Question
My son is 10 years old and often has poor appetite and defecates like sheep dung.
Answer
Hello: This is constipation. Traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis and treatment is relatively ideal. The causes of constipation are multifaceted, mainly including external invasion of cold and heat, internal injury from diet and emotions, post-sickness physical weakness, and deficiency of Yin and Yang Qi and blood. The disease affects the large intestine but is closely related to the spleen, stomach, lung, liver, and kidney. Spleen deficiency leads to weak transmission, causing dysfunction in the large intestine; stomach heat can be transferred to the large intestine, burning body fluid, leading to dry stool and constipation; lung heat can be transferred to the large intestine, causing dysfunction in the large intestine as well; if liver Qi is stagnant, Qi in the bowels cannot be unobstructed; kidney Yin deficiency leads to dryness in the intestines; kidney Yang deficiency causes the large intestine to lose warmth and become weak in transmission, which can also lead to constipation. The causes and pathogenesis can be summarized into several aspects: 1> intestinal and stomach heat accumulation, 2> Qi stagnation, 3> Yin cold accumulation, 4> Qi deficiency and Yang decline, 5> Yin deficiency and blood shortage. However, traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes differential diagnosis and treatment. It’s best to go to a local hospital for traditional Chinese medicine and combine clinical four diagnoses for targeted medication. Wishing your child a quick recovery!