Stagnation of Blood

This type of pattern is seen only in very chronic headaches. Stasis of Blood derives from longstanding stagnation of Liver-Qi. In the case of headaches, it also often derives from local stasis of Blood in the head caused by trauma. This may be due to an old fall or accident, often one which the person has forgotten about. If a headache always occurs on the same spot without fail, stasis of Blood from trauma should be suspected. The headache from stasis of Blood is very severe and intense. It is stabbing or boring in character and patients will often describe it as a "nail being driven into the head". It is fixed in its location. It is more common in old people or in women with stasis of Blood associated with deficiency and dryness of Blood. Other manifestations include: dark complexion, hypochondrial or abdominal pain and, in women, painful periods with dark-clotted blood. The pulse will be Firm, Wiry, or Choppy and the tongue will be Purple. In case of a past accident to the head, the pulse may be very Weak on the Front position of both left and right side and the tongue may have a purple spot on the tip whilst the rest of the tongue body is normal in colour. This is due to the fact that the tongue body reflects, apart from the internal organs, areas of the body. Thus the tip of the tongue corresponds to the head and an isolated purple spot there may indicate a past trauma to the head, while a normal colour of the rest of the tongue indicates there is not a generalized stasis of Blood.