Senses – sight, smell, taste, hearing, touch

The Main Senses Home Page Includes Disorders of the Eye, Ear, Nose and throat.

Ear Overview In Chinese Medicine:

The shape and size of the ears is related to ones constitution and kidney evergy. A long and full lobe is indicative of strong kidneys and good constitution while a thing and small lobe in indicative of poor constitution.

Generally the kidneys open into the ears but not every ear problem is related with the kidney. The lesser Yang channels flow into the ear and some exterior heat conditions can cause ear problems as well. Dampness and Phlem can also cause ear disorders when they obstruct the Qi circulation of the rising yang energy to the upper orifices

A white color of the ears indicates cold syndrome while a blue or black color of the ears would indicate pain. If the ear lobes are dry, withered and black, this would indicate kidney Qi deficiency

Eye Overview In Chinese Medicine:

In general the eye is the sensory organ of the liver as it will nourish and moisten the eye with blood which the liver stores. If liver blood is abundant the eyes will be moist and vision will be healthy. Aside from the liver many other yin and yang organs affect the eyes. The kidney essence also nourishes the eyes so many chronic eye diseases can be caused or related to kidney essence deficiency. This pattern is commonly seen in elderly patients. Also the Heart Opens to the eyes. In chapter 80 of the “Spiritual Axis” it states that the heart concentrates the essence of the 5 yin organs and this manifests in the eyes. Therefore the eyes also reflect the state of the mind and the heart.

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Eye observation is an extremely important part of TM diagnosis. The eyes will reflect the state of the mind (shen) and also the essence and vitallity within a person. When the eyes are clear and have glitter they indicate that the mind and essence are in good health.

Different parts of the eyes corespond to different organs within the body. The corners of the eyes relates to the heart, the upper eylid relates to the spleen, the lower eyelid relates to the stomach, the sclera to the lungs, the iris to the liver and the pupil to they kidneys.

Nose Overview In Chinese Medicine:

The nose is the opening to the lungs. If lung Qi is strong and healthy then the nose will be open, respiration will be easy and the sense of smell will be normal. Also the spleen plays a vital role in the sense of smell, not only the lungs can control this.

In diagnosis if there is a clear watery discharge from the nose it will indicate a cold pattern while a thick sticky yellow discharge would indicate a heat pattern.

Throat Overview In Chinese Medicine:

The throat corresponds to many organs in chinese medicine and can be used effectivly in TCM diagnosis. Pain, redness and swelling of the throat indicates either wind heat invading from the exterior or fire originating in the stomach. When the throat is sore and dry but not swollen this would indicate a deficiency of kidney yin.