Fifty synthetic teaching cases showing how constitutional diagnosis actually works: what a practitioner sees, how the pattern is read, and why the same symptom can call for different treatment directions in different constitutions.
About These Cases Every case in this library is a representative teaching case, synthesized from recurring clinical patterns. None describes a specific patient, and no identifying information from any real patient is used. These are educational illustrations of diagnostic reasoning — not testimonials, not medical advice, and not claims of treatment outcome. Individual situations vary; consult a licensed healthcare provider for any medical concern.
Six months of sciatic pain, plateaued after physical therapy — and why the accompanying signs, not the imaging, drive the constitutional reading.
Soeumin 少陰人 Case 002A dull ache that worsens with fatigue and eases with rest — read not as a local injury but as a sign of depleted Kidney reserves.
Kidney Yang Def. 腎陽虛 Case 003A slowly locking shoulder, worse in cold and damp — an obstruction to be warmed and dispersed, not an emptiness to be filled.
Cold-Damp Bi 寒濕痺 Case 004The same worn knee, read inside a whole-body tendency toward accumulation and Damp — and why that reframes the treatment direction.
Taeeumin 太陰人 Case 005Upper-neck tension driven by mental strain in the rarest Sasang type — an ascending physiology with nowhere to settle.
Taeyangin 太陽人 Case 006A hot, inflamed elbow that prefers cold — the near-opposite treatment direction from a cold-type joint, decided by thermal quality.
Damp-Heat 濕熱 Case 007Stubborn heel pain with dryness and cramping — read as under-nourished sinews, not merely overloaded fascia.
Liver Blood Def. 肝血虛 Case 008Migrating pain that rises and falls with stress — targeting the flow of Qi itself rather than any single sore point.
Liver Qi Stag. 肝氣鬱結 Case 009Use-linked wrist numbness relieved by movement — a channel that is blocked, not a Qi that is empty.
Qi/Blood Stasis 氣血瘀滯 Case 010Hot-quality lower-body pain in a warm-running constitution — the heat pooling in its weakest region.
Soyangin 少陽人 Case 011Clenching and jaw pain with heat signs along the Stomach channel that crosses the jaw — heat rising along a channel.
Stomach Heat 胃熱 Case 012Migrating, swollen, weather-linked multi-joint pain — read as Wind and Damp obstruction, offered as education alongside medical care.
Wind-Damp Bi 風濕痺 Case 013Heavy, weak legs that ease on bending forward — read as a depletion of essence and marrow, deeper than a functional deficiency.
Kidney Essence Def. 腎精虧虛 Case 014A throbbing, hot headache at the temples and vertex — Yang rising to the head, to be settled and anchored rather than merely loosened.
Liver Yang Rising 肝陽上亢 Case 015A fixed, stabbing, old-injury pain with dusky thickening — congealed Blood to be moved, not a tendon to be nourished.
Blood Stasis 瘀血Burning, numb feet read as an internal-heat deficiency that has let Blood congeal in the extremities. Educational, alongside medical care.
Yin Def. + Stasis 陰虛血瘀 Case 039Numbness and weakness read as Qi and Blood too depleted to reach the extremities. Supportive education, coordinated with oncology care.
Qi & Blood Def. 氣血兩虛 Case 040Sudden one-sided facial droop read as Wind-Cold invading the facial channels. Educational, alongside prompt medical evaluation.
Wind-Cold 風寒襲絡 Case 041Electric, triggered, burning facial pain read as Wind with Heat — the hot counterpart to the cold Bell's pattern. Educational, alongside medical care.
Wind-Heat 風熱 Case 042Long-standing, fixed, dusky numbness read as Blood stasis obstructing the channels. Educational, alongside medical care.
Blood Stasis 瘀血阻絡 Case 043Legs that cannot settle at rest read as sinews under-nourished by deficient Liver Blood. Educational, alongside medical care.
Liver Blood Def. 肝血虛 Case 044Burning pain outlasting the shingles rash read as residual Damp-Heat and stasis still obstructing the channel. Educational, alongside medical care.
Damp-Heat + Stasis 濕熱瘀阻 Case 045Gradual, symmetrical numbness read as Qi too scarce to reach the hands — the empty counterpart to a blocked channel. Educational, alongside medical care.
Qi Deficiency 氣虛Elevated pressure with flushing and head-heat in an older adult — Yang rising as the aging Yin stops anchoring it. Educational, alongside medical care.
