Constipation with dry stools in Grenoble: when Fire dries out the intestines

Hard, dry stools, painful straining, sensation of abdominal fullness: this constipation is not a lack of fibre, it is a fire consuming the fluids of the digestive tract. Traditional Chinese medicine reads it as a Heat that dries out the bowels.

Why dry constipation? The perspective of Chinese medicine

In TCM, the lower abdomen (Yang Ming: Stomach and Large Intestine) must remain moist and mobile. When Heat accumulates there — stress, rich food, spices, alcohol, summer overheating — it consumes the organic fluids: the stools set into blocks that peristalsis can no longer move. It is a dam, not a slowing down. The image is that of a fertile plain baked by the sun until it turns to brick.

Two common patterns in practice

Dryness of Yang Ming (established Heat)

Tense, bloated abdomen, painful to the touch, thirst for cold drinks, stale breath, sensitive gums, scanty urine.

**Tongue**: red, dry yellow coating · **Pulse**: deep or floating, rapid, rough

Liver Qi stagnation transformed into Fire

Dry stools in a stressed person, irritability, sighing, worsening after upsets.

**Tongue**: red, redder edges · **Pulse**: wiry, rapid

What traditional Chinese medicine offers

Acupuncture

Points that clear Yang Ming Heat and restore the downward movement of Qi.

Diet

Cool without icing: pear (ripe raw or stewed), cooked autumn carrot, soaked and blanched sweet almonds, prunes. We hydrate without weighing down.

Lifestyle

Regularity of meals and bowel movements, daily movement, reduce alcohol and spices — the two great producers of intestinal Fire.

The acupuncture points most often used for this reason: E25, E36, GI4, RM6.

The combined approach of sophrology and Chinese medicine in Grenoble

Traditional Chinese medicine and sophrology complement each other: the former acts on the body's energetic balance, the latter on the nervous system and stress management. Combining the two makes it possible to address the terrain — the ground that sustains the symptom — and the emotional state that accompanies it. In Grenoble, at the Centre Équilibre, this combined approach is built session after session, according to your own profile.

Frequently asked questions

Is drinking more enough?

No, if the Heat consumes the fluids faster than they arrive. In TCM, you must cool and nourish the fluids, not merely drink.

Why are my stools so dry?

Dryness signals a Heat that has consumed the intestinal moisture — it is an Excess pattern, to be treated quickly.

Are laxatives needed?

Some irritating laxatives aggravate the dryness. The choice is the doctor's; TCM offers support for the terrain.

Learn more

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**Ghislaine Morin**, traditional Chinese medicine practitioner and sophrologist, welcomes you at 29 Quai Claude Bernard, 38000 Grenoble. Book on 06 24 90 04 98 or online at https://calendly.com/centre-equilibre-sophrologie

Ghislaine Morin welcomes you in Grenoble : www.sophrologue-grenoble.fr/medecine-chinoise-a-grenoble-38000-38100