bubble_chart Concept

A woman discharges a kind of red and white mixed mucus from her vagina continuously, which is called red leucorrhea. If red mucus is discharged at times and white mucus at other times, it is also called red leucorrhea.

bubble_chart Pattern Analysis

1. Dampness-heat︰The leukorrhea is mixed red and white, sticky in texture with a foul odor, profuse and continuous, accompanied by dampness and itching of the external genitalia, or even swelling and pain. There is a sensation of distension and pain in the lower abdomen, scanty and painful urination, or frequent and painful urination. Other symptoms include chest tightness, irritability, dry mouth, bitter taste in the mouth, a slippery and yellow tongue coating, and a slippery and rapid pulse. This condition is mostly caused by prolonged accumulation of dampness-heat in the girdle vessel, damaging the yin collaterals. If the discharge is sticky with a foul odor, and there is dampness and itching of the external genitalia, or even swelling and pain, along with scanty and painful urination or frequent and painful urination, it indicates a pure fire-heat pattern. The treatment should focus on clearing heat and dispelling dampness, using the Modified Sanbu Wan.
2. Liver Depressiondampness Fire︰The leucorrhea is copious, thick, sticky, and foul-smelling, sometimes mixed with blood, or accompanied by genital itching, lower abdominal distension and fullness with pain, irritability, dizziness, hypochondriac distension, a yellow tongue coating with red edges, and a wiry-slippery pulse. This is caused by dampness-fire from the Liver Channel descending and infecting the Belt Vessel, damaging the blood aspect. The key diagnostic points are: copious leucorrhea, sometimes mixed with blood, sticky in texture and foul in odor, lower abdominal distension and fullness with pain, along with dizziness, irritability, hypochondriac distension, and other signs of liver depression. The distinction between the two patterns lies in the accompanying signs of liver depression. Treatment should focus on soothing the liver and draining fire, using the modified Gentian Liver-Draining Decoction.
3. Deficiency Heat︰The leucorrhea is profuse, thin in texture, sometimes mixed with blood, with dryness and burning sensation in the genital area, accompanied by itching, dizziness, tinnitus, palpitations, irritability, bitter taste in the mouth, dry throat, yellow urine, soreness in the lower back, a red tongue with scant or patchy coating, and a thin, rapid, and weak pulse. This is caused by yin deficiency with internal heat, which disturbs the Chong and Ren meridians and damages the blood vessels. The characteristic symptoms include profuse, thin leucorrhea, occasionally mixed with blood, dryness and burning sensation in the genital area, accompanied by dizziness, tinnitus, a red tongue with scant coating, and a thin, rapid pulse, which are signs of kidney yin deficiency. The treatment should focus on enriching yin and clearing heat, using Anemarrhena, Phellodendron, and Rehmannia Pill with the addition of Sanqi powder and Toona bark.

Deficiency-heat leukorrhea is of deficiency type, while dampness-heat leukorrhea and liver depression dampness-fire leukorrhea are of excess type. By examining the color, odor, and consistency of the leukorrhea, along with accompanying symptoms, differentiation is not difficult.

bubble_chart Documentation

1. Nyuke Jinglun．The "leukorrheal disease" section quotes Zhao Yang-kui as saying: "The leukorrheal disease in women, known as 'belt disease,' is one of the eight extraordinary meridians. It encircles the waist and navel like a belt. All eight meridians are connected to the kidney meridian. The belt meridian in the human body governs the invisible water throughout the body. When the lower energizer kidney qi is deficient, the belt meridian becomes diseased and discharges. White discharge indicates qi deficiency, while red discharge indicates heat. The treatment primarily focuses on tonifying the kidneys. White discharge is more common, while red discharge is less common. For those with spleen deficiency, use the Six Gentlemen Decoction with Cimicifuga Rhizome; for those with qi deficiency, use the Middle-Tonifying Decoction; for those with liver deficiency, use Peripatetic Powder, combined with the Six-Ingredient Pill." It also quotes Zhang Zi-he as saying: "Dysentery with red and white discharge is caused by pathogenic heat transmitted to the large intestine, which then discharges red and white matter from the rectum. Leukorrheal disease is caused by pathogenic heat transmitted to the small intestine, which enters the bladder meridian and discharges red and white matter. Based on these two conditions, both can be treated with methods for resolving dampness."