Liver Yang Rising 肝陽上亢 Case 017Thirst, hunger, and wasting read as Yin deficiency with heat across the three burners. Educational, alongside medical care.
Xiao-Ke 消渴 Case 018Central heaviness and mental fog read as fluids that failed to transform and congealed. Educational, alongside medical care.
Phlegm-Damp 痰濕 Case 019Residual one-sided weakness read as obstructed channels of the affected side — recovery-phase support within medical rehabilitation.
Zhong-Feng 中風 Case 020Turbid, heavy clouding read as phlegm misting the clear orifices. Educational and supportive, alongside medical care.
Phlegm Misting 痰蒙清竅 Case 021Tremor and rigidity read as internal Wind stirring when Yin and Blood no longer anchor the sinews. Educational, alongside neurological care.
Liver Wind 肝風內動 Case 022Because the Kidney governs the bones, thinning bone is read as depleted essence. Educational, alongside medical care.
Kidney Essence Def. 腎精虧虛 Case 023Breath that cannot be drawn in and rooted — the Kidney failing to grasp the Qi. Educational, alongside medical care.
Lung-Kidney Def. 肺腎氣虛 Case 024A lower gate that cannot hold — the Kidney's consolidating Qi weakening with age. Educational, alongside medical care.
Kidney Qi Insecurity 腎氣不固 Case 025Cold, powerless bowels — Yang that cannot warm and propel, the opposite of a heat-type. Educational, alongside medical care.
Yang Def. / Cold 冷秘 Case 026A pervasively cold, slowed body — the deepest warming fire running low. Educational, alongside medical care.
Kidney Yang Def. 腎陽虛 Case 027Wasting muscle — the Spleen under-building and the Kidney under-rooting. Educational, alongside nutrition and exercise.
Spleen-Kidney Def. 脾腎兩虛Waking repeatedly with palpitations and fatigue — a spirit without enough Blood to rest in. The depleted half of the insomnia pair.
Heart Blood Def. 心血虛 Case 047Lying awake wired and irritable — Fire agitating the spirit. The opposite direction from case 046, on the same complaint.
Liver Fire 肝火上炎 Case 048Fatigue heaviest after eating, with weak digestion — the Spleen failing to convert food into energy at its root.
Spleen Qi Def. 脾氣虛 Case 049Bloating that rises and falls with stress — a pattern that lives in the relationship between two organs, not within either.
Liver-Spleen 肝脾不和 Case 050Agitation above with emptiness below — Water and Fire failing to communicate. Educational, alongside mental health care.
Heart-Kidney 心腎不交The type of absorbing and storing — strong at taking in, weaker at dispersing, prone to accumulation when out of balance.
Taeeumin 太陰人 Case 029Modest in digestive fire, careful in nature — health lies in protecting and warming the easily-overwhelmed digestion.
Soeumin 少陰人 Case 030Quick, warm, strong above and vulnerable below — health lies in cooling excess and protecting the lower body.
Soyangin 少陽人 Case 031The rarest Sasang type — strongly ascending, weak at descending, and to be read with special caution.
Taeyangin 太陽人 Case 032The Liver-strong / Lung-weak ordering in Eight Constitution Medicine — a distinct lens complementary to Sasang.
Hepatonia 목양체질 Case 033The Lung-strong / Liver-weak ordering — inverse of the Hepatonia, managed in nearly the opposite direction.
Pulmotonia 금양체질 Case 034The Pancreas/Spleen-strong / Kidney-weak ordering — warm and strong-digesting, vulnerable below.
Pancreotonia 토양체질 Case 035The Kidney-strong / digestion-weak ordering — inverse of the Pancreotonia, cool and careful.
Renotonia 수양체질 Case 036Why there is no single right diet — only one that matches the eater's constitution, read against a food's warming or cooling nature.
Constitutional Diet 體質食餌 Case 037Why getting the type wrong doesn't just fail but reverses everything — and the safeguards of convergence and caution.
Differential Caution 鑑別Each case applies the CALee diagnostic framework — constitutional individuation, relational process, and the non-fixed self — developed in two SSRN working papers and two books. Start with the framework paper, or explore the Learning Center for the research evidence map.
These cases are educational illustrations of diagnostic reasoning, not descriptions of specific patients. For clinical care, the author practices at CALee Acupuncture in Buena Park, CA.