A weakened spleen cannot produce adequate amounts of qi to either transform or move the blood, leading to both blood vacuity and possibly blood stasis. Neither can a weakened spleen transform and control body fluids properly, increasing the likelihood of damp congelation and eventually phlegm nodulation. This is a pattern configuration more likely to be seen in older women. Furthermore, if the liver becomes depressed, the spleen will become vacuous and possibly damp, but the stomach will become hot. Heat rises in the body, or in any enclosed space, and stomach heat specifically will counterflow into the foot yang ming channel that traverses the breast tissue.
Heat also damages yin if it is long-standing.
In this case, a scenario occurs which may encompass several of the patterns listed above and which is not uncommon in middle-aged and older women. In acupuncture therapy, the chong is used to treat the viscera and bowels in relationship to each other, including the uterus, kidney, heart, spleen, stomach and liver. One way the chong mai is commonly used is to harmonize the liver and spleen or liver and stomach. We also know that the foot jue yin channel has an internal branch which homes to the nipples, and that tai chong, as a yuan source point, is one of the most powerful points on this channel. The chong mai is a yin channel.