Functional Dyspepsia
★Overview
Functional dyspepsia (pi man) presents as epigastric stuffiness and fullness without a palpable mass or tenderness, often with postprandial fullness, early satiety, belching, and poor appetite. It commonly arises from dietary irregularity, emotional imbalance, or fatigue damaging the spleen, causing qi stagnation in the middle burner and dysfunction of the spleen-stomach ascending-descending axis, closely linked to the liver, spleen, and stomach.
Pattern differentiation (clinical patterns)
Food Stagnation
Epigastric bloating with sour belching and nausea, vomiting of undigested food with relief afterward, food aversion, foul stools, thick greasy coating, slippery pulse.
Disperse food and guide out stagnation; harmonize the stomach and downbear counterflow.
Liver-Stomach Disharmony
Epigastric and rib-side distending pain that shifts, relief after belching or passing gas, symptoms fluctuate with mood, irritability, thin white coating, wiry pulse.
Soothe the liver and regulate qi; harmonize the stomach and disperse stuffiness.
Spleen-Stomach Weakness
Mild fluctuating epigastric stuffiness that prefers warmth and pressure, poor appetite, loose stools, fatigue, weak voice, pale tongue with thin white coating, slow weak pulse.
Boost qi and fortify the spleen; raise the clear and downbear the turbid.
Connections
Daily care & prevention
Eat regular, measured meals and chew thoroughly; avoid overeating and greasy, cold-raw, spicy, and gas-producing foods; do not lie down immediately after meals. Manage stress, keep regular hours, and exercise moderately. Try clockwise abdominal massage and pressing Zhongwan (CV12), Zusanli (ST36), Neiguan (PC6), and Taichong (LR3).
When to seek medical care
Seek timely evaluation for new dyspepsia after age 40, difficulty swallowing, repeated vomiting, hematemesis or black stools, unexplained weight loss or anemia, an abdominal mass, or persistent worsening; endoscopy may be needed.