What are the symptoms of fire?

Fire is a very common symptom and signs in daily life, such as red face and eyes, dry throat and hoarseness, boils and swelling, redness, swelling and hot pain, oral erosion, toothache and swelling, insomnia, epistaxis and hemorrhage, red tongue with yellow fur, dry urine and stool, fever and sweating. These manifestations in Chinese medicine belong to the category of heat and fire, the cause of which is mostly wind, cold, summer, dampness, dryness, invasion of the body to generate heat and the result of fire. In addition, visceral dysfunction, mental overstimulation, loss of regularity, can also cause fire.

From the Western medical point of view, the fire manifestation is mostly seen in acute infectious diseases, such as acute pharyngitis, pulpitis, oral ulcers, blepharitis, conjunctivitis, urinary tract infections, constipation, skin boils, cellulitis, etc., but also in the tuberculosis, hypertension, vegetative nervous system dysfunction, hyperthyroidism and cancer advanced stage of some chronic diseases.

Fire can be categorized into two types of symptoms according to the different etiologies and mechanisms, namely real fire and imaginary fire.

The real fire is mostly due to the six external (wind, cold, summer, moisture, dryness, fire), in addition, mental overstimulation, dysfunction of internal organs can also be caused. Solid fire patients manifested as red face and red eyes, dry and cracked lips and mouth, bitter mouth and thirst, mouth and tongue erosion, sore throat, bleeding gums, epistaxis bleeding, tinnitus and deafness, boils at the beginning of the rise of the body heat and irritability, urinary constipation, blood in the urine and blood in the stool, the tongue is red and yellow, can have awns, the number of solid pulse slippery. Treatment is appropriate to adopt the principles and methods of bitter cold to control fire, clearing heat and removing toxins, diarrhea and solid fire.

Deficiency fire is mostly caused by internal injuries and labor damage, such as chronic illness, exhaustion of essence, excessive labor injury, can lead to visceral disorders, weakness and internal heat, internal heat and then into the deficiency fire. According to the different mechanisms, the general will be further divided into Yin deficiency fire and Qi deficiency fire two symptoms. Yin deficiency and fire exuberance are mostly manifested as hot flashes, night sweats, emaciation, dry mouth and throat, heartburn, restlessness, red tongue without moss, and fine pulse. Treatment should be based on the principle of generating fluids and nourishing blood, nourishing yin and lowering fire. People with Qi deficiency and fire are characterized by generalized dryness and heat, which is worse before noon, fear of cold and wind, love of heat and fear of cold, tiredness and weakness, shortness of breath and laziness, incessant sweating, clear urine and loose stools, large and feeble pulse, and light tongue and thin moss. The treatment should be based on the principle of tonifying the center of the body, strengthening the kidneys and raising the yang, and removing heat with sweet warmth.

To summarize, real fire and false fire not only have different etiology, pathogenesis and clinical manifestations, but also have different treatment principles and specific treatments. If it does not matter whether the fire is real or virtual, and all the same method of clearing heat and fire, it is possible not only to cure the disease, but also aggravate the condition. Therefore, when on fire, first distinguish between real fire or false fire, and then decide on the treatment program, is a very important thing.