Library

Women suffering from rashes and smallpox are the most difficult cases to treat, as their Yin blood is often chronically deficient. When the rash is about to erupt, one worries that menstruation (Tian Gui) may coincide with this time.

If menstruation occurs during fever, it is not the proper timing; this indicates Fire pathogen forcing blood to rush recklessly. It is urgent to employ cooling-blood methods to stop the bleeding, which is ideal; do not wait until the Middle Jiao becomes deficient, for regret will come too late.

If menstruation coincides with fever, the toxic pathogen may be resolved through the flow of blood, avoiding烦热 (stifling heat). However, if the period persists beyond its expected duration, one must consider tonifying Qi and warming Yang to ensure the uniform eruption of the rash.

If menstruation stops abruptly during fever, the Blood Chamber is empty, raising the risk of other complications. If delirium and unclear consciousness occur, this is Heat entering the Blood Chamber, requiring prompt treatment without delay.

For women with infrequent menstruation (Ju Jing), where cycles extend over months, the body is already weakened and ill-equipped to withstand the assault of rash diseases. One fears stagnant impurities in the Sea of Blood and latent toxic pathogens in the Uterus Gate.

With irregular uterine bleeding (Beng Lou) leading to blood depletion, and diarrhea without abdominal fullness indicating internal organ deficiency, the patient is too weak to endure epidemic diseases. Treatment must focus on aiding the weak and rescuing the critical condition.

Treating rash or smallpox during pregnancy is particularly difficult; the primary method is to stabilize the fetus. The fetus must not be lightly disturbed, as disturbing the fetal origin can endanger life.

When severe rash coincides with childbirth, few physicians can achieve success without hesitation. One must eliminate lochia while managing the epidemic disease, but when tonifying the Primordial Yuan Qi, one must be cautious of the body's tolerance.

Postpartum rash eruption requires no anxiety regarding the fetus since it has been delivered. Tonification and supplementation are sufficient to achieve efficacy. However, exposure to Cold Qi will damage the vital Qi.

Rash belongs to Sovereign Fire. Its Qi originates from the Shaoyin channel and transmits to its "son" channels, thus manifesting as Stomach and Spleen syndromes. If it attacks its "wife" channel (Lung), it appears in the skin and hair level. This is also an eruption of fetal toxicity, followed by epidemic pestilence causing cough and sneezing. Metal (Xin) is refined by Fire (Ding), leading to sudden chest oppression and tearing. The Sovereign (Heart) defends against the General (Liver/Pathogen); attacking head-on easily breaks its momentum, while following and consolidating makes its sharpness hard to overcome. Like snapping young shoots, no axe is needed; waiting for the prairie fire results in jade and stone burning together. Rash color resembles spots, leaving traces when lifted; shape resembles pustules, appearing without moisture/gloss. Erupting in the morning and subsiding in the evening indicates emission from Yang; erupting in the evening and subsiding in the morning indicates emission from Yin. Changes are unpredictable, appearing and disappearing without fixed patterns. Generally, if the color is not yet dark/black, practitioners prefer cooling and avoid warming. Red like cinnabar points with brightness is a manifest image; black like spilled ink is extreme Fire stagnation and obscurity. Controlling with sour-cool methods gathers flame light in Li Ze (Water/Lake); administering pungent-hot methods indulges He Xi (Scorching Sun) in Chong Ming. Pustules desire complete eruption without retention; rash desires daytime eruption without illness. Or pathogenic Qi is depressed and retained, unable to leave; or Righteous Qi is damaged, trapped and unable to expand. Toxicity returning to the Five Zang organs produces four types of changes: Toxicity returning to Spleen/Stomach causes incessant diarrhea becoming dysentery; toxicity returning to Heart/Liver causes persistent irritability and heat leading to convulsions; prolonged cough with blood indicates toxicity returning to Lung; rotten gums with gan erosion indicate toxicity returning to Kidney. Mild cases, even if controlled properly, can be pacified successfully; severe cases resist attack and act maliciously, proving unconquerable by force. Teeth falling out resembles Bang Sha (Falling Sand), which is terrifying; hoarse voice resembles Hu Huo syndrome, which is hard to clarify. Cases that should erupt but do not require knowledge of eruption methods; cases that should subside but do not require clarity in resolution methods. Pale white color indicates deficiency, suitable for warming and nourishing blood; purple-black color indicates blood heat, suitable for resolving toxicity and clearing heat. Failure to erupt with restlessness suggests danger of death; unchanging black color with delirium suggests inability to eat fresh food. Steaming heat with red complexion and dysentery; dripping sweat with high chest and raised shoulders. Gan erosion leads to leaking cheeks and cleft lip. Do not boast of three-generation miraculous skills, as they cannot retain a wandering soul with only one breath remaining. Have you not heard that mistakenly taking decoctions and pills is worse than taking no medicine? Have you not seen that specifically violating taboos allows for self-reflection? Loving salty and sour foods leads to continuous coughing; preferring raw and dry foods leads to unquiet burning fire. Excessive sweet food causes dental caries; excessive cold/raw food causes clear stools. Chicken is a beast that generates wind; fish is a scale-bearing creature that moves fire. Greedily eating chicken and fish disrupts harmony, causing wind and fire to combine and create disaster. Pathogenic factors instead proliferate, causing relentless maculopapular rash; toxins instead penetrate deeply, encountering epidemic pestilence again. This is the residual toxin of rash, similar to the residual symptoms of smallpox.