A 38-year-old woman came in with severe back pain, burning in her abdomen, and frightening neurological symptoms — tingling, shocks, and weakness spreading into all four limbs and even her face. Doctors ran tests and even prescribed antibiotics, which helped for a moment, but the pain and strange sensations kept coming back.

In this episode, I walk you through how I approached her case step by step: identifying dampness and heat on top of Spleen Qi deficiency, choosing initial formulas to drain damp, and then shifting to tonify the root. Finally, with the emergence of a wiry pulse and cold extremities, I moved her to a harmonizing formula — Si Ni San — and all of her symptoms resolved, including the back pain from a torn lumbar disc.

This case is a reminder of the power of sticking to fundamentals, following the pattern as it evolves, and trusting the system of Chinese medicine.

Formulas Used:

1. Damp-Heat Clearing Phase
Si Miao Wan + Bei Xie Feng Qing Yin + Si Jun ZI Tang

• Huang Bai 10–12 g

• Cang Zhu 10 g

• Yi Yi Ren 20–30 g

• Bei Xie 10 g

• Qin Jiao 10 g

• Niu Xi (Huai/Chuan) 10–12 g

• Mu Gua — 10g

Focus: Drain damp-heat from the lower body and channels while reinforcing the Spleen to support long-term recovery.

2. Harmonizing Phase
Si Ni San

• Chai Hu 12 g

• Zhi Shi 10 g

• Bai Shao 15 g

• Zhi Gan Cao 3g

Focus: Harmonize Liver and Spleen, regulate Qi, relieve constraint. This was the turning point formula that completely resolved the tingling, burning, and back pain.

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