{ "slug": "liver-gallbladder-damp-heat", "name": "Liver and Gallbladder Damp Heat", "pinyin": "Gan Dan Shi Re", "chinese": "肝胆湿热", "organ": "Liver and Gallbladder", "nature": "excess", "family": "dampness", "summary": "Hot sticky dampness in the Liver channel, which runs from the groin to the ribs to the eyes. Pain and fullness under the ribs, a bitter sticky mouth, nausea, yellow eyes or skin, genital itch or herpes outbreaks, yellow discharge, burning urine, and a red tongue with a yellow greasy coat.", "picture": "A swamp along the Liver's riverbank. The whole length of the channel is wet and hot, so the trouble shows at both ends: the groin below and the eyes and ribs above.", "signs": { "key": [ "Pain or fullness under the ribs, often the right side", "Bitter, sticky mouth; nausea; no appetite", "Yellow eyes or skin", "Genital itch, swelling, discharge, or herpes outbreaks", "Burning, dark urine" ], "common": [ "Fever that comes and goes", "Heavy, hot, tired body", "Shingles along the ribs", "Ear infection, sudden deafness", "A red face" ], "tongue": "Red with a yellow greasy coat.", "pulse": "Wiry, slippery, and rapid." }, "causes": [ "Greasy food and alcohol", "Hot humid weather", "Infections of the liver, gallbladder, or genitals", "Stagnation that turned hot in a damp body" ], "tell_apart": [ { "slug": "liver-fire", "how": "Fire is dry and goes to the head: red eyes, headache, rage, no greasy coat. Damp heat is sticky and heavy with nausea and a greasy coat, and reaches the groin." }, { "slug": "damp-heat-lower-burner", "how": "Lower burner damp heat stays in the bladder and gut without the rib pain, the bitter mouth, or the yellow eyes." } ], "formulas": [ { "slug": "long-dan-xie-gan-tang", "role": "primary", "when": "The classic formula for this channel: drains Liver fire and damp heat above and below.", "pinyin": "Long Dan Xie Gan Tang", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/long-dan-xie-gan-tang", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/long-dan-xie-gan-tang" } }, { "slug": "yin-chen-hao-tang", "role": "with jaundice", "when": "Yellow eyes and skin, dark urine, nausea. Clears damp heat through the bowel and bladder.", "pinyin": "Yin Chen Hao Tang", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/yin-chen-hao-tang", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/yin-chen-hao-tang" } } ], "herbs": [ { "pinyin": "Yin Chen Hao", "role": "Capillaris, the jaundice herb, clears damp heat from the Liver and Gallbladder.", "herb_slug": "capillaris-oriental-wormwood-2", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/capillaris-oriental-wormwood-2", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/capillaris-oriental-wormwood-2" } }, { "pinyin": "Long Dan Cao", "role": "Gentian drains Liver fire and damp heat.", "herb_slug": "root-of-przewalsk-gentian", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/root-of-przewalsk-gentian", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/root-of-przewalsk-gentian" } }, { "pinyin": "Zhi Zi", "role": "Gardenia clears heat and drains it through the urine.", "herb_slug": "fruit-of-cape-jasmine-2", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/fruit-of-cape-jasmine-2", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/fruit-of-cape-jasmine-2" } }, { "pinyin": "Huang Qin", "role": "Scutellaria clears heat from the Liver and Gallbladder.", "herb_slug": "baicalin", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/baicalin", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/baicalin" } }, { "pinyin": "Da Huang", "role": "Rhubarb drains the heat through the bowel.", "herb_slug": "root-and-rhizome-of-sorrel-rhubarb", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/root-and-rhizome-of-sorrel-rhubarb", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/root-and-rhizome-of-sorrel-rhubarb" } }, { "pinyin": "Che Qian Zi", "role": "Plantain seed drains damp through the urine.", "herb_slug": "seed-of-asiatic-pantain", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/seed-of-asiatic-pantain", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/seed-of-asiatic-pantain" } } ], "conditions": [ "hepatitis", "jaundice", "cholecystitis", "hypochondriac-pain", "leukorrhea", "urinary-tract-infection", "tinnitus", "nafld" ], "habits": [ "No alcohol and no greasy food. Both are the swamp.", "Light, bitter, cooling food: bitter greens, mung beans, barley water, celery.", "Drink plain water to flush.", "Rest; this pattern burns energy fast." ], "watch": [ "The bitter taste and nausea ease within days.", "Yellow eyes clear over one to three weeks.", "The greasy yellow coat thins.", "Jaundice always needs its cause found. The formula helps the drainage, not the diagnosis." ], "sources": [ { "title": "Maciocia, The Foundations of Chinese Medicine, 3rd edition", "note": "Damp heat in the Liver and Gallbladder." }, { "title": "Bensky, Scheid, Ellis and Barolet, Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas and Strategies, 2nd edition", "note": "Long Dan Xie Gan Tang, Yin Chen Hao Tang." } ], "meta": { "status": "published", "last_updated": "2026-10-12", "reviewed_by": null }, "_links": { "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/liver-gallbladder-damp-heat", "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/liver-gallbladder-damp-heat", "index": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/patterns" } }