Damp-heat and deficiency-heat are usually differentiated from each other in terms of etiology, symptoms, etc. Damp-heat is mostly caused by feeling damp-heat, and deficiency-heat is mostly caused by internal injuries and strains.
1. Etiology: Dampness-heat is mostly caused by feeling the evil of dampness-heat, or internal injuries to the diet, emotional upset, etc., resulting in the spleen is not healthy, endogenous dampness and heat (the evil qi over a long period of time will be transformed into heat); Deficiency-heat is mostly due to the deficiency of the body of long-term illness, overwork and injury to the yin deficiency of the body heat.
2. Symptoms: Damp-heat manifests itself in the form of heartburn and bitterness in the mouth, heaviness in the head and body (a feeling of heaviness in the head and limbs), and heat in the body (feeling of heat all over the body, but not very hot to the touch of the skin), etc.; Deficiency-heat manifests itself in the form of dryness in the mouth and throat, hot flashes (a burst of fever), night sweats (unusual sweating after falling asleep, and stopping of sweating after waking up), and heartburn and fever (heat in the hearts of the hands and the feet and consciously hot in the chest and the heart).
3. Treatment: Dampness-heat treatment usually focuses on clearing heat and eliminating dampness (removing heat and dampness from the body), with commonly used drugs such as Pingtusan and Liuyi San; deficiency-heat treatment usually focuses on nourishing yin and lowering fire (nourishing the yin essence and lowering the fire), with commonly used drugs such as Zhi Pao Di Huang Pills and Six-flavored Di Huang Pills.
The above medications should be taken under the guidance of a Chinese medicine practitioner, and should not be used blindly on one’s own to avoid adverse reactions.