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TCM Consultation

Question Consultation

A detailed conversation completes the picture. Chinese medicine uses ten classic questions – about cold and heat, sweating, sleep, digestion and more. They may seem unrelated to your symptoms, but your answers reveal the pattern behind them.

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1. Cold & heat 1 Cold &heat 2. Sweating 2 Sweating 3. Sleep 3 Sleep 4. Bowels & urine 4 Bowels &urine 5. Appetite & taste 5 Appetite &taste 6. Thirst 6 Thirst 7. Head & body 7 Head &body 8. Chest & abdomen 8 Chest &abdomen 9. Ears & eyes 9 Ears &eyes 10. Periods & history 10 Periods &history 10 The Ten Questions
The ten questions

What we ask – and why

Classical Chinese medicine teaches the ten questions in a short rhyme: “first ask about cold and heat, second about sweating…”. Here is what we ask under each one, and what different answers can tell us.

1

Cold & heat

一问寒热
We ask
  • Do you usually feel colder or warmer than the people around you?
  • Are your hands and feet cold, or warm and sweaty?
  • Do you get hot flushes, or feel hot in the afternoon or at night?
What your answer can tell us
Always cold, needs extra layersYang deficiency – the body’s warming energy is low.
Only hands and feet are coldQi and Blood are not reaching the extremities – often stress or Blood deficiency.
Hot palms and soles, flushes at nightYin deficiency – not enough cooling fluids.
Feels hot all over, likes cold drinksExcess heat.
2

Sweating

二问汗
We ask
  • Do you sweat easily – walking, climbing stairs, or at rest?
  • Do you wake up sweating at night?
  • Are your hands or feet always damp – or do you hardly sweat at all?
What your answer can tell us
Sweating easily in the day with little effort (spontaneous sweating)Qi deficiency – the body can’t hold the pores closed.
Sweating during sleep, stopping on waking (night sweats)Yin deficiency – common around menopause.
Damp palms and solesStress and nerves, or dampness.
Hardly ever sweatingCold, or dryness from Yin or Blood deficiency.
3

Sleep

三问睡眠
We ask
  • Is it hard to fall asleep?
  • Do you wake during the night – and at what time?
  • Do you dream a lot, or wake up tired?
What your answer can tell us
Hard to fall asleep, mind racingHeart or Liver heat, anxiety.
Waking between 1 and 3amThe Liver time – stress, or Liver heat.
Light sleep with lots of dreams, tired in the morningHeart and Spleen deficiency – not enough Blood to anchor the mind.
Waking early and can’t get back to sleepYin deficiency or worry.
4

Bowels & urine

四问二便
We ask
  • How many times a day do you open your bowels?
  • What shape are your stools – pellets, formed, soft or watery? Are they sticky?
  • Is your urine pale or dark? Do you get up at night to pass urine?
What your answer can tell us
Once or twice a day, smooth and formedHealthy digestion.
Fewer than three times a week, hardConstipation from heat, dryness or deficiency.
Loose or watery, especially in the morningSpleen or Kidney Yang deficiency.
Getting up at night to urinateKidney deficiency.
Hard pelletsDryness or heat, or Blood and Yin deficiency – constipation.
Dry, lumpyDryness, heat or Qi stagnation – straining, incomplete.
Smooth & formedHealthy – easy to pass, once or twice a day.
Soft, unformedSpleen Qi deficiency, often with dampness – loose, sticky.
WateryCold-damp or Spleen and Kidney Yang deficiency – often early morning.
5

Appetite, diet & taste

五问饮食
We ask
  • Is your appetite good? Do you eat regular meals?
  • Do you feel bloated or sleepy after eating?
  • Do you have a bitter, sweet or sour taste in the mouth?
What your answer can tell us
Poor appetite, bloated after mealsSpleen Qi deficiency.
Always hungry, eats a lotStomach heat.
Bitter taste in the morningLiver and Gallbladder heat.
Sweet, sticky tasteDampness in the Spleen.
6

Thirst & drinking

六问口渴
We ask
  • Are you often thirsty?
  • Do you prefer hot or cold drinks?
  • Is your mouth dry, especially at night?
What your answer can tell us
Thirsty for cold drinksHeat.
Prefers warm drinks, rarely thirstyCold, or dampness.
Dry mouth at night, sips rather than gulpsYin deficiency.
Thirsty but doesn’t want to drinkDampness.
7

Head, body & pain

七问头身
We ask
  • Do you have headaches or dizziness – where, and when?
  • Where do you feel pain, and what is it like – dull, sharp, heavy or moving?
  • Is it better or worse with warmth, rest or movement?
What your answer can tell us
Fixed, stabbing painBlood stasis.
Dull ache that improves with restDeficiency.
Heavy, aching, worse in damp weatherDampness.
Pain eased by warmthCold.
8

Chest & abdomen

八问胸腹
We ask
  • Do you get tightness in the chest, palpitations or sighing?
  • Do you have bloating, wind or discomfort in the abdomen?
  • Is there tension under the ribs?
What your answer can tell us
Tight chest, sighing, tension under the ribsLiver Qi stagnation – stress.
Palpitations, anxietyHeart Blood or Yin deficiency.
Bloating that comes and goes with moodLiver affecting digestion.
Cold, uncomfortable lower abdomenCold in the womb or Kidney Yang deficiency.
9

Ears & eyes

九问耳目
We ask
  • Do you have ringing in the ears – high-pitched or low?
  • Are your eyes dry, tired, red or blurry?
What your answer can tell us
Sudden, loud ringingLiver fire rising.
Gradual, quiet ringing, worse when tiredKidney deficiency.
Dry, tired eyes, blurred visionLiver Blood deficiency.
Red, sore eyesLiver heat.
10

Periods & medical history

十问经带 · 旧病
We ask
  • For women: is your cycle regular? How heavy, what colour, any clots or pain?
  • What illnesses, operations or medication have you had?
  • Is there a family history we should know about?
What your answer can tell us
Pale, light or late periodsBlood deficiency.
Dark periods with clots and painBlood stasis.
Heavy, early, bright red periodsHeat in the Blood.
PMS, breast tendernessLiver Qi stagnation.
Online consultation

Start your question consultation

Booked a video or clinic consultation? Answer the questions online before you meet – it takes about 10 minutes, and lets your practitioner assess your condition in detail beforehand. You can also upload a photo of your tongue.

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I had acupuncture and cupping with Emma, and she truly worked wonders on my back and neck. I came in barely able to turn my head, and now I feel so much better relaxed, pain-free, and mobile again. I’d had a bad experience elsewhere before, but Emma completely turned things around. Highly recommend!
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I am very satisfied with the herbal remedies for perimenopause. I don't have hot flashes after the medication. And electric acupuncture soothes my plantar fascists on both feet. The capsules for bowel movement are working very well.
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The staff specially Yao meng did an excellent job. In addition she is very kind and explain to the patients what to expect. Thank you very much.
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