The theory of “Yang plus Yin is called sweat”, as stated in “Su Wen – Yin and Yang”, is that the function of Yang Qi (including the function of gasification and movement) is the main factor in the formation of fluid memory and outward sweat, i.e. Yang Qi in the body pushes fluid out of the body, which is called sweat. Yin and yang are interdependent and mutually useful, with yang rooted in yin and yin rooted in yang; yang transforms qi and yin forms. The formation of sweat is the result of changes in the functions of both yin and yang, and fluid is the basic substance of sweat, but the formation of fluid is produced by the qi-transforming function of yang qi. The sweating of pathological sweating, such as night sweats, is also the result of Yang Qi and fluid together with the discharge, often seen in clinical sweating, “the sweating of Yang and Yin”.
Therefore, you cannot simply mechanically consider spontaneous sweating as qi deficiency and night sweating as yin deficiency. If any aspect of qi, blood, yin or yang is out of order or disturbed by external evil such as dampness and heat, abnormal sweating will occur.
In the process of copying prescriptions with a famous Chinese doctor named Peng Peichu, I had the honor of seeing an American male patient who had been treated for 20 years for night sweats. He is afraid of heat and not afraid of cold, and sweats slightly less when covered with a thin blanket. He was thirsty and drank a lot, with tinnitus, red tongue, thin coating and thin string pulse. Chen Pi 9, roasted licorice 6, ephedra root 15, tortoise board 12, cypress root 9, Radix Codonopsis pilosulae 15, pulsatilla 12, schisandrae 6, *14 patches. Night sweats for 20 years, severe sweating, wet clothes, Yin deficiency is Yang Sheng, deficiency of heat, Yin Qi is empty, sleep then Wei Qi take advantage of the deficiency into the Yin, the table is not protected, the muscle surface is not dense, the fire in the glory alone in the outside, steam heat, forcing the fluid to leak outside the sweat. Wake up, then the gas is solid in the table, the xuanfu closed and sweating stopped. The use of Yu Ping Feng San to benefit the guard to consolidate the table, and Sheng Pulse San to benefit the qi and nourish yin, plus the usual astringent sweat drugs, to achieve good results, the follow-up, with the addition of cinnamon sticks, licorice and jujube, and harmonize the Ying and Wei, the first diagnosis of sweat less, the second diagnosis to heal, the third diagnosis of sweat stopped.
Night sweats, which is called “bed sweats” in the Nei Jing, refers to the situation where a person sweats after going to sleep but stops sweating after waking up. The “Ming Medical Guide – sweating heart sweat from sweating” cloud: “night sweat, sleep out, sleep and collect, such as the kung fu thief, so to name it”. About its etiology, most physicians believe that it is Yin deficiency, for example: such as “medical Zhengzhuan – sweat evidence”: “night sweats, sleep and through the body like a bath, and the awareness of the party to know, is a Yin deficiency, the main camp blood also. The most important thing is to make up for the Yang and regulate the Wei, and to make up for the Yin and lower the fire.” However, clinically many patients nourish yin and lower the fire is ineffective.
The patient is not simply suffering from yin deficiency and fire, but from a deficiency of both qi and yin, a lack of solidity outside the guard, and a lack of harmony between the camp and the guard. The kidney is the master of the five fluids, which enter the heart for sweating. The use of Yu Ping Feng San, Sheng Wei San and Gui Zhi Tang, which benefit Wei and consolidate the surface, nourish Yin and astringent sweat, and harmonize Ying and Wei, is effective.
Therefore, the appearance of sweat, whether physiological or pathological, is the result of Yang transforming Qi, Yin forming, and fluid being changed by Qi and taking juice. The relative dynamic balance between yin and yang maintains the normal physiological function of fluid in the body. When the balance between yin and yang is out of balance, the discharge of fluids will be abnormal, resulting in spontaneous sweating, night sweating, war sweating, etc. In clinical treatment, we cannot stick to the “yin deficiency” theory, and we do not know how to adapt.