tongue) veins are dark and distended in a person with extreme Qi stagnation.
*OM (Oriental Medicine) is also known as TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), or TEAM (Traditional East Asian Medicine) and encompasses many modalities such as acupuncture, traditional Chinese herbal formulations, massage, moxabustion, and eastern nutritional counseling based on OM patterns.
**Yin is a fundamental OM concept. It is associated with cold, wetness, darkness, slowness, and the inner and lower parts of the body.
***Yang is the complement to Yin. It is associated with heat, dryness, light, quickness, and the outer, higher parts of the body. Balance of Yin and Yang is key to good health.
****Qi is pronounced “chee”, the body’s life force energy. Free flow of Qi is necessary for good health.