{ "slug": "kidney-yin-deficiency", "name": "Kidney Yin Deficiency", "pinyin": "Shen Yin Xu", "chinese": "肾阴虚", "organ": "Kidney", "nature": "deficiency", "family": "yin-deficiency", "summary": "The Kidney's cooling, moistening reserve has run low. The body dries out and warms up from the inside: dry mouth at night, a sore low back, loose teeth, ringing ears, and a tiredness that sleep does not fix.", "picture": "Think of a car with low coolant. It still runs, but it runs hot, and the heat shows up at night and in the small places first: the mouth, the ears, the gums, the soles of the feet.", "signs": { "key": [ "Dry mouth and throat at night, with a wish for small sips", "Sore or weak low back and knees", "Loose teeth or gums that pull back slowly", "Ringing in the ears, or hearing that fades", "Tired in a deep way, worse with late nights" ], "common": [ "Dizziness", "Poor memory", "Night sweats", "Warm palms and soles in the evening", "Thin build or recent weight loss", "Scanty dark urine", "Dry stools", "Low sex drive, or in women a thin or late cycle" ], "tongue": "Red, thin, with little or no coat. Cracks down the middle are common.", "pulse": "Thin and fast, or deep and thin." }, "causes": [ "Years of overwork and late nights", "A long illness or a high fever that burned fluids", "Aging, especially after fifty", "Daily alcohol, which heats and dries", "Too much sweating, bleeding, or sexual activity over time", "A constitution that was dry and thin from the start" ], "tell_apart": [ { "slug": "kidney-yin-deficiency-with-empty-heat", "how": "The same picture with heat on top: night sweats, hot hands and feet, red cheeks in the afternoon, a dry mouth that wakes you. Add the heat-clearing pair of herbs and you have Zhi Bai Di Huang Wan instead of plain Liu Wei." }, { "slug": "kidney-yang-deficiency", "how": "The opposite temperature. Yang deficiency is cold: cold back and knees, pale face, clear frequent urine, worse in winter, a pale wet tongue. Yin deficiency is warm and dry." }, { "slug": "kidney-essence-deficiency", "how": "Essence deficiency is deeper and older: weak bones, teeth that loosen early, slow development in a child, early greying. It often sits under yin deficiency and shares its formulas with heavier tonics added." } ], "formulas": [ { "slug": "liu-wei-di-huang-wan", "role": "base", "when": "The plain picture without obvious heat. The starting formula for Kidney yin.", "pinyin": "Liu Wei Di Huang Wan", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/liu-wei-di-huang-wan", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/liu-wei-di-huang-wan" } }, { "slug": "zhi-bai-di-huang-wan", "role": "with heat", "when": "Night sweats, hot palms and soles, dry mouth at night, loose teeth with any gum redness.", "pinyin": "Zhi Bai Di Huang Wan", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/zhi-bai-di-huang-wan", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/zhi-bai-di-huang-wan" } }, { "slug": "qi-ju-di-huang-wan", "role": "with dry eyes", "when": "Blurry or dry eyes, floaters, headaches, when the Liver shares the deficiency.", "pinyin": "Qi Ju Di Huang Wan", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/qi-ju-di-huang-wan", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/qi-ju-di-huang-wan" } }, { "slug": "mai-wei-di-huang-wan", "role": "with dry cough", "when": "A dry cough, dry throat, or wheeze on top of the Kidney picture.", "pinyin": "Mai Wei Di Huang Wan", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/mai-wei-di-huang-wan", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/mai-wei-di-huang-wan" } }, { "slug": "zuo-gui-wan", "role": "stronger", "when": "A deeper, older deficiency with weak bones and marrow. Richer than Liu Wei.", "pinyin": "Zuo Gui Wan", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/zuo-gui-wan", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/zuo-gui-wan" } } ], "herbs": [ { "pinyin": "Shu Di Huang", "role": "The chief herb. Prepared rehmannia fills the Kidney yin.", "herb_slug": "prepared-rehmannia-root", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/prepared-rehmannia-root", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/prepared-rehmannia-root" } }, { "pinyin": "Shan Zhu Yu", "role": "Holds the essence in so it stops leaking out as sweat and fluid.", "herb_slug": "asiatic-cornelian-cherry-fruit", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/asiatic-cornelian-cherry-fruit", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/asiatic-cornelian-cherry-fruit" } }, { "pinyin": "Shan Yao", "role": "Feeds the Spleen so the tonic can be digested.", "herb_slug": "common-yam-rhizome", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/common-yam-rhizome", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/common-yam-rhizome" } }, { "pinyin": "Gou Qi Zi", "role": "Goji nourishes Liver and Kidney yin and the eyes.", "herb_slug": "fruit-of-chinese-wolfberry", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/fruit-of-chinese-wolfberry", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/fruit-of-chinese-wolfberry" } }, { "pinyin": "Gu Sui Bu", "role": "Added for loose teeth and weak bones. The bone mender.", "herb_slug": "rhizome-of-heartleaf-drynaria", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/rhizome-of-heartleaf-drynaria", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/rhizome-of-heartleaf-drynaria" } }, { "pinyin": "Niu Xi", "role": "Guides the formula down to the low back, knees, and teeth.", "herb_slug": "root-of-twotooth-achyranthes-2", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/root-of-twotooth-achyranthes-2", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/root-of-twotooth-achyranthes-2" } }, { "pinyin": "Nu Zhen Zi", "role": "A gentle yin tonic for grey hair, dizziness, and dry eyes.", "herb_slug": "fruit-of-glossy-privet", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/fruit-of-glossy-privet", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/fruit-of-glossy-privet" } }, { "pinyin": "Han Lian Cao", "role": "Pairs with Nu Zhen Zi in Er Zhi Wan to cool and nourish.", "herb_slug": "eclipta", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/eclipta", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/eclipta" } } ], "conditions": [ "receding-gums", "toothache", "low-back-pain", "insomnia", "tinnitus", "dizziness", "night-sweats", "frequent-urination" ], "habits": [ "Sleep before eleven. Yin is rebuilt at night, and no herb replaces the hours.", "Black sesame, black beans, walnuts, goji, eggs, seaweed, and bone broth feed the Kidney.", "Cut alcohol and late coffee. Both heat and dry.", "Stop over-sweating workouts. Gentle, steady movement suits this pattern.", "Warm cooked food, not raw and cold, so the Spleen can digest the tonic." ], "watch": [ "Night dry mouth fades within a few weeks.", "Sleep gets deeper and the back stops aching in the morning.", "The tongue grows a thin coat back and loses its red edge.", "Loose teeth firm over two to three months.", "Kidney tonics are slow. Plan on three months, not three weeks." ], "sources": [ { "title": "Maciocia, The Foundations of Chinese Medicine, 3rd edition", "note": "Kidney yin deficiency: signs, tongue, pulse, and etiology." }, { "title": "Bensky, Scheid, Ellis and Barolet, Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas and Strategies, 2nd edition", "note": "Liu Wei Di Huang Wan and its modifications." } ], "meta": { "status": "published", "last_updated": "2026-10-12", "reviewed_by": null }, "_links": { "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/kidney-yin-deficiency", "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/kidney-yin-deficiency", "index": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/patterns" } }