Have you ever experienced this? You easily get "internal heat" (shàng huǒ) in daily life—mouth ulcers keep appearing, pimples break out on your face, and you feel irritable with insomnia. Yet your hands and feet are always cold, and eating just a bit of something cool causes diarrhea. It leaves you unsure whether you have a heat pattern or a cold pattern.

From the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), this is a typical pattern of upper body heat and lower body cold, and nine times out of ten, the spleen and stomach in the middle are the problem. The spleen and stomach are the pivot for the movement of qi. The spleen governs the ascending of the clear, while the stomach governs the descending of the turbid. The spleen and stomach sit right in the middle acting as a dispatch station. Through this ascending and descending mechanism, the heart fire from above can descend to warm the kidneys, and the kidney water from below can ascend to douse the heart fire, allowing both sides to function harmoniously.

If the spleen and stomach, this dispatch station, gets stuck and the pathways connecting the upper and lower parts become blocked, then heart fire cannot descend, leading to issues like ulcers, acne, and insomnia. Meanwhile, if kidney water cannot ascend, internal cold will develop in the lower part of the body, causing the legs and feet to feel constantly cold, and the abdomen to become unsettled.

What causes the blockage in the middle jiao's spleen and stomach?

One of the most common reasons is phlegm-dampness. The spleen is responsible for digestion and absorption, and it can transport and transform fluids. If it becomes sluggish, causing fluid metabolism to become abnormal, it produces sticky, greasy phlegm-dampness that obstructs the pathways of the middle jiao. Over time, this prevents the connection between heart fire and kidney water, leading to the problem of upper heat and lower cold. For this condition, one can consider using Erchen Wan to help the spleen transform the phlegm-dampness, naturally clearing the pathways.

Another cause is food stagnation. During holidays, gatherings, or celebrations, it’s easy to overeat, with meats, fish, eggs, and dairy piling up in the stomach. How can the spleen and stomach handle that? When they go on strike, food stagnates in the middle, preventing heart fire from descending and kidney water from ascending. This results in symptoms like heat in the upper body and diarrhea. In such cases, it’s necessary to lighten the load on the spleen and stomach. One can take Baohe Wan to help dissolve the food stagnation and get the spleen and stomach moving again.

However, it's worth noting that the content of this article is intended for knowledge sharing only. Everyone's constitution is different—some may have phlegm-dampness and food stagnation, while others may have other minor issues. If you are unsure about your specific condition, do not take medicine indiscriminately. When truly unwell, it's always best to consult a doctor for proper guidance.