Heart Blood Stagnant

This pattern is affiliated with atherosclerosis and CVD and can therefore be serious. Strong emotions particularly anxiety, grief, resentment or bottling-up anger over a long period of time, upset the smooth flow of chi, stopping its movement or disturbing its action. When chi stops moving, blood stops flowing and this causes blood stagnation. In heart blood stagnation the blood doesn’t move in the chest causing pain and stuffiness. The intensity of the pain can vary from a mild prickling sensation to an intense stabbing pain. Chest pain is the key symptom of this pattern, which other heart patterns do not have. The pain typically comes in repeated bouts and can be triggered by exertion or cold weather. This pattern closely resembles what Western medicine refers to as angina pectoris. Stagnant heart blood doesn’t reach the face and hands causing cyanosis of lips and nails. Heart blood stagnation causes cardiac pain that includes the small intestine channel – hence the cardia pain is related to shoulder and arms.
Symptoms:
Chest pain, palpitations, pain in the heart region which may radiate to the inner aspect of the left arm or to the shoulder; stuffiness of the chest, discomfort or feeling of oppression or constriction of the chest, cyanosis of lips and nails, cold hands.