What Are the Differences between Spleen Yang Deficiency and Spleen Yin Deficiency?

Deficiency of spleen is mainly divided into deficiency of spleen-yin and deficiency of spleen-yang, which are common concepts in traditional Chinese medicine. Although both deficiency of spleen-yang and deficiency of spleen-yin belong to spleen deficiency, there are still some differences between them. For example, their symptoms are different, and the mental states of patients with deficiency of spleen-yang and deficiency of spleen-yin are also different. In addition, traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes syndrome differentiation and treatment, so the treatment methods are also different. So what are the differences between deficiency of spleen-yang and deficiency of spleen-yin?

1. Observing Lip Color: Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the spleen opens to the mouth and its radiance is reflected on the lips. The gloss and color of the lips correspond to the spleen. If a patient's lips often peel or crack, and the lips are red and the patient often licks their lips, it is likely that the patient has insufficient spleen-yin. On the contrary, if the patient's lips are pale, the chance of spleen-yang deficiency is relatively high.

2. Observing Eye Bags: Eye bags are called flesh wheels in traditional Chinese medicine, which is a vivid description of the extra flesh around the eyes. The flesh wheels correspond to the spleen and stomach. Generally, people with spleen deficiency will have eye bags. However, the colors of eye bags in patients with deficiency of spleen-yin and deficiency of spleen-yang are different: the eye bags of patients with deficiency of spleen-yin will be red or even purplish red, while the eye bags of patients with deficiency of spleen-yang will be lighter and slightly greenish.

3. Observing Tongue: Patients with insufficient spleen-yin often have uneven tongue coating, geographical tongue, peeling tongue, thin tongue coating, red tongue, and small tongue. In contrast, patients with spleen-yang deficiency usually have a larger and thicker tongue coating.

4. Observing Stool: Patients with spleen-yin deficiency are prone to constipation, with dry stool in the front and unformed stool in the back. Patients with spleen-yang deficiency tend to have sticky stool that sticks to the toilet bowl, and they often feel that they cannot defecate cleanly or frequently.

5. Other Symptoms: Clinically, patients with spleen-yin deficiency are prone to have fever symptoms similar to a cold. On the other hand, patients with spleen-yang deficiency are prone to feeling cold. The manifestations of spleen-yin deficiency and spleen-yang deficiency are two opposing clinical symptoms: one is fear of cold, and the other is fever. The clinical manifestations of spleen-yin deficiency and spleen-yang deficiency are different, representing two distinct diseases. Regardless of the type, proper management and adjustment are essential. In daily life, patients should also take good care of themselves, rest well, and pay attention to diet.