New to ECM? Start with What Is Eight Constitution Medicine? for the basics of the eight body types.
When you call to mind the average picture of each constitution, Hepatonia (목양체질) seems a long way from chronic headache. This is the most easygoing of the types, and the least given to minding how others see it.
Even so, headache can arise in every constitution. In Hepatonia it simply arrives by a different route.
In Summary
- Hepatonia’s organ hierarchy runs: liver (gallbladder) > kidney (bladder) > heart (small intestine) > spleen (stomach) > lung (large intestine).
- Headache in this type arises from its strong tendency to gather energy into the liver and store qi there.
- In a normal state, energy gathering in the liver means the liver is functioning well. But past a certain point the gathered energy overflows and fire can erupt upward — producing heat around the face, or headache.
- Hepatonia’s qi also stagnates fairly readily, so depression develops easily, and headache can appear as one of its physical accompaniments.
- Management means raising a sweat and moving frequently, so that qi circulates.
- This type usually eats a great deal, so when the head hurts, simply reducing the quantity matters.
- A constitutional diet helps, but rather than hunting for something wholesome to eat, it is better to eat less of what is harmful, move a lot, talk with people, and make the effort to sweat.
Headache Reaches Even the Easygoing
Hepatonia is the most easygoing of the eight. Being less conscious of others’ eyes, it carries fewer snags in the mind, so it looks remote from chronic headache — and in practice it largely is.
Headache still appears in every constitution, though. In Hepatonia the cause is simply different.
When Energy Gathered in the Liver Overflows
Hepatonia’s organ hierarchy runs: liver (gallbladder) > kidney (bladder) > heart (small intestine) > spleen (stomach) > lung (large intestine). The liver sits in the strongest position.
Headache in this type comes from a strong tendency for energy to gather in the liver, and for energy and qi to be stored there.
Ordinarily, energy gathering in the liver is a good sign — it means the liver functions well. It is why Hepatonia stores so effectively and has such good staying power.
The trouble comes past a certain threshold. When the energy amassed in the liver overflows, fire can erupt upward. Heat rises around the face, or a headache develops. The vessel is large — but when it spills, it spills all at once.
Headache That Comes with Low Mood
There is a second route. Hepatonia’s qi also stagnates fairly easily, so depression develops readily — a constitution inclined to store will store feeling too. Physical symptoms can follow from that, and headache is among them.
Managing Headache as a Hepatonia
Where a Hepatonia has headache, what is needed is to raise a sweat and move often, so that qi can circulate. This is a constitution that feels lighter for sweating, and that needs to sweat in order to be well.
Cut the quantity when your head hurts. This type generally eats a lot, and that alone can be the problem. When a headache arrives, simply eating less — without agonising over what to eat — matters a great deal.
A constitutional diet does help with headache. But it is worth reversing the usual order of thinking. Rather than straining to eat something wholesome, it is better to eat less of what is harmful, move a great deal, talk with people, and make an effort to sweat. For this constitution, conversation too is a form of discharge.
Reference Notes
Leafy vegetables — water parsley, spinach, sylimarin greens, kale, celery, pumpkin leaf, mugwort, crown daisy, bracken and chives — do not suit this constitution. Fish is better cooked than raw. For exercise, most forms suit apart from swimming.
In Summary
Headache in Hepatonia comes not from shortage but from overflow. This is a constitution whose liver gathers well, so the task is to give what has gathered a channel out: sweat, movement, conversation — and, when the head hurts, less on the plate. May your easygoing nature see the headache off as well.
Related reading: Headache Is Heat Above, Cold Below · The Meat-Based Diet Belongs to Hepatonia
This article reflects the teaching and research of Professor Seungho Baek, Professor of Korean Medicine at Dongguk University College of Korean Medicine, specializing in Pathology and Oncology.